State Budget Panel Debates Civil Legal Aid
Some Lawmakers Say Pilot Program Backed by George Sets Expensive Precedent

By Gary Scott
Daily Journal Staff Writer

SACRAMENTO - A legislative budget committee is weighing the fate of Chief Justice Ronald M.George'splan to provide state-funded legal assistance to some indigent civil litigants.
Last week, a Senate subcommittee rejected outright the $5 million, three-year pilot program to provide state-funded civil lawyers in more-serious civil cases. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed the program in his January budget at George's behest.
An Assembly subcommittee has taken a more complicated tack, redirecting half of the funds the governor requested to self-help centers that provide legal advice but not direct representation to indigent litigants. The remaining $2.5 million would fund a narrower pilot program focused on family law, under the Assembly plan.
The difference between the Senate and Assembly recommendations means the matter will have to be resolved in a joint conference committee on budget matters. The committee started debate late Friday.
The program would fund civil legal assistance in three Superior Courts - one urban, one suburban and one rural. The three counties have not been chosen, but the types of cases that would be covered range from domestic-violence restraining orders to child-support and custody battles to probate - cases in which unrepresented litigants might be confused by the complexity of the law or blinded by emotion.
"There is a high percentage of self-represented litigants in California's courtrooms," said WilliamVickrey, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts. "At times, there are problems that are both so serious and so complex that there is a risk of real injustice if somebody doesn't have representation."
But lawmakers in May balked at the proposal, citing a report from the legislative analyst's office that raises concerns about the precedent and the potential cost of the program, were it to be expanded.
"This proposal moves the courts in the direction of providing legal services to unrepresented litigants in civil cases on a statewide basis," the report states.
"Funding affordable legal services for the poor, while a commendable goal, would ultimately be a very expensive new commitment for the state" at a time when California is trying to close an estimated $5 billion structural deficit.
Last year, the American Bar Association's House of Delegates passed a measure urging state governments to provide access to legal counsel as a matter of right in civil cases, "where basic human needs are at stake, such as those involving shelter, sustenance, safety, health or child custody."
According to a 2002 study by the State Bar, the cost to provide legal services for all the poor in California would have been $384 million - a number the analyst says would be "significantly higher now."
ButVickreysaid the program does not try to provide "a lawyer for every person in a civil case who cannot afford it, only in cases that affect the safety of individuals, and then only in areas where there is a view of a serious risk of injustice there."
The legislative analyst also said the program appears to duplicate the services provided by legal aid.
But proponents of the program say federally funded legal aid organizations can only meet the needs of 20 percent of California's poor, leaving many without representation in serious civil cases.
Under the program, the court would contract with a local legal services center to provide an attorney, but only at the trial judge's discretion.
"We believe that, based on the discussions we had [with George] that it was a meritorious program," said H.D.Palmer, spokesman for the state Department of Finance.
In the January budget message, Schwarzenegger argued the program could prove helpful in alleviating a backlog of civil cases clogging the courts.
A number of other high-stakes, high-cost items related to judicial branch funding also are headed to the conference committee, all of which could overshadow the so-called "Access to Justice Pilot Program." Still,Vickreysaid the council would continue to advocate for it, even if it means accepting the Assembly's scaled-down version.
The governor's office pledged continued support. Legal service organizations, the State Bar and Assemblyman DaveJones, chair of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, also pledged support.
"$2.5 million is a good start,"Jonessaid. "I would count that as a great victory."
Jones, D-Sacramento, worked as a legal services attorney and is a leading proponent of the pilot program.
"Millions of ordinary Californians are unable to afford a lawyer, and yet they have disputes and issues that require them to be in our civil court," he said. "It is absolutely essential that we provide more resources to make sure that ordinary Californians have equal access to justice."

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