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In response to both the nationwide economic crisis, advocates in a number of states have looked to incremental ways to advance the civil right to counsel in their states.  One such approach is the implementation of pilot projects that provide counsel to a limited number of people while gathering critical data on the costs, savings, and impacts of providing counsel.

California

UPDATE: California has selected the grantees for its first round of pilots.  Read more about the grantee proposals here.

California Assembly Bill 590 created pilot projects to appoint counsel for low-income Californians in cases affecting basic human needs.  Named the Sargent Shriver Civil

Counsel Act, the bill passed the California legislature in spring 2010 but was then caught up in California's budget crisis. However, reports of its death proved to be exaggerated; the fact of its dedicated funding source from court fees no doubt contributed to its resurrection. The projects will begin operating in October 2011.

AB 590 had wide support, including from both parties in the legislature and editorial support from The New York Times. And California advocates worked tirelessly to keep it on the governor's radar screen.

The blogosphere has been trumpeting the bill's significance. See, e.g., Jonathan Smith, Exec. Dir. of the Legal Aid Society of DC, on makingjusticereal.org, "California takes a big step towards Civil

Gideon"; John Marshall Law Professor Steve Schwinn's posts on the Constitutional Law Prof Blog: "Equal Access to Justice in California" and "Schwarzenegger Signs Equal Access to Justice Bill"; Rebecca K. Blemberg, Marquette U. Law School Faculty Blog, "California Moves Towards Civil Right to Counsel."

Since it was signed, the bill has continued to receive media attention. An article appeared in The Wall Street Journal on Oct. 26, "'Civil Gideon' Trumpets Legal Discord,"and the Los Angeles Times on Oct. 17 published a 1000+-word article entitled "California Gives the Poor a New Legal Right." LA's legal newspaper, the Los Angeles Daily Journal, published a front-page article on Oct. 13: "Law Creates New Right to Counsel in Civil Cases."

Massachusetts

Advocates in Massachusetts have launched two pilot projects exploring the impact of full representation in eviction cases.  The projects grow out of the work of the Boston Bar Associate Task Force on Expanding the Civil Right to Counse that culminated in a 2008 report.  The pilot projects test the theory that an expanded civil right to counsel should target the cases in which counsel is most likely to impact the outcome.

Representation focuses on scenarios identified through a survey of housing experts in the state: 1) where the eviction was tied to a mental disability; 2) where it involves criminal conduct, and 3) where listed factors reveal a power imbalance

likely to deprive a tenant of an affordable apartment where a viable defense exists.  One pilot project is situated in a specialized housing court and another in a generalized district court, since evictions occur in both types of courts in Massachusetts. 

Evaluative tools, including a randomized analysis or study, will attempt to measure the efficacy of the program, testing the theory that representation in fact leads to a preservation of shelter.  The projects also hope to obtain estimates as to the numbers statewide of these types of eviction cases, should the program become the basis for a statewide proposal.  Other options for evaluation that will be explored include interviews with both accepted and rejected clients, court observations, and interviews with

various court personnel and community members.

Three private sources are providing the funding: The Boston Bar Foundation, the Massachusetts Bar Foundation and The Boston Foundation. There is no public funding involved.

Texas

In 2010, the Texas Access to Justice Foundation funded two civil right to counsel pilot projects that will last for approximately 20 months.   The two pilots will serve litigants at 125% or below of the poverty level, and will have an evaluation period that attempts to determine the costs, savings, and impacts of providing counsel.

The first pilot is being operated by

Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, which received $347,000 to provide counsel in foreclosure cases.  Although Texas is a nonjudicial foreclosure, there are still some foreclosures that must be approved by a court, such as home equity and reverse mortgage foreclosures.  The project will serve six counties near the border that have traditiionally been underserved.

The second pilot is being operated by Lone Star Legal Aid, which was awarded $310,000 to provide counsel in tenant defense cases.

Other