We Can Close the Access-to-Justice Gap, But You’re Not Going to Like It

See - We Can Close the Access-to-Justice Gap, But You’re Not Going to Like It





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The high cost of legal representation

Our legal system has a pretty obvious problem: its cost. The cost of legal representation, in particular. Average hourly rates in 2012 were about $370 for associates. It would take someone working at minimum wage (currently $7.25) more than a week to pay for a single hour of the average associate’s time. At the medianU.S. household income of $50,502, that’s still a bit less than two days of work, before taxes.

[A]ny way you look at it, though, there is a gap. A huge gap. A lot of people cannot afford a lawyer.

Fortunately, lawyers.com says that in rural areas and small towns, fees of $100 to $200 per hour are “probably the norm.” So anywhere from two to four days for someone working at minimum wage, without taking taxes into consideration. Or a day, for someone at the median. That’s without taking into account the cost of living, obviously.

And then, Americans average around $15,000 in credit card debt, $147,000 in mortgage debt, and $31,500 in student loans. In other words, for many Americans hiring a lawyer probably means going into more debt, which means adding interest, and often late fees and overdraft charges, to the lawyer’s hourly rate.

If you are really poor, you might be able to get a lawyer to represent you for free. In general, this means people at or below 125% of the poverty line. (125% of the poverty line is currently $14,363 for an individual, and $29,438 for a family of four. That’s about what you’d make working full-time for minimum wage, and most people would consider themselves poor at twice that.) Free legal services can’t help everyone, either. The Brennan Center for Justice) says about 80% of the need is unmet. Legal Services Corporation says (pdf) it turns away about 50% of those who apply for help.

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