Juxtaposing strong statements by state bars & lawyer groups, including @ABAesq, with the lack of serious action, or frankly sustained attention, to access to justice raises squarely the question of whether bar leadership will ever practice what they preach./1
2/Lots of preaching, occasional resolutions, but where is the action? BIPOC communities suffer disproportionately from the lack of access to justice system, civil & admin. (Crim justice is a separate, but profound matter in its own right). Housing, family issues, incl custody &/2
3/domestic violence, employment, education, immigration. Many other issues. We KNOW about #A2J gap. We KNOW efforts to close it have been largely unsuccessfully, too often falling on deaf ears. And we have some good (if imperfect) mechanisms to tackle it. Including/3
4/enabling allied professional/non-JD holders to provide advice & representation, under careful consumer protection regs; user-friendly courts & judicial processes; reliance on #ADR & restorative justice methods; targeted technology to reduce costs & expand access; creative/4
5/financing mechanisms including, w/appropriate regulation, non-lawyer investment in law firms & legal orgs; and, yes, making law school less expensive. We KNOW about these solutions (as we are working on others). But we also know that our protectionist guild stands squarely/5
6/in the way of this change. Using "we need more lawyers" and "we need more pro bono" as shibboleths, when we know that these are inadequate answers. And also mouthing paeans to consumer protection & fear of, gasp, "non-lawyers" and "tech" as though these are obstacles, rather/6
7/than pathways to closing the A2J gap. And, influential bar leaders, stand by the sidelines. Giving out messages about A2J and Black Lives matter, without seeing clearly that BLM & improvement of the lives & livelihoods of BIPOC community requires ACTION. So, next time a/7
8/"feel your pain" notes comes out from your local or nat'l bar or your favorite law firm, ask this: "What are you going to do as an organization to support concrete steps, steps we can point to with data & evidence, that will close A2J gap of our historically disadvantaged/8
9/and long suffering communities, including our Black and Brown brothers and sisters? No more resolutions; real action. Black lives matter? Lawyers part of the solutions, not the source of the problem? PROVE IT. @ABAInnovation @BarPresidents @LSCtweets #BLACK_LIVES_MATTER
