Philadelphia Bar Association's Civil Gideon Corner

MISSION OF THE PHILADELPHIA BAR ASSOCIATION'S CIVIL GIDEON AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE TASK FORCE

In 2009, Chancellor Sayde Ladov formed the Philadelphia Bar Association's Civil Gideon and Access to Justice Task Force ("Task Force"). The mission of the Task Force is to investigate and consider all aspects of an effective system of civil Gideon in Philadelphia, including the development of concrete and practicable proposals to advance the implementation of a civil right to counsel in those areas of adversarial civil proceedings where basic human needs are at stake. This web site was developed in 2010 to further the mission of the Task Force to educate the legal and public community about the need for civil Gideon in these critical matters. In 2014, the Task Force changed its name to the "Civil Gideon and Access to Justice Task Force" to reflect its strategic goals to promote the right to counsel in civil cases involving basic human needs in the long term and address the growing civil justice gap and access to justice issues in the short term.

WHAT DOES CIVIL GIDEON MEAN?

In the landmark United States Supreme Court case of Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963), the Supreme Court decided that indigent defendants have a constitutional right to be represented by an attorney, at no charge, in state criminal cases. The term "civil Gideon" refers to a growing national movement that has developed to explore strategies to provide legal counsel, as a matter of right and at public expense, to low-income persons in civil legal proceedings where basic human needs are at stake, such as those involving shelter, sustenance, safety, health or child custody.

NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHT TO COUNSEL MOVEMENT

The National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel (NCCRC) maintains a web site that provides updated information about the civil Gideon movement as well as articles, resources and other information about current litigation, legislation and related efforts and strategies nationwide to expand the right to civil counsel. The NCCRC web site also contains a number of insightful studies and reports from across the nation that address the urgent need for legal representation for low-income individuals in cases where basic human needs are at stake and illustrate the economic and societal benefits and costs savings achieved by providing such services. The NCCRC was formed in 2003 to facilitate collaboration among advocates nationwide and provide training, research and other support to legal services programs, bar associations, law schools, private law firms, and others in their local efforts to establish a civil right to counsel.

Committee Co-Chairs

Megan Watson

BKW Family Law LLC
1528 Walnut St Ste 1100
Philadelphia, 19102-3621
(215) 790-8800

Len Rieser

Temple University Law School
1719 N. Broad St.
Philadelphia, 19122
(215) 843-8803

Mr. Kadeem Morris

Community Legal Services of Philadelphia
1424 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, 19102
(215) 981-3774

News & Developments

Economic Return on Investment of Providing Counsel in Philadelphia Eviction Cases for Low-Income Tenants:

On Nov. 13, the Philadelphia Bar Association released a cost/benefit study, Economic Return on Investment of Providing Counsel in Philadelphia Eviction Cases for Low-Income Tenants, conducted by Chicago-based Stout Risius Ross, LLC (Stout), and called for the city to fund counsel for low-income tenants in eviction proceedings. The key findings of the study include the following:

If the city invested $3.5 million per year to fund counsel for low-income tenants, the city would save $45 million per year in the following costs, plus other unquantifiable benefits:
- $26 million in shelter costs
- $7.5 million in inpatient hospital costs
- $1 million in ER costs
- $7.5 million in mental health costs
The study found that the cost/benefit for the city would be $12.74 benefit for every $1 invested in providing counsel.
Representation by a lawyer makes an impact on the outcome of an eviction case: Without a lawyer, 78% of tenants are disruptively displaced. With a lawyer, only 5% are disruptively displaced – 95% avoid that displacement.
If the city invests $3.5 million in funding for counsel for low-income tenants, approximately 14,000 people (in 4,400 households) will be assisted in avoiding disruptive displacement each year.

There was extensive local and national publicity about the Stout study, which was generated in large part by communications assistance provided by Voices for Civil Justice and BerlinRosen. Click here to review the media coverage.

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Economic Return on Investment of Providing Counsel in Philadelphia Eviction Cases for Low-Income Tenants (November 2018)

An article published on July 24, entitled,‘More City Money for Anti-Eviction Efforts Brings Expanded Access to Legal Services for Tenants,’ highlights the recent $850,000 budget allocation for legal services provided by Philadelphia Eviction Prevention Project (PEPP) to low-income tenants for FY2019.