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Access wiki (participants only)

ABA Model Access Act and Basic Principles

At its meeting in early August 2010 the ABA House of Delegates adopted a Model Access Act and Basic Principles of a Right to Counsel in Civil Legal Proceedings. The Model Act is a statute that implementing jurisdictions can use to establish and administer a civil right to counsel, while the Basic Principles seek to clarify the fundamental requirements for providing effective representation in certain high-priority civil proceedings to persons unable to afford at attorney, in order to guide policymakers and others working to implement the right. The resolutions, including a growing list of co-sponsors, are posted on the

website of the ABA's Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants.  The resolutions were developed by the ABA Working Group on Civil Right to Counsel, which convened in Sept. 2009. The Working Group sought and considered input from a wide range of interested parties in finalizing the drafts that will go before the House of Delegates.

2006 ABA Resolution on Civil Right to Counsel

At its 2006 annual meeting, the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association unanimously adopted the following resolution:  "Resolved, that the American Bar Association urges federal, state, and territorial governments to provide legal counsel as a matter of right at

public expense to low income persons in those categories of adversarial proceedings where basic human needs are at stake, such as those involving shelter, sustenance, safety, health or child custody, as determined by each jurisdiction."

State and Local Bar Assn. Action

Since then, state and local bar associations have acted in support of efforts to achieve recognition of a civil right to counsel. For example:

  • The Fall 2009 Interim Report and Recommendations of the Maryland Access to Justice Commission includes as one of its recommendations that "Maryland Should Embrace the Principle of a Civil Right to Counsel."
  • In April 2009 the Philadelphia Bar Association passed a resolution supporting a civil right to counsel.
  • The New York State Bar Association Adopts Civil Right to Council report. Read the resolution and the report.
  • The President of the New York County Lawyer's Association Encourages Passage and Expansion of Senior Citizen Right to Counsel Bill Pending in New York City. Read the letter here.
  • New York State Bar President Kate Madigan is featured in a 60-second radio spot focusing on a civil right to counsel.
  • The MN State Bar Association has established a civil right to counsel task force. See this site for more information.
  • The Boston Bar Asssociation's Task Force on Civil Right to Counsel released a report in September 2008 with specific proposals on implementing a civil right to counsel in Massachusetts. Read the report here.
  • The Hawaii Justice Foundation and State Bar released an extensive civil justice needs study in 2007 recommending a civil right to counsel.
  • In 2007, the Washington State Bar Association submitted an amicus brief in King v. King, before the Washington Supreme Court, in which a woman seeking custody of her children asserted a right to counsel under the state constitution.
  • The Maryland State Bar Association submitted a brief in Frase v. Barnhart, a case in which the state supreme court was considering whether the right to counsel should exist in custody cases.
  • The New Hampshire Access to Justice Commission is examining the civil right to counsel issue.

Resources