DC judges urge lawyers to take on pro bono cases amid shortage

WASHINGTON - Judges in Washington, D.C. are sounding the alarm over a massive shortage of lawyers in non-criminal cases.

What we know:

According to the judges, thousands of residents in the D.C. Court system could wind up being their own lawyers because there are not enough attorneys to provide free pro bono representation.

Unlike criminal cases, where defendants who cannot afford representation have a constitutional right to a court-appointed lawyer, civil court provides no such guarantee. As a result, thousands of low-income D.C. residents must navigate complex legal battles on their own. Some of those disputes involve evictions, child custody, debt collection and protection orders.

Judges are warning that this growing divide, termed the "civil justice gap," has created a severely uneven playing field.

What they're saying:

"The vast majority of people who come into our civil courts are unrepresented," said Judge Ebony M. Scott of the Superior Court of D.C. "In criminal cases, you have a right to counsel. Not so much in civil cases, so quite frankly, you’re out of luck. That’s mind-blowing in a city like D.C., where we have the greatest concentration of lawyers in the country."

The disparity is particularly stark in housing court, where roughly 85% of tenants facing eviction have no legal representation, while approximately 95% of landlords have attorneys.

Family court faces a similar strain. Jenadee Nanini of the D.C. Bar Association noted that nearly 90% of parties appear without legal counsel.

"The supply just does not meet the demand in the District," Nanini said. "These are your neighbors in the District, people. We all come from families, and these people are in court alone with the most sacred parts of their life at issue."

Judge J.P. Howard of the D.C. Court of Appeals said that in certain sensitive areas of the court, the number of unrepresented parties reaches as high as 97%.

"We need more resources and particularly more attorneys to come and make our system work for the people that it affects," Judge Howard said.

Because private law firms are not mandated to provide pro bono assistance, many choose to donate to charitable causes instead of dedicating legal hours to free representation. Court officials stress that the resulting influx of self-represented litigants not only harms individual cases, but also slows the entire judicial process.

"The legal system is a system designed by lawyers for lawyers, and it’s very difficult for individuals to navigate without the help of representation," said Jody Feldman, Pro Bono Manager for the D.C. Courts. "All of the relevant information may not get to the judge, or time is spent on irrelevant information because people aren’t trained to be lawyers."

What's next:

To address the crisis, judges are making a direct appeal to the District's broader legal community, focusing particularly on young attorneys who are eager to gain courtroom experience.

Judge Howard pointed out that stepping into pro bono civil work presents an ideal opportunity for early-career lawyers to argue cases directly before a D.C. judge while helping residents who cannot afford counsel fill the civil justice gap.