Inside the Bar
August 2008
Board supports petition creating commission to improve access to
legal services for the poor
Following the June State Board of Governors meeting, then
president-elect Diane Diel and then president Tom Basting sign a
petition asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to establish a Wisconsin
access to Justice Commission.
At its June 27 meeting, the Board of Governors voted unanimously to
support a State Bar petition to the Wisconsin Supreme Court asking the
court to establish a Wisconsin Access to Justice Commission.
Establishing such a commission was a key recommendation from the Access
to Justice Study Committee’s report, “Bridging the Justice
Gap,” which the board approved in May 2007. According to the
report, more than 500,000 low-income Wisconsin residents face serious
civil legal problems without legal assistance.
If adopted by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the commission would
become the formal structure for bringing together representatives of
the bar, the judiciary, the legislature, the governor, and the public
to focus attention on this pressing problem.
“A more comprehensive approach is needed if we want to make
progress on closing the justice gap,” says State Bar President
Diane Diel. “The proposed commission would be a resource for
those who want to broaden the base of support for a system of civil
legal services delivery to the poor and the disadvantaged. I think the
unanimous support of the Board of Governors says a lot about our hopes
for a Wisconsin Access to Justice Commission.”
According to Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Rick Sankovitz,
who chaired the Bar’s Access to Justice Study Committee,
“The highest courts in 20 states have ordered the creation of
statewide equal justice planning bodies similar to the commission
proposed by the Bar’s petition. Nationally, access to justice
commissions have been effective in expanding, coordinating, and
promoting efforts to enhance the civil legal services delivery system
for low-income people.
“They have achieved expansions in state funding for legal
services and in the geographic reach of the system. They have brought
greater contributions of time and money from lawyers, civic-minded
corporations, foundations, and other patrons of civil society.
That’s what the committee was looking at when it recommended
creation of such a commission in our report to the Bar.”
Commission members and funding. The petition
recommends appointing up to 17 members to serve three-year terms on the
commission. Members would be appointed by the supreme court, the bar,
the legislature, the governor, the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation,
and both state law schools.
The petition also recommends that when the commission is fully
operational, it be funded by contributions from the legislature, the
court, and the bar. The State Bar will fund the commission for its
first three years, from a reserve fund that was established to support
access to justice initiatives.
Background. In May 2007 the board voted to adopt
the Bridging the Justice Gap report and its recommendations for how
Wisconsin could do better at meeting the civil legal needs of the poor.
One of those recommendations was the creation of a permanent statewide
Access to Justice Commission. A draft petition from the Bar’s
Legal Assistance Committee was presented to the board for discussion in
December 2007.
In February 2008, then President Tom Basting, at the request of the
Executive Committee, appointed a working group to review and further
revise the petition. Working group members included then
President-elect Diane Diel (chair), Howard Bichler, Jim Brennan, Mike
Gonring, Marsha Mansfield, and Judge Rick Sankovitz.
The State Bar filed petition 08-17 with the Wisconsin Supreme Court
on July 1. Read
the
petition.
Inside the
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