Legal Grounds Wisconsin®
NEED BREWING FOR PRO BONO ATTORNEYS IN WISCONSIN
Observations indicate the legal profession, particularly the Wisconsin legal profession, is failing its obligation to provide voluntary legal services to people of limited means. By necessity, people have been increasingly emphasizing expansion of pro bono legal services through various policy and delivery options. “Pro bono” is a declining part of most lawyers’ work, even as leaders of the organized bar exhort them to help provide Wisconsin’s poor with this drastically needed legal service.
Studies have found that nationally, pro bono services to the poor represent less than one percent of lawyers’ working hours. The Wisconsin Equal Justice Coalition Fund clarified this national trend in stating that over 500,000 Wisconsin residents live in poverty. Due to desperate financial situations, these residents cannot afford a lawyer when faced with pressing legal problems.
The gap between the legal needs of the poor and the resources available to meet those needs is growing dramatically. Wisconsin’s civil legal services programs provide assistance to approximately 20,000 low-income people each year. However, legal services programs must frequently turn away many more needy families because the agencies themselves lack the resources to provide quality assistance. Estimates suggest that the State of Wisconsin has one attorney for every 414 citizens, but only one legal services attorney for every 8,476 low-income citizens.
Although the need is greater now than ever before, the participation of Wisconsin lawyers in pro bono legal services still appears to be declining. The legal profession alone cannot solve the problem of adequate representation of the poor, but small, creative projects provide efficient, enjoyable use of attorneys’ limited free time.
Attorneys interested in participating in Legal Grounds Wisconsin® may contact the Judicare office 8:30-4:30 weekdays at 1-800-472-1638. Average time commitment is approximately 3-5 hours per year...no prior brewing experience is necessary!
Last Updated: April 13, 2008
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Wisconsin Judicare, Inc. provides the information on this Web site as a public service to low-income persons in northern Wisconsin, our participating attorneys, card issuers, and other Internet users. While the information on this site is about legal issues, it is not legal advice. Laws vary from state to state and even federal laws may be applied differently in different states. Moreover, due to the rapidly changing nature of the law and our reliance upon information provided by outside sources, Wisconsin Judicare makes no warranty or guarantee concerning the accuracy or reliability of the content at this site or at other sites to which Judicare.org links.