Interviews by phone and in person were conducted in 1993 with more than 3,000 low- and moderate-income Americans to ask about circumstances experienced that pertain to civil justice. (Link is major findings only.)
Researchers and Academics
Economic Benefits of Civil Legal Aid
This two-page fact sheet lists five ways the civil legal aid also yields substantial economic benefits.
Civil Legal Aid in the United States: An Update for 2019
This report outlines the developments in civil legal aid between July 2017 and December 2019.
Evidence-Based Access to Justice
This article proposes the use of controlled, randomized experiments to evaluate whether a particular access to justice intervention leads to the same rate of wins and losses as full and competent attorney representation; and whether the intervention provides litigants with the ability to adequately perform all tasks they would need to perform to enable the judge to reach a fair and accurate decision.
Legal Services for All: Is the Profession Ready?
Charm writes that legal needs are highly elastic: resources will never be adequate to address every problem. There will always be constraints and because of that, the legal profession is not ready for legal services for all. Instead, public policy must involve resource targeting and rationing.
Randomized Evaluation in Legal Assistance: What Difference Does Representation (Offer and Actual Use) Make?
The randomized evaluation found that the offers of representation from the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau (HLAB) clinic had no statistically significant effect on the probability that an unemployment claimant would prevail in the “appeal”.
The Impact of Legal Counsel on Outcomes for Poor Tenants in New York City’s Housing Court: Results of a Randomized Experiment
Tenants with pro bono representation from the program did significantly better than tenants that did not have representation. Representation did not significantly impair the court system’s efficiency.
Expungement of Criminal Convictions: An Empirical Study
J.J. Prescott and Sonja B. Starr of University of Michigan published a study on expungement uptake, recidivism rates, and employment outcomes among people who obtained set-asides (which is similar to expungement) in Michigan.
The Opioid Crisis in America & the Role Medical-Legal Partnership Can Play in Recovery
This brief presents four case studies of medical-legal partnerships (MLPs) with projects dedicated to assisting those with opioid use or substance use disorder in Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Portsmouth (Ohio) and Reno. It finds that MLPs are successful at reducing barriers to employment, stabilizing families, and improving health.
Social Determinants and Military Veterans’ Suicide Ideation and Attempt: a Cross-Sectional Analysis of Electronic Health Record Data
A study funded by the VA National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans and published by the Journal of General Internal Medicine in November 2019 analyzed the relationship between adverse social determinants of health (including violence, housing instability, financial/employment problems, legal problems, familial/social problems, lack of access to care/transportation, and nonspecific psychosocial needs) and suicide ideation and attempt among veterans.
Legal Aid Research 