As pro se litigation and Internet-based services become more popular avenues for pursuing legal resolution, the value of professional counsel is increasingly called into question. Through a review of relevant literature focused on several areas of law, this article explores whether legal representation produces desirable outcomes in civil disputes. While some results are mixed, evidence appears to strongly support legal representation in a variety of cases and contexts.
Legal Aid Attorneys
Roles Beyond Lawyers: Summary and Recommendations of an Evaluation of the New York City Court Navigators Program
This report found that tenants facing eviction in New York City were able to get significantly better results under an innovative program that uses “court navigators,” who are not lawyers. The New York City Court Navigators Program seeks to address a considerable imbalance in legal representation, since, at the time of the study, approximately 90 percent of tenants did not have a lawyer, while the vast majority of landlords did.
A National Study of Access to Counsel in Immigration Court
This study of immigration cases between 2007 and 2012 provides data to support claims that a public defender system for immigrants facing deportation may be efficacious for both the immigrants and the immigration courts.
Civil Legal Aid in the United States: An Update for 2015
This report outlines the history of civil legal aid and highlights the major developments in increasing funding and improving access to services between June 2013 and December 2015.
2007-2008 Evaluation Findings Clean Slate Program
The LFA Group conducted an evaluation for the San Francisco Office of the Public Defender on the Clean Slate Program. LFA Group finds that the Clean Slate program reduced barriers to employment, education, public benefits, and housing.
Civil Legal Aid and Domestic Violence: A Review of the Literature and Promising Directions
This comprehensive literature review takes stock of the current research on civil legal aid and domestic violence. It finds that civil legal aid is promising, but underexplored.
Battered Women’s Multitude of Needs: Evidence Supporting the Need for Comprehensive Advocacy
Researchers interviewed participants within the first week of leaving a shelter program. After the first interview, some of those involved were randomly selected to work with an advocate. They compared the effect of the advocacy intervention between those who received the service and those who did not. In their cluster analysis and found that DV victims present three groups of needs: those related to housing, education and employment, and legal issues. They found that of those leaving a domestic violence shelter, 59 percent reported unmet legal needs.
The Challenges of Calculating the Benefits of Providing Access to Legal Services
This essay explores how policymakers and other public-interested actors have empirically calculated the benefits of providing low-income access to legal services in the past, and how they might improve upon existing methods going forward. The author reviews, criticizes, and tries to build on two major civil justice needs studies, one published by LSC in 2005 and the other by the ABA in 1994.
In Pursuit of Justice? Case Outcomes and the Delivery of Unbundled Legal Services
This non-randomized study tracked and compared outcomes for tenants facing eviction in a single California trial court, all of whom received unbundled help drafting a responsive pleading. The provision of unbundled legal services had no measurable impact on ultimate outcomes.
The Impact of Legal Aid Services on Economic Activity in Texas: An Analysis of Current Efforts and Expansion Potential
Legal aid inherently has societal value, but it is also a prudent use of state resources from a pragmatic, economic perspective.
Legal Aid Research 