This article was originally published in The Florida Bar News and is shared here with permission from the publication.
Legal aid adds efficiency to the judicial system, provides career growth and development for attorneys, and strengthens communities across the state.
United we stand, divided we fall. In today’s polarized environment, the one common thing we can all agree upon is that words once exchanged in healthy debate have become weaponized in headlines and back-and-forth social media exchanges. As communities become more divided, a belief in the American dream seems to be fading along with our core notions of democracy – a national recognition and unifying vision of the value of our communities, their structures and the vital role our legal system plays in society.
In the body of the legal community of Florida, if voluntary bar associations are the heart of the profession – providing training, mentoring lawyers, promoting professionalism, and investing in the community – then legal aid serves as its conscience.
Legal aid is a system whose impact and worth go far beyond simply “doing the right thing.” It is more than simply helping those who can’t afford representation. Representing the poor is more than needing to check the pro bono box in pursuit of good-standing status or required continuing legal education credits. As the nearly sole provider of representation for those for whom access is out of reach (20-40% of Floridians), legal aid is the foundation of the profession’s commitment to the community. It adds efficiency to the judicial system, provides career growth and development for attorneys, and strengthens communities across the state. It’s about fulfilling our oath to defend the Constitution and taking responsibility for maintaining and improving the system in which we all operate.
A RENEWED FOCUS ON PURPOSE
Shared responsibility and common benefit are part of what I call “Big America.” They are the common denominators that can motivate and unite the profession. The Constitution is the framework for how our country functions; it supports both our social fabric and our economy and is essential to everyday life. Legal aid, whether through pro bono counsel or via organizations like Community Legal Services, which I lead, is a key component with impact that benefits everyone, regardless of their place on the political spectrum.
Legal aid service organizations connect attorneys to clients through legal clinics, resource referrals, case work and research, full matter representation and pro bono follow-up. In the current contentious times, a fresh look at how our efforts reduce government inefficiency, create opportunity for lawyers and strengthen communities across the state is beneficial.
MORE EFFICIENT STATE GOVERNMENT
Matters such as evictions, debt collection and family law disputes often lead to issues like homelessness, poverty, crime, and illness. Those issues immediately impact state-provided services. Offering representation for those who could not normally afford it gives immediate benefit to the individual client, obviously. But for the veteran or spousal abuse victim who receives help navigating those issues, legal aid helps them avoid dependence on a wide range of taxpayer-funded assistance programs, including welfare, housing, and healthcare. Importantly, legal aid also helps reduce the frequency of self-representation, which creates costly inefficiencies in administering justice. Legal aid helps resolve common issues such as access to child support that, if not addressed early, can quickly require increasing degrees of state involvement.
PROFESSIONAL GROWTH FOR ATTORNEYS
Legal aid pro bono work offers attorneys a structured path to fill in gaps that the grind of firm life may obscure. For early- to mid-career lawyers especially, pro bono provides exposure to areas of the law that may not be included in their associate assignments. Pro bono is an excellent way to network and expand one’s professional (and personal) connections. Working alongside and observing senior counsel in new practice areas is especially valuable.
In a disproportionately stressed profession, legal aid can provide attorneys with a return to the common career motivators of social justice and helping people. According to the 2024 ALM and Law.com Compass Mental Health Survey of the Legal Profession, 47% of lawyers said they felt a sense of failure or self-doubt, 52% have lost motivation, 52% felt increasingly cynical and negative, and 57% had decreased satisfaction and sense of accomplishment. Pro bono via legal aid allows attorneys to pursue those formative ambitions and provides the balance and job satisfaction so often lacking in the field.
CREATING STRONGER COMMUNITIES
Legal aid strengthens and enhances our communities. Without legal aid helping clients navigate the system, simple legal matters can limit their ability to build productive and contributory lives for themselves and their families.
Recently, we took on a client who had been a caretaker for an elderly woman who had since died. Her house sat abandoned and unclaimed by her heirs. Our client, who had nowhere to live, moved in. For 13 years she made improvements to the house and paid property taxes. She came to us believing (correctly) that under the law, she was entitled to the house. We were able to successfully navigate a highly skeptical court and secure a deed in the client’s name. By doing so, the woman remained housed. Her hard work and adherence to her tax payments kept the home from foreclosure, declining into ruin, becoming an eyesore for the community and falling into the hands of private investors. She created an asset to leave to her children, boosting their futures. Her ability to build equity and make improvements to the property has helped keep her historic community intact. The impact of this relatively simple matter has had a ripple effect that extends far beyond its original intention.
A FOUNDATION OF TRUST
As providers of legal aid – and as the conscience of the profession – when we do our jobs correctly, we eliminate waste in the legal system and dependency on taxpayer-funded services; we expand career satisfaction, opportunity and growth for practitioners; and we strengthen communities, enabling them to make positive economic and social contributions to society. Our primary goal is client satisfaction, not just with our organization but with a legal process that’s our clients’ inherent right. Most importantly, we help maintain and restore people’s faith in a legal system that is of, by and for the people. We cannot achieve our goals, however, without the help of the entire legal profession. Your participation, just like that of those we serve, is essential to the rule of law, our democracy and the concept of a Big America.
Jeffrey D. Harvey is the chief executive officer of Community Legal Services, a full-service civil legal aid law firm meeting the needs of the Central Florida community. He is a 24-year veteran of the United States Army and recently completed a master’s in strategic studies at the U.S. Army War College.
https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-news/restoring-faith-through-legal-aid/