Access to justice is difficult in state

The state ranks 50th in access to justice, but the committee wants to change that dismal ranking.

It was the topic at the Oklahoma Bar Association President’s Breakfast during the annual meeting. Three members of the committee participated in a panel discussion and pointed to the needs impacting the state.

Panelists included Supreme Court Vice Chief Justice Douglas Combs; Anna Carpenter, professor at the University of Tulsa College of Law, and David Riggs of the Riggs Abney Law Firm, who serves as committee chair.

Combs said one of the reasons the state ranks so poorly is the lack of certified court interpreters. It also needs a statewide delivery system that would allow more middle income people to have access to the court, Combs said.

This program would be available to families earning $35,000-$40,000 annually who cannot afford to pay $5,000 upfront for legal services. It is not just poor people who need access to legal council.

Another committee focus is to identify groups and individuals already providing pro bono services. If these organizations were under an umbrella, they could communicate and see where their services overlap.

The commission recently expanded from seven to 11 members to ensure there was balance and diversity, Riggs said.

“People are needed and we would love to have individuals from the business community with interest in providing access to justice on the committee,” Riggs said. “This is not something that points towards a welfare system or an entitlement program.

“We have a wonderful legal system, the best in the world, but we are failing in a substantial way to provide the protection of our court system to the people who need it the most.”

This is not about lawsuits and huge amounts of money, Riggs continued. It is about helping people with legal problems that go beyond landlord/tenant issues, family law matters and everyday issues that people encounter.

“Our legal system has become too complicated for the average person to understand how to approach and deal with,” he said. “It is too expensive for working people.”

The Legal Services Corporation receives about 40 percent of its funding from the federal government, but Oklahoma’s legislature hasn’t matched the level of funding that legislatures in other states have done.

Lawyers need to get in front of their legislators and help them understand that funding legal services is not an entitlement program, Riggs said.

People need to stay in their homes, have cars available so they can go to work, get health care and help their children get an education. That is what is needed to benefit Oklahoma’s economy, yet he noted it is something that no one seems to understand.

Carpenter said the committee reached out to the state’s three law schools and asked if they could serve the Access to Justice Committee needs.

“The resounding answer from the deans was ‘no’ because students work on a limited schedule and must be closely supervised,” she said.

The eight TU students under Carpenter’s supervision work about 100 hours on protective orders and the professor adds another 30 to 40 hours overseeing their work.

“I asked the commission if we could help by having the students serve as advisers to help figure out the forward path to access to justice,” she said. “That work would include researching the best practices and how they can be applied.

This is an exciting time for the work in Oklahoma because there is an increasing amount of work going on. It will help the committee be more effective and well-positioned.”

A law school study found that people often don’t go to court because they fail to realize they have a legal problem, she said. It also found that in the 70-to-90 percent of people going to courts across the country, one party will be unrepresented.

These are some of the findings by students, she said.

“I am looking forward to the students presenting their findings to the commission and partnering with them on the access to justice project.”