Every year, millions of low-income people throughout the United States struggle through serious, complex civil legal disputes without the help of a lawyer. Most low-income households find that private counsel is unaffordable and free legal aid is unavailable due to the high demand and legal aid programs’ limited time and resources. More than 45 million individuals have incomes low enough to qualify federally funded legal aid, but equal access to justice is often hard to find.

The Legal Services Corporation (LSC)—the largest federal source of funding for free legal representation in civil cases—undertook a comprehensive study that documented the existence of this “justice gap”.

In a report published in 2005 and updated most recently in 2009, LSC found that:

• LSC-funded programs turn away nearly one million cases annually due to lack of resources; untold additional clients never find their way to the programs.
• Each year fewer than 20 percent of low-income people with civil legal problems obtain the legal assistance they need.
• Counting all (not just LSC) legal aid programs, the U.S. has one lawyer for every 6,415 low-income people but one lawyer for every 525 people in the general population.

In addition to the LSC report, many organizations have undertaken to analyze the justice gap in their particular state.  Some examples include:

• Maine (2007 report of Justice Action Group): of those able to receive some help, 85% only received only brief service or consultation.  At one state legal services provider, 83% of low-income individuals seeking assistance were turned away.
• New Jersey (2009 report by Legal Services of New Jersey): only 21.7% of low-income people seeking assistance obtained legal help.

• Washington (2003 report of Washington State Supreme Court's Task Force): low-income people in the state face 85% of their legal problems without an attorney.
• Wisconsin (2007 report of Access to Justice Committee) (80% of low-income people with legal need unable to obtain help).

Many countries have long-established civil legal aid programs that are adequately funded by the government and ensure ample coverage. In the U.S., where civil counsel is not guaranteed, funding for legal aid programs compares poorly to other industrialized nations.

England spends twelve times as big a portion of its gross domestic product on civil legal aid as the U.S., where federal funding of legal services has declined by 50 percent over the last quarter century.  Read more about this in our section on international perspective.