Written by Tom Gordon

Responsive Law has just released its Report Card on Barriers to Affordable Legal Help. The report card grades all 50 states and the District of Columbia on how their regulations regarding the practice of law restrict consumer access to the legal system. Unfortunately, the news is not good, with no state receiving a grade higher than a C.
The report card graded three areas:

1. barriers to affordable help from lawyers (45% of total grade),
2. barriers to affordable help from non-lawyers (40%), and
3. support for self-represented litigants (15%).​

Written by Briane Cornish

A District of Columbia bar committee has proposed several rule changes that will facilitate the provision of limited scope legal representation. Limited scope representation makes legal services more affordable to low- and moderate-income individuals, by allowing them to use a lawyer for smaller tasks such a one-time consultation or help with preparing a document. For example, you could agree with a lawyer to pay a flat rate amount simply for review of a contract. Or you could pay another flat rate amount to have an experienced attorney represent you in court on one or several dates (as opposed to throughout your entire case).
 

Written by Tom Gordon

We recently sent the Wisconsin Supreme Court our suggestions for how it could best support Limited Scope Representation (or "unbundling"), which is a new form of legal representation that would allow lawyers to advise clients on only selected elements of a legal matter. You can read our comments here.

Tom Gordon is Executive Director of Responsive Law.

Written by Tom Gordon
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In a previous blog post, I discussed how the divorce rate had dropped during the recession in part because people simply couldn't afford the cost of a divorce. Consider one way in which those costs could be brought under control for the average consumer. A recent article in LawyersUSA notes a trend toward "unbundled legal services" -- legal services provided on an "as needed" basis. In the article, Attorney Susan O'Brian stated that a full service divorce usually requires a $4,000 retainer, and depending on the complexity of the case and whether there are custody issues, a divorce can cost between $10,000 and $50,000.