Access to JusticeOxford University Press, USA, 23/09/2004 - 252 páginas "Equal Justice Under Law." This promise appears on courthouse doors across the land. But it by no means describes what goes on inside them. Equal access to justice is one of America's most proudly proclaimed principles. And one of its most frequently violated. In theory, the United States is deeply committed to individual rights. Yet few Americans can afford the legal representation necessary to exercise them. Only one percent of the nation's lawyers serve our poorest citizens, translating to one lawyer for every 1,400 poor people. The nation with the world's greatest concentration of lawyers has one of the least accessible systems of justice. Written by America's leading expert on legal ethics, Access to Justice vividly chronicles the wide gap between the lofty aspirations and harsh realities of American justice. As Deborah L. Rhode demonstrates, America is overlawyered and underrepresented: there is too much law for those who can afford it and too little for everyone else.; Although indigent defendants are entitled to legal representation, what satisfies that standard is an affront to the civilized world, and especially shameful for a nation that considers itself a world leader in human rights. Convictions are regularly upheld when lawyers are asleep, on drugs, mentally incapacitated, or even parking their car during the prosecution's case. The justice system is not only inaccessible for the poor; it is increasingly out of reach for the American middle class as well. Rhode's analysis also includes on the first comprehensive national study of lawyers' charitable pro bono work ever conducted, encompassing some 3,000 attorneys. The average lawyer, she finds, contributes less than half an hour a week and fifty cents a day in support of representation for those who cannot afford it. Access to Justice avoids both simplistic lawyer-bashing and liberal lament. Rhode outlines what could and should be done to curb frivolous litigation, but focuses her attention squarely on the far greater problem of unnecessary expense and unaffordable remedies.; A scathing indictment of America's legal status quo, Access to Justice presents no mere manifesto but a reasoned and realistic agenda for lasting reform |
Índice
The Gap between Principle and Practice | 3 |
Too Much Law for Those Who Can Afford It Too Little for Everyone Else | 24 |
Legal Rights and Social Wrongs | 47 |
4 Access to What? Law without Lawyers and New Models of Legal Assistance | 79 |
The Legal Needs of LowIncome Communities | 103 |
Class Injustice in Criminal Justice | 122 |
7 Pro Bono in Principle and in Practice | 145 |
8 A Roadmap for Reform | 185 |
Notes | 195 |
241 | |
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ABA Journal access to justice adequate Adversarial Legalism American Bar Association American Lawyer appointed counsel attorneys awards bar ethical bar’s bono contributions bono programs bono service caseloads claims clients concerns consumers costs criminal David Luban death penalty Deborah Deborah L dispute resolution domestic violence effective efforts Equal Justice experience federal fees Fordham Law Review funding graduates groups Houseman increase indigent defense individuals involving judges judicial justice system lack law firms Law Review law school lawyers legal aid Legal Ethics legal needs legal profession Legal Services Corporation limited litigation low-income malpractice Mandatory Pro Bono Multidisciplinary National Law Journal nonlawyers organizations percent policies political poor practitioners problems probono professional prohibitions Public Defender public interest public service reform Report representation response restrictions Rhode Right to Counsel social standards strategies Supreme Court survey Texas tion tort Tort Reform trial unauthorized practice volunteer York