HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A boom in the number of people representing themselves in the nation's civil courts has prompted new calls for the country's lawyers to offer more free legal services.
State judicial officials and advocates for the poor have launched efforts to increase pro bono work.
Legal Services Corp., the nation's largest funder of civil legal aid for the poor, is set to release recommendations next month on how to increase free legal services. The group has seen its federal funding cut 17 percent over the past two years.
States have taken action to deal with self-presented parties. New York, for example, will become the first state in the country to require lawyers to do pro bono work as a prerequisite for obtaining a law license starting next year.
