Wisconsin Lawyer
Vol. 80, No. 7, July 2007
Primary Recommendations
1) Create a permanent Access to Justice Commission under the auspices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
2) Provide state funding for civil legal services for low-income Wisconsinites.
3) Fund self-help centers connected to every courthouse in Wisconsin.
4) Modify rules to permit paralegals to advocate in court and before agencies on a limited basis.
5) Ask clients to pay for a portion of legal services, based on ability to pay.
6) Do not finance civil legal services by increasing court filing fees.
Other Major Recommendations
7) The Wisconsin Supreme Court should:
- seek funding for self-help centers;
- make the mandatory WisTAF assessment on lawyers permanent and expand it to include judges;
- adopt new ethics rules that support expanded pro bono contributions by lawyers; and
- organize efforts by judges to promote pro bono.
8) State and federal agencies should permit qualified nonlawyers to appear and advocate on behalf of low-income clients.
9) Lawyers should expand their pro bono contributions of time and money, with the support of their law firms and in-house legal departments.
10) The State Bar of Wisconsin should:
- endorse the Access to Justice Study Committee report and approve its dissemination to the state supreme court and legislature;
- support a permanent WisTAF assessment on lawyers and judges;
- help the Wisconsin Supreme Court establish a permanent Access to Justice Commission;
- expand the Lawyer Referral and Information Service to include a panel of attorneys willing to offer limited-scope representation and/or reduced fees to income-qualified clients;
- organize CLE programs on unbundling legal services and promote unbundling as a viable means to meet unmet legal needs;
- fund projects that demonstrate the gains to be achieved by these recommendations;
- adopt a resolution akin to ABA House of Delegates Resolution 112A (right to an attorney in civil cases when basic human needs are at stake);
- provide administrative support and guidance to organize expanded pro bono programs funded by law firms;
- continue to support greater levels of pro bono from Bar members;
- coordinate the implementation of these recommendations with a study of best practices in delivery of legal services that is being conducted by the State Bar Legal Assistance Committee; and
- conduct another telephone survey of low-income Wisconsin households in 2011 to measure progress in closing the justice gap.
11) Public interest law firms and nonprofit legal services organizations should continue to search for and experiment with innovative methods of legal services delivery.
12) The U.W. Law School and Marquette Law School should support efforts to close the justice gap by:
- setting an example of commitment to equal justice;
- expanding clinical programs to provide more civil legal services;
- encouraging students to perform pro bono services after graduating; and
- studying and teaching how the law ensures equal access to justice.
About the Access to Justice Study Committee
The Access to Justice Study Committee was commissioned in the wake of a debate in the legal community in 2004 about the extent to which legal services are out of reach of those in need and about who should contribute a solution. At that time, the Wisconsin Supreme Court had granted a petition of the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation requiring Wisconsin lawyers to contribute to the cost of providing civil legal services to poor people. Many within the bar called for the legal needs of the poor to be studied in greater depth.
State Bar President D. Michael Guerin appointed this committee in July 2005 to conduct a rigorous assessment and analysis of legal needs among low-income Wisconsin residents. The goal was to help the State Bar of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Supreme Court better understand the scope and impact of the problem of access to justice for low-income residents. The committee also was given the task of making recommendations about how to meet the challenge of funding needed services.
The committee's members include: the Hon. Richard J. Sankovitz, chair, Milwaukee County circuit court; Betsy J. Abramson, elder law and disability law attorney and consultant, Madison; Howard J. Bichler, tribal attorney, St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, Webster; James M. Brennan, chief staff attorney, Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee Civil Division; the Hon. Ramona A. Gonzalez, La Crosse County circuit court; Jo Deen Lowe, deputy attorney general, Forest County Potawatomi Community, Crandon; Rachel A. Schneider, partner, Quarles & Brady LLP, Milwaukee; Bill Staudenmaier, of counsel, Cook & Franke S.C., Milwaukee; Kelli Thompson, deputy state public defender, State Public Defender's Office, Madison; and staff liaison Jeff Brown, State Bar pro bono coordinator.
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