Defenders Association Executive Director Calls for State Support of Civil Legal Services

" 'Civil Gideon' Will be Pyrrhic Victory if Patterned on New York's Fragmented Implementation of Gideon v Wainwright," Gradess Says

ALBANY, NY (01/07/2010)(readMedia)-- Individuals in need of civil and criminal legal services are often the same people, and from the same communities, New York State Defenders Association Executive Director Jonathan E. Gradess noted today. At a hearing in Albany on IOLA and the Future of Civil Legal Services in New York State, he asked State Senators to consider broad reforms to ensure access to justice. "These clients and communities need corporate counsel," he said, to "not only help in individual cases, but help in giving voice to legal rights."

Gradess lauded the Senate Standing Committees on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction, Judiciary, Codes, and Veterans and Military Affairs for addressing not only the current crisis in civil legal services funding but broader, long-term questions. He pointed out that the current fragmented system for dealing with the legal needs of the poor often restricts the ability of lawyers to address those needs in the most effective way.

Local efforts such as those of the Monroe County Bar Association to minimize the fragmentation as well as to raise money for legal services do help, Gradess observed, but are not enough. He called for the State to "commit to annually provide from the general fund a minimum level of funding – $40 million – for civil legal services statewide."

Gradess also pointed out that calls for "civil Gideon" – expansion of the right to counsel into areas of civil law – would be a "pyrrhic victory" if modeled on the current implementation of the landmark right to counsel decision Gideon v Wainwright.

He was not the only one to make this point. Bryan D. Hetherington of the Empire Justice Center testified at an earlier hearing. He told the Senators that when expanding civil legal services, "New York should not repeat the mistakes that have occurred on the criminal side where staggering caseloads and the lack of quality standards have led to calls for reform of the criminal assigned counsel system."