A SUMMARY OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN 2010
The reconstituted Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission made progress on many fronts during its first ten months. Commission Co-Chair Ralph Gants distributed the following summary of the year at the Commission meeting January 13, 2011.
ADOPTED A SOLID STRUCTURE FOR ACCESS TO JUSTICE INITIATIVES
Organized around six working groups dealing with delivery of legal services, technology, administrative justice and court practice in probate and family court, housing court and district court together with Boston Municipal Court.
Result: Working Groups recruited more than fifty participants from the courts, the private bar, legal services and elsewhere
Result: Each working group has made significant steps toward improving access to justice (see elsewhere).
Supported and coordinated with the work of the Trial Court’s Special Advisor on Access to Justice Initiatives
Result: The Special Advisor has achieved major initial goals including an initial report, the Berkman Centers technology report, the information center at the Brooke courthouse, and limited assistance representation.
Created a Special Planning Committee to explore complex structural issues affecting the funded providers of civil legal services.
Result: Major realignments are being made and others considered.
Broadened and diversified Commission membership.
BROUGHT TO FRUITION WORK BEGUN BY THE ORIGINAL COMMISSION
Guided adoption and implementation of Access to Justice Fee by BBO
Result: BBO properly implemented fee; Nearly $1.0 million projected in 12 months
Strong support for the Special Advisor to the Trial Court on Access to Justice Initiatives, helping her with LAR, TIG grant, Berkman Center and self-help center at Brooke Courthouse.
Strong support for the Boston Bar Association’s Task Force on Expansion of the Right to Counsel in Civil Cases.
Results: Right to counsel expanded for juveniles in parole revocation hearings or when aging out, and to prospective wards in guardianship proceedings.
PRO BONO INITIATIVES
Proposed SJC annual pro bono commitment recognition awards and letters
Result: Under consideration at SJC Pro Bono Committee
Proposed to sponsor a pro bono conference for corporate counsel to encourage more pro bono.
SPOKE TO ACCESS TO JUSTICE ISSUES
Spoke out on cuts in the FY 2011 budget of the judiciary, MBA support for LAR and Citizens Bank plan to cut IOLTA interest rates.
WORKING GROUP ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Delivery of Legal Services
The Social Services Agency Workers Project expanded use of www.masslegalhelp.org
Caused creation of law student clinical program at NESL for review of prisoner petitions.
Website and Technology
Provided catalyst for partnership of legal services programs, the courts and the Commission in successful pursuit of $150,000 LSC TIG grant to develop online interviews to produce pleadings in family law cases and advance use of e-filing. A second grant is likely.
Recruited creative industrial design firm to explore consumer’s perspective on seeking access.
Formed loose coalition, facilitated by Harvard’s Berkman Center, to improve web tools used by self-representing litigants.
Administrative Justice
Joined with EOHHS to improve notices denying benefits and supported better language access plans for all Executive Branch agencies.
Court Practice Working Groups
All three court practice working groups have advanced their court’s acceptance of LAR.
Surveyed Housing Court access-to-justice practices.
Improving Probate and Family Court forms for use by self-represented litigants.
SPECIAL ADVISOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Issued Preliminary Report on Access to Justice in the Trial Court.
Harvard’s Berkman Center on Internet and Society prepared, pro bono, a report on best practices for Massachusetts to adopt for using technology to improve access to justice.
Opened first Consumer Information Center in the lobby of the Brooke Courthouse in Boston.
Planned training for non-judicial personnel of the Trial Court using Manual for Clerks and other Non-Judicial Personnel for assistance to self-representing litigants.
SPECIAL PLANNING COMMITTEE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Met with regional leaders and MLRI to discuss critical current issues.
Southeast Region: Merging two regional programs to increase efficiency.
West-Central Region: Working toward consolidation of three programs.
Mass Law Reform: Pursuing its prior plan to increase fund raising and hire permanent executive director to maintain traditional MLRI role.
Northeast Region and East Region: Explored pending issues.
The Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission was originally created by an order of the Supreme Judicial Court in February 2005, based on a proposal submitted by the Massachusetts State Planning Board for Civil Legal Services. The Commission had 21 members and was chaired by Herbert P. Wilkins, Chief Justice (ret.) of the Supreme Judicial Court.
The Commission issued four annual reports and one report based on a series of hearings.
The Commission had five major purposes:
To encourage achievement of the vision, mission, core values and core capacities adopted in September 2003 by the Massachusetts State Planning Board for Civil Legal Services;
To convene periodic Access to Justice Conferences and encourage participation in the conferences by members of a broadly-defined equal justice network so that better coordination of all parts of the effort to produce equal justice for all are more effective, more efficient and more successful;
To develop and maintain a comprehensive understanding of the civil legal services provided to low-income people in the Commonwealth, to promote widespread understanding of civil equal justice, to address laws and regulations that affect meaningful access to justice and to report periodically to the Supreme Judicial Court on the status of access to justice in the Commonwealth;
To provide a neutral forum in which important policy issues affecting access to civil justice for low-income people in the Commonwealth can be discussed and brought to agreement among a broad cross-section of providers, funders, clients, bar leaders and other interested parties;
To consider important issues concerning the delivery of civil legal services, including controversial issues that are not being resolved by consensus, and to make recommendations for reforms, new initiatives and appropriate resolutions.
The Supreme Judicial Court reconstituted the Commission at the end of the five years specified in the original order. In February 2010 the initial Commission turned over its pending business to the reconstituted Commission. A brief summary of the pending business follows:
The Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission submitted its Fourth Annual Report to the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court on September 15, 2009. The report briefly summarizes the activities of the Commission from July 2008 to June 2009.
During the year, important positive steps supported by the Commission were taken on access to justice. Highlights include the report of the Boston Bar Association Task Force on Expanding the Civil Right to Counsel, the final report of the Court’s Steering Committee on Self-Represented Litigants, appointment by Chief Justices Marshall and Mulligan of a Special Advisor for Access to Justice Initiatives, enactment of the Uniform Probate Code, amendment of the Uniform Small Claims Rules, and adoption of a Standing Order permitting Limited Assistance Representation statewide.
The Commission, recognizing the financial needs facing providers of legal services for the poor, proposed a rule change that would add $50 to each lawyer’s annual registration statement unless the lawyer affirmatively opted out of the payment. The Commission also studied the impact of regionalization on the delivery system and discussed possible removal of some restrictions from Legal Services Corporation grants.
In addition, the Commission is examining two often-overlooked components of the Commonwealth’s access-to-justice system: the activities of thousands of social service agency workers who provide legal information to low-income clients; and the role of administrative agencies of the Executive Branch, which administer and determine the legal rights of tens of thousands of low-income individuals.
THE COMMISSION SEEKS SJC APPROVAL OF $50 ADD-ON FEE FOR LEGAL ASSISTANCE
The Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission has submitted a proposal to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court requesting an amendment of S.J.C. Rule 4:03. The proposal, dated February 12, 2009, would add a $50 fee to the lawyers' annual registration with the Board of Bar Overseers. The added fee would be used to fund legal services to people of low income and programs designed to improve the administration of justice, especially for needy Massachusetts residents. The fee is voluntary; a lawyer who does not wish to pay the fee can opt-out.
The proposal is supported by the two largest bar associations in the state. Letters from Edward W. McIntyre, President of the Massachusetts Bar Association, and Kathy B. Weinman, President of the Boston Bar Association, reporting the strong support of both organizations are attached to the proposal.
A supplemental letter concerning technical matters was submitted to the SJC Rules Committee by Commission Chair Herbert P. Wilkins.
CURRENT COMMISSION PROJECTS AND ACTIONS
Along with the proposed add-on described above, current Commission projects include an examination of the role of social service agency workers in providing legal information and assistance on the legal problems of agency clients, an exploration of access to justice issues in the Executive Branch agencies and preparing for possible legal services delivery system changes if the LSC entity restriction is removed by Congress.
In October 2008 the Commission adopted a resolution in support of the civil Gideon recommendations of the report of the Boston Bar Association's Task Force on Expanding the Civil Right to Counsel.
In January the Commission noted with approval the Final Report and Recommendations of the SJC Steering Committee on Self-Represented Litigants. Many of the recommendations, developed through the work of the Committee, had been supported in the Commission's Report on Barriers to Access to Justice.
In June 2009, Chief Justices Marshall and Mulligan appointed Hon. Dina Fein, a member of the Commission, to the new position of Special Advisor on Access to Justice. The Commission hopes to work closely with Judge Fein as she coordinates judicial resources on access to justice issues.
COMMISSION HISTORY
In 2006-2007 the Commission took testimony at four hearings regarding barriers to access to justice in the Commonwealth. The hearings were held in Springfield, New Bedford, Lawrence and Boston. In June 2007 the Commission filed with the Supreme Judicial Court its report and recommendations based on the barriers identified by witnesses. Between November 2007 and March 2008 the Commission met with the Chief Justices of all the Trial Court Departments, received their written and oral comments and discussed the findings of the report with them.
The Commission has also issued four annual reports. The Third Annual Report, for the year ended June 2008, describes the meetings with the Chief Justices and the other activities of the Commission.
