Cyrus Dugger

Brennan Center: Legal Aid Organizations Release Study Finding Only 13 Percent of Low-Income Households in Utah With Civil Legal Problems Receive Legal Assistance

From the Brennan Center for Justice:

Legal Aid Organizations Release Study Finding Only 13 Percent of Low-Income Households in Utah With Civil Legal Problems Receive Legal Assistance

A recent report, released by And Justice for All, a Utah-based non-profit supporting civil justice, and LSC-funded Utah Legal Services, found that only 13 percent of the low-income households in Utah with legal problems received legal assistance last year. The goal of the study, The Justice Gap: The Unmet Legal Needs of Low-Income Utahns, was to develop a better understanding of the “justice gap” in Utah in order to assist civil legal services providers throughout the state to identify how to better meet the needs of low-income people. Through intensive interviews of 1,500 low-income people with varying demographic backgrounds, the researchers were able to examine the scale of legal problems faced by low-income people. They found that over two thirds of low-income households in Utah face civil legal problems each year. Additionally, the study concluded that the civil legal assistance most required by low-income people is, in the following order: family law, employment problems, housing issues, and consumer law. The study received significant praise from members of the civil justice community. Christine Durham, the Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice, called the assessment “an extraordinary piece of work.” (read the study (pdf). Pamela Manson, Poor Often Go It Alone in Utah’s Legal System, The Salt Lake Tribune (Utah), Feb. 1, 2007; Geoffrey Fattah, Poor Struggle to Get Legal Help, Deseret Morning News (Utah), Feb. 1, 2007; also based on original reporting by Brennan Center staff.

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Posted at 5:32 PM, Feb 12, 2007 in
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