ACCESS TO civil legal services
People have a right to access affordable, high quality civil legal services. Below you can find data sources to help determine your access level.
Access to legal services is limited for many individuals as a result of cost and language barriers, mistrust, and lack of information. Without legal assistance, navigating the court system and managing matters including family law, child support, domestic violence, evictions, foreclosures, debt collection, and employment issues becomes is increasingly difficult. Much of this difficulty can be avoided with the help of an attorney.
Civil legal problems impact people’s ability to pursue their full potential, limiting their access to basic needs like safety, economic security and family stability. Other examples of civil legal problems include:
Traffic, tax, and Veterans’ Affairs disputes
Consumer scams
Criminal record repair
Healthcare access
Housing issues, landlord abuse, and home preservation
Immigration status
Income security
Protection from harassment, sexual violence, intimate partner violence
THE JUSTICE GAP
Nearly 1 million people seeking help with civil legal problems are turned away as a result of insufficient resources and cost. In 2022, the Legal Services Corporation estimated that of all civil legal problems reported by low-income Americans, 92% do not get any or enough assistance.
The justice gap represents the difference between the level of civil legal assistance available and the level that is necessary to meet the legal needs of underserved communities and families.
Civil legal problems often involve basic needs like safe housing, healthcare, child custody, and protection from abuse.
The Justice Gap Report: national overview of the prevalence of civil legal problems and access to legal help within low-income populations in comparison to other income groups. Justice Gap Infographics: presents downloadable information on specific population groups within regions.
Eviction Tracker: provides county eviction filing rates and state eviction policies. Tenants are often unaware of their rights against unlawful landlords. See Eviction Laws Database.
Legal Services Corporation Grantees: provides map of state LSC partners with information on eligibility, closed case numbers, client genders, and special populations served.
LSC is the single largest funder of civil legal aid for low-income Americans, providing grants to local legal service providers.
LSC, however, is just one provider of free or reduced legal aid.
Each state has a number of private attorneys and service providers with individual eligibility guidelines.
Baseline eligibility often means that household income may not exceed 125% of the Federal poverty level threshold, but not all providers adhere to this. 2023 Federal Poverty Guidelines provides information on states up to the 1000% poverty threshold, including monthly income percentages.
CIVIL RIGHT TO COUNSEL
Civil Right to Counsel Interactive Map shows civil right to counsel activities by state, the status of civil right to counsel laws by case type, the efforts in which the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel (NCCRC) is involved, or the states where NCCRC has a presence.
Right to Appointed Counsel (Civil Gideon) is a publicly-funded, legal government commitment that ensures that all eligible those facing the loss of their basic human needs are provided a lawyer. While this right exists in criminal matters according to the U.S. Constitution, it exists at present only in very limited, and state determined, circumstances in civil matters. People can still go to jail, lose their housing, physical safety, and life-sustaining medical benefits in a civil case.
NCCRC Map Instructions: Open Tool > In the grey bar, choose between recent activity, right to counsel status, NCCRC’s Work, or NCCRC Presence. Click on your state (jurisdiction) OR choose a subject area (housing, immigration, benefit claims, debt, healthcare, etc.) > A grey box with relevant information will appear > Click See info for all subject areas for a state breakdown of all major developments & right to counsel laws (sorted by subject area).
Note: Many states do not have information for every issue (meaning, state laws do not require a right to counsel for certain issues).
State Legal Access Maps
County poverty & related population demographics
Number of active lawyers in county
Number of lawyers from GA Legal Services or Atlanta Legal Aid Society (serve low-income populations) in county
SC Justice Gap Interactive Tool
State and county poverty levels & housing cost burden
Attorneys per 1,000 people below the 125% poverty line
Percent of unrepresented cases by type
Self-representation
Self-represented litigants often feel outmatched by opposing counsel.
Mistakes due to lack of knowledge or experience lead to harm of case or jeopardization of rights, self-representing litigants feel lost in both the individual steps and the big picture of the case and resources may need specific guidance for understanding
Judges confirm that the inability to effectively present their case from an evidentiary standpoint works against self-represented litigants.
Litigants dealing with personal and professional obligations must also take on responsibilities that otherwise would have fallen to a professional.
Reduced space to process emotional issues outside of court, and discussing family situations can leave litigants feeling vulnerable and isolated.
Helpfulness of court staff varies, and the line between legal information and legal advice poses a challenge for both courts and litigants.
Paperwork involved in court proceedings can be unclear and result in litigant mistakes and processing rejection.
Proceeding without representation is easier for those with a simple case, prior court experience, or are personal connections or education/engagement with professional work.
Those who do succeed without incurring the expense of an attorney come out of the process with a feeling of empowerment.
See Cases Without Counsel for more information.
Many people choose to self-represent, or lack the resources to hire an attorney in states where there are no state right to counsel laws. They are referred to as self-represented litigants. Cases Without Counsel provides suggestion for determining how many people in your area experience this.
Reasons for not having an attorney:
Largely desired, but not affordable
Free and reduced-cost services not readily available
Concern about the impact of attorney involvement within relationships
Desire to have a voice in the process (to tell story in their own words).
DATA on self-representation
To determine levels of self-representation in your community, we recommend reaching out to your county court system or legal aid attorney office to examine the following:
What is the # of persons in my county who are self-representing?
What is the # of attorneys taking legal aid cases?
What types of cases are most common with this group (self- representing)?
What are the poverty levels in my community?
What are the education levels in community?
What resources are available and what resources are being utilized?
What are the perspectives of those that choose to self-represent?
queer community RESOURCES
Additional resources
Law Help Interactive: cost-free website that helps you fill out legal documents