In testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary on July 9, 2024, Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht laid out his ideas to make the civil justice system accessible for all Americans.1
Current methods for increasing access to justice fall into two categories: pro bono publico and legal aid services. But even with Texas’ 114,000 lawyers providing more than 2.7 million hours of free legal services, plus another one million hours in reduced-fees hours, pro bono work only meets a fraction of the state’s legal aid needs.2
Legal aid, defined by Chief Justice Hecht as “the employment of lawyers to provide legal services to the poor,” was not widespread until Congress created the federally funded Legal Services Corporation (LSC) in 1974. That funding is then distributed by LSC to legal-aid societies throughout the country. In Texas, there are three LSC partners: Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Lone Star Legal Aid, and Northwest Texas Legal Aid. To qualify for legal-aid services from LSC partners, a client’s annual income must not exceed 125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, which in 2024 is $18,225 for an individual and $37,500 for a family of four.3
But again, Chief Justice Hecht said, LSC meets only a fraction of the need.
Chief Justice Hecht has a six-point plan for how the legal community, as well as the non-legal community, can help improve access to justice.
1. Increased Use of Technology
Technology increases efficiency. Trainings can be done remotely, as can participation in court proceedings, thereby saving lawyers and clients both time and money. Documents can be stored and processed more easily and dependably using digital systems.
2. Use of AI to Complement WorkÂ
While artificial intelligence cannot dependably supply accurate briefings or give clients advice, it can help with time-consuming and repetitive processes like summarizations of documents, depositions, and interviews.
3. Fewer Pro Se Litigants
Most states’ civil courts have replicated the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, “which are designed to provide fairness and order in the most complex cases but not economy and simplicity,” Chief Justice Hecht writes. Litigants unable to afford the cost of a typical lawyer and unable to qualify or find legal-aid providers often choose to be pro se in cases dealing with eviction, debt collection, employment, and contracts. But pro se litigants often find it difficult to navigate the rules of procedure. The solution to this problem is to reduce the number of pro se litigants by expanding the number of legal-aid providers through funding and training to allow paraprofessionals to practice in certain areas of law without a law license.
4. More Legal Service Providers
Legal services to the poor must be guided by lawyers, but much of the work in this area can be done by trained paraprofessionals without a law license. In 2023, the Texas Supreme Court approved a certification program for paraprofessionals to allow them to perform specific tasks previously limited to lawyers. Enlisting more paraprofessionals to undergo this training can increase the number of legal-aid providers while reducing client costs.
5. Limited Licensure Program
Current law school curricula and bar exams are not well-suited to lawyers who want a more limited practice, such as legal aid, Chief Justice Hecht writes. Additionally, the costs associated with law education “pressure those who cross the finish line to seek more remunerative rewards.” To address this, the Conference of Chief Justices has formed the Committee for Legal Education and Admission Reform (CLEAR).4 This committee is currently researching the idea of creating a specialized course of study and limited licensure at much less expense and aimed at a particular type of practice, such as a legal-aid practice.
6. Prioritize Legal Aid Funding
“A House Appropriations Committee chair once told me that legal aid is underfunded because it’s only a priority for lawyers,” Chief Justice Hecht wrote. LSC’s Leaders Council helps make legal aid funding a priority for society by involving businesspeople, professionals, sports figures, and others outside the legal world in understanding the need and making the case. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences recently devoted its first open issue of its Daedalus publication to informing its non-legal readership of the challenges facing access to justice.5 ENDNOTES
1 https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2024-07-09_-_testimony_-_hecht.pdf
2 2021 Pro Bono Report, State Bar of Texas Dept. of Research & Analysis
3 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-B/chapter-XVI/part-1611