American Bar Association Section of Litigation
Access to Civil Justice Symposium
In 2006, the American Bar Association resolved to urge "federal, state and territorial governments to provide legal counsel as a matter of right at public expense to low income persons in those categories of adversarial proceedings where basic human needs are at stake, such as those involving shelter, sustenance, safety, health or child custody, as determined by each jurisdiction." The ABA thereby firmly placed the issue of access to counsel in civil cases on both the bar's and nation's agendas.
The Access to Civil Justice Symposium, Dec. 4-5, 2008 in Atlanta, explored questions about the ABA's call to action and how to advance it, first, in the context of those of low income and, second, more broadly in American society.
To receive selected papers, contact Debbie Weixl at 312/988-6126 or weixld@staff.abanet.org
Overview of Access Issues
A) Access to Justice: Some Historical Comments - Lawrence Friedman
B) Access to Justice in a World of Expanding Social Capability - Marc Galanter
C) Higher Demand, Lower Supply?: A Comparative Assessment Of The Legal Resource Landscape for Ordinary Americans -Gillian Hadfield
An Empirical Assessment of the Access Challenge
A) A Need For A National Civil Justice Survey Of Incident And Claiming Behavior - Theodore Eisenberg
B) Connecting Self-Representation to Civil Gideon: What Existing Data Reveal About When Counsel Is Most Needed - Russell Engler
C) Examining The real Demand for Legal Services - Herbert Kritzer
D) Self-Representation in Paid Bodily Injury Claims in Texas, 1988-2005 - Charles Silver and David Hyman
E) The Psychological Challenges of Pro Se Litigation - Tom Tyler and Nourit Zimerman
Real World Challenges
A) Thurgood Marshall, Meet Adam Smith: How Fee-shifting Statutes Provide a Market-Based System for Ensuring Access to Justice, and How Judges Don’t Get It- Samuel Bagenstos
B) Rights and Beyond- Children's Special Need for Counsel- Katherine Hunt Federle
C) The Right to Equal Justice In Civil Cases: What Other Countries May Have to Teach - Hon. Earl Johnson, Jr.
D) The Challenges of Calculating the Benefits of Providing Access to Legal Services - J.J. Prescott
E) Trying To Make the Best of the Civil-Justice Market: Interim Report on a Work in Progress - Thomas Rowe
Access in ADR
A) Lawyerless Dispute Resolution - Jean Sternlight
B) Representation in Mediation: What We Know from Empirical Research - Roselle Wissler
C) Nothing for Something? Denying Access to Legal Assistance to Those Compelled to Participate in ADR Proceedings - Stephan Landsman
News reporters can contact Debbie Weixl at 312/988-6126 or weixld@staff.abanet.org, in the ABA Division for Media Relations and Communication Services, for resources and interview requests relating to this project.
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