Access to Justice

357 ABA Journal Access to Justice articles.

Licensed paralegals program in Oregon gets final approval

The Oregon Supreme Court has given final approval to a program that allows licensed paralegals to provide limited legal services in family law and landlord-tenant cases.

Jul 25, 2022 9:02 AM CDT

House committee approves record $675M in funding for civil legal services

The U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Appropriations has approved $675 million in funding for the Legal Services Corp. in fiscal year 2023, an increase of $186 million.

Jun 30, 2022 1:05 PM CDT

Taking on unauthorized practice of law regulations to expand access to justice

A professor talks to the ABA Journal’s Victor Li about New York-based company Upsolve’s lawsuit regarding UPL rules and access-to-justice issues in general.

Jun 15, 2022 8:33 AM CDT

Federal judge greenlights legal tech company’s use of nonlawyers for legal advice

A legal technology company’s use of nonlawyers in a program helping New Yorkers facing debt actions likely does not violate the state’s unauthorized practice of law rules because it is protected speech, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

May 26, 2022 10:22 AM CDT

Nonlawyer paraprofessionals couldn’t jointly own law firms under revised licensing proposal in this state

A revised proposal for licensing paraprofessionals in California eliminates a provision that would have allowed the nonlawyers to own law firms with lawyers.

May 25, 2022 9:12 AM CDT

Maine will hire its first public defenders to aid struggling indigent defense system

Maine, the last state without public defenders, will soon deploy five of them after Democratic Gov. Janet T. Mills signed a bill earlier this month to create a rural public defenders unit.

May 19, 2022 11:24 AM CDT

Oregon’s overburdened public defender system is ‘buckling before our eyes’

The public defender system in Oregon is so overburdened that several hundred defendants don’t have legal representation at any given time.

May 11, 2022 2:31 PM CDT

When it comes to the law, is justice always just?

What hath the law to do with justice? And if it does, to what extent does this connection influence our decision to become lawyers? Is the motivation instinctual?

May 11, 2022 8:40 AM CDT

Panel attorneys who represent children, indigent adults in New York courts flee low pay

Panel attorneys who represent children and indigent adults in New York family and criminal courts haven’t had a fee hike in almost two decades.

May 3, 2022 8:43 AM CDT

7th Circuit upholds Wisconsin’s mandatory bar, says precedent applies until Supreme Court overrules it

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Chicago ruled Friday that Wisconsin’s mandatory bar doesn’t violate the First Amendment rights of the state’s lawyers.

May 2, 2022 12:01 PM CDT

Most Americans want to see changes in elections, new ABA civics survey finds

With the highly anticipated midterm elections about six months away, the ABA is offering some insight into the minds of potential voters. The ABA 2022 Survey of Civic Literacy found that 80% of 1,000 respondents from around the country favor expanding the hours at polling places.

Apr 29, 2022 12:01 AM CDT

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