The “justice gap” is vast.

See - http://www.nytimes.com/ (opinion pages).




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OAK PARK, Ill. — MILLIONS of Americans lack crucial legal services. Yet enormous numbers of lawyers are unemployed. Why can’t the supply of lawyers match the demand?


In Nebraska, 20 out of 93 counties have fewer than four lawyers. Eleven counties have no lawyers at all. TheMontana Legal Services Association, a nonprofit group that is partly federally funded, reports having only 13 case-handling lawyers for the entire state. Throughout the country, millions of low-income people have no access to free or affordable lawyers, even for life-altering civil matters like child-custody disputes or home foreclosures, where legal representation really matters.


This “justice gap” is vast. According to the World Justice Project’s latestRule of Law Index, which gathers primary data on people’s practical experience of the law in 102 countries, the United States ranks 65th for the accessibility and affordability of its civil justice. We’re tied with Botswana, Pakistan and Uzbekistan, not far behind Moldova and Nigeria.


In most service industries, such an epic imbalance of supply and demand would entice more entrepreneurs. But the legal profession has failed to do so.


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