The D.C. Courts issued an order on Thursday creating Community Justice Workers, a program that will allow trained community justice workers to provide legal assistance to those who can't afford a lawyer.
The court system said the program, which will start in April, aims to help civil litigants who don't have an attorney with cases that affect their housing, family stability and financial security.
D.C. Court of Appeals Chief Judge Anna Blackburne-Rigsby told Law360 Pulse on Friday that this order addresses a long-standing problem that the courts have tried to address through the creation of its Access to Justice Commission. While D.C. attorneys have a great culture of helping in pro bono matters, she said it's still not enough, and the courts see civil litigants who don't have an attorney.
"The program is, I think, a great example of thinking outside of the box and being innovative and looking at certain innovations that have worked in other places and tailoring those kinds of experiences to what we are willing to try here in the District of Columbia," Judge Blackburne-Rigsby said.
Community Justice Workers will be supervised by attorneys and legal service providers that are approved by the D.C. Courts. The order allows trained nonlawyers to guide people on understanding court proceedings, providing legal advice, helping with forms, preparing documents and offering limited in-court support.
Judge Blackburne-Rigsby said the program allows for maximum innovation by allowing legal service providers to pitch to the courts how they want the Community Justice Workers model to work for them, such as focusing on landlord-tenant disputes.
"We're not imposing a cookie-cutter structure on every single applicant," Judge Blackburne-Rigsby said.
She said the model garnered the most support as a starting point for the D.C. Courts.
"Because there are a lot of people in our communities that are trusted, where people go to ask questions, and if they're further empowered with information about how to help them and to identify some of their problems as actual legal problems that can be addressed through the courts, that really to me is a force multiplier of being able to get to the people who need help and have the question," Judge Blackburne-Rigsby said.
She said this program aims to support existing efforts to serve civil litigants.
"There's a high level of commitment to the lawyers in private practice donating pro bono hours and a strong culture of pro bono service by licensed practitioners," Judge Blackburne-Rigsby said. "We also have a large network of legal service provider organizations, neighborhood legal services, legal aid, legal counsel. There's a whole list right here within D.C., and even with all of these entities and individual lawyers recognizing the issue, it's still not enough and that, I think, surprises people sometimes when we talk about those numbers."
Nancy Drane, executive director of the D.C. Access to Justice Commission, who served on the task force, said civil litigants who don't have an attorney are facing significant life pressures from the threat of losing housing, losing custody of their child, or trying to obtain a court order to protect themselves from an abusive domestic partner and are "being asked to navigate a system that was designed for lawyers."
"You're walking into this courtroom, which is intimidating for a lot of people, and you have to represent yourself," Drane said. "You have to figure out, 'What do I say to the judge? What kinds of things should I raise? What are my rights? How should I go about navigating this case?' It's a mystery to people, and so the idea that you have someone next to you who understands how everything works, who can give you advice about what you should be sharing with the court or what your rights are, that is just transformative."
Drane said the task force intentionally didn't limit the areas that the program can handle and instead will have legal service providers that apply to the program determine how it can help their existing efforts.
"I'm so proud that the task force did that and that the court followed that recommendation, because I think it's really going to increase the impact that this move will make," Drane said. "There are countless ways that this can be utilized, and I'm really excited to see what the community does."
Drane said the task force found that most people in civil cases in its courts don't have a lawyer to represent them.
She said the task force found that legal service providers had nonlawyers on staff who understand the issues and are great with clients who could work within the program.
"This rule will really change that dynamic and allow organizations, if they want to, to train those people up as community justice workers and then hopefully it'll mean they can serve more people, which is the ultimate goal of all of this," Drane said.
Drane said she saw other jurisdictions, such as Alaska, getting help to civil litigants.
Alaska Legal Services Corp. started its community justice worker program in 2019, according to its website. Based on a tribal community health aid model, the program allows trained people to provide legal assistance in civil cases.
The D.C. court system said this program stems from its Civil Regulatory Reform Task Force, which looked at unmet legal needs and available services for low-income and moderate-income D.C. residents with civil matters.
The task force's efforts were led by its co-chairs Court of Appeals Judge Roy W. McLeese III and Superior Court Judge Alfred S. Irving Jr. over the past two years.
Superior Court Chief Judge Milton Lee said in a statement that "whether it's in landlord and tenant, small claims, probate, divorce, custody, protection orders," there is an "entire arena where there is no constitutional right to a free attorney."
"This is the courts' effort to level the playing field among the thousands of litigants that come through our doors every year," Judge Lee said.
Jim Sandman, vice chair of the D.C. Access to Justice Commission and a task force member, said in a statement that this announcement is the culmination of collaboration across the justice system and the community.
"Judges, court staff, legal aid organizations, the private bar, and community partners all worked together to solicit extensive feedback from the community and then to design a model that expands access to help while maintaining strong standards for training, supervision, and accountability," Sandman said.
The courts said that the program is drawing support from community organizations that want to participate in the new program.
Ariel Levinson-Waldman, founding president and director-counsel at legal services provider Tzedek DC, said in a statement that they have seen for years how "people struggle with legal problems simply because they do not have access to affordable help."
"Allowing financial counselors with whom we work, following appropriate training, to convey basic legal information and advice under a supervising attorney as community justice workers could offer a pathway to increasing our capacity to serve more residents at risk of debt- and other consumer-related legal problems and promote economic and financial empowerment for low-income D.C. residents," Levinson-Waldman said.
Karen Dale, market president at AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia, which offers healthcare solutions for people who are low-income or chronically ill, said in a statement that the organization is committed to "whole-person solutions that address both health care and health-related social needs."
"The emerging Community Justice Worker model aligns seamlessly with this vision," Dale said. "By embedding trained community navigators within neighborhoods, clinics, and social service organizations, we can empower residents to access the civil legal supports that influence health, such as stable housing, benefits access, employment rights, and family stability."
--Editing by Brian Baresch.
Update: This story has been updated with additional comments from Judge Blackburne-Rigsby and Drane.
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