Article Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel

By The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board

Published July 19, 2015

In the not-too-distant future, Floridians seeking legal advice on divorce, landlord disputes and other civil matters might be able to access a public kiosk for help in finding the proper legal forms or a qualified attorney to handle their cases.

Under the leadership of Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Jorge Labarga, an effort is underway to make the courthouse more accessible to working-class Floridians. It's a worthwhile goal, one that deserves wholehearted support from business leaders and elected officials. Unfortunately, the initiative may stall without a sign of support from Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature, who regularly find themselves at odds with the court system.

In this year's record-setting state budget, for example, Florida's 67 clerks of court were shorted $22 million and now must decide whether to lay off staffers or close courthouses early, which would hardly help with access. Funding for legal-aid programs has shriveled, too, and last week the Supreme Court rejected a proposed dues increase for Florida Bar members that would have better funded such efforts.

Florida's Constitution guarantees equal access to the courts, but statistics paint a different picture. According to the Bar, people represent themselves in roughly 85 percent of family law cases, a number that should give us pause. After all, people who represent themselves typically don't understand the rigors of presenting evidence or the rules of procedure. And the inability to obtain legal assistance in civil court cases — which include family law, landlord-tenant disputes, domestic violence and human trafficking — undermines families, affects productivity and threatens peoples' health and safety.

Congress isn't helping much, either. Last month the U.S. House voted to cut $75 million from the federal Legal Services Corporation budget, a 20 percent reduction. If the cut stands, Florida will lose $4 million and legal aid societies, such as Coast to Coast Legal Aid in Broward County, will likely have to cut staffing and turn more poor people away.

It's not just indigent people who have trouble accessing the courthouse. Many middle-class families also find it cost-prohibitive to pay hundreds of dollars per hour for an attorney to take their case.

To address the challenge, Labarga formed the Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice and asked the group to suggest ways to make the courthouse more accessible and affordable.
New computer software that will help individuals easily obtain forms, or find qualified lawyers, are two ideas the group is considering. The panel's five subcommittees hope to make several recommendations later this year.

The panel's Technology Subcommittee also is considering proposals that would place information kiosks in courthouses, public libraries and shopping malls. Plus there's talk of letting non-lawyers help people navigate the process, talk that concerns some lawyers fearful of a changing profession.

How to pay for these new services is the big question, which makes the work of the commission's Funding Subcommittee so critical. Whatever the subcommittee proposes, state lawmakers should give it careful consideration because the problem of legal access is real. To date, 38 states have set up similar panels to find ways to simplify court procedures, expand pro bono work and provide legal assistance to those who can't afford it.

The ideas for reform are there. What's yet to be determined is the will to implement them.