Washington Lawyer - November/December 2024 - 6

FROM OUR PRESIDENT
Turning the Odds
Toward Justice
By Shaun M. Snyder
A
t its core, access to justice
begins with having access
to legal representation. If
you cannot afford a lawyer,
your ability to navigate the legal
system is severely hindered.
Quite frankly, even as a lawyer I would not feel
comfortable attempting to navigate most parts
of the legal system with which I have no previous
experience. Imagine what it must be like
when you have no attorney, possibly do not
speak English, and need to respond to a summons
or show up in court where the opposing
party is represented. Each year, for thousands
of people in the District of Columbia, this scenario
is their reality.
According to a 2022 Legal Services Corporation
study, 74 percent of all low-income households
nationwide experienced at least one civil legal
need in the prior year. For most of the people
affected, at least one of those legal problems
had a severe impact on their lives.
Here in the District, the D.C. Access to Justice
Commission's 2019 report Delivering Justice:
Addressing Civil Legal Needs in the District of
Columbia provides some sobering statistics
on the number of litigants who appear pro se
in D.C. Superior Court:
* 97 percent of plaintiffs in small estate matters
in the Probate Division
* 97 percent of respondents in paternity and
child support cases in Family Court
* 88 percent of petitioners and 95 percent of respondents
in the Domestic Violence Division
* 88 percent of designated respondents in the
Landlord and Tenant Branch of the Civil Division,
in contrast to the 95 percent of plaintiffs
who were represented
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* NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2024
* 83 percent of plaintiffs and 93 percent of respondents
in divorce/custody/miscellaneous
cases in Family Court
* 75 percent of plaintiffs in housing conditions
cases in the Civil Division
Even attorneys who routinely provide pro bono
representation are often shocked when I cite
these statistics. I've also heard repeatedly from
judges about the significant disadvantage parties
face when they appear in court without an
attorney.
Think about the stakes involved. When parties
lose these cases, they may not only owe money,
but also may lose their home. Or they might
find themselves disadvantaged in the resolution
of a divorce or domestic violence case, at
risk of losing custody of a child.
It is clear that one of the greatest needs to expand
access to justice is full representation in
a litigation matter. At the D.C. Bar Pro Bono
Center's Advocacy & Justice Clinic, you have
opportunities to transform lives by providing
pro bono help in a housing, family, or Social
Security disability law matter.
The D.C. Bar has a wealth of legal talent in the
region, with nearly 70,000 of our members living
in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and
Virginia. Many of those members provide pro
bono help, but we clearly need more.
I used to have two reasons for justifying why
I could not volunteer: lack of time and intimidation
due to lack of subject matter familiarity.
If those reasons sound familiar, I can assure
you there are ways to address them. At the Pro
Bono Center's Advice & Referral Clinic, you can
provide brief advice and referral services for
part of the day on a Saturday. The clinic is set
up with mentors on-site for all subject matter
areas the clinic serves, so you won't be without
experienced support to ensure the client gets
the best service possible.
In full disclosure, as president of the D.C. Bar,
I also serve as president of the D.C. Bar Pro Bono
Center's board of directors, so of course I'm a
big supporter of its numerous pro bono opportunities.
However, there are many other organizations
in the District that provide free legal
services to our neighbors in need, from brief
advice and referrals to full representation. I have
never heard anyone who has volunteered say it
was not worth their time. On the contrary, volunteers
find pro bono service incredibly rewarding
and seek out ways to continue.
If you have not yet signed up for a pro bono
event, please take this opportunity to do so and
schedule it within the next few months. Ask a
friend or coworker to attend with you. If you
routinely provide pro bono services, take a colleague
with you who hasn't volunteered before.
You can even bring nonattorneys to help with
intake and other support services.
Access to justice is one of my three primary
areas of focus as D.C. Bar president, alongside
member engagement and the future of the
profession. We are not going to tackle overnight
the challenge of expanding access to justice,
but if each of us gets involved and then
inspires others to volunteer, we will start to see
a compounding effect in terms of numbers.
This involvement will have a real impact on the
lives of people who, absent a legal volunteer
helping them, have far lower odds of a favorable
and just outcome. Let's turn those odds
around.
Connect with Shaun at ssnyder@dcbar.org.
Scan to apply for a full
representation case
through the Advocacy
& Justice Clinic!
Patrice Gilbert Photography
Washington Lawyer - November/December 2024

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