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Written by Tom Gordon
Even while unveiling a bevy of new programs, Laurence Tribe announced that he is stepping down as Senior Counselor for the Access to Justice Initiative at the Department of Justice. The new programs his Initiative unveiled are aimed at providing greater access to legal services for veterans, people with potential workplace wage violation complaints, and homeowners facing foreclosure. As laudable as such programs are, these efforts still appear to be trying to bridge the gap to affordable and accessible legal services at its widest point. Mr. Tribe deserves accolades for placing his considerable reputation and vast legal scholarship behind such a worthy effort, but it is difficult to understand why Tribe never fully exploited his office's capacity to act as a bully pulpit from which he could better describe and amplify the importance of greater access to justice for the average American - a need greatly underrated and ill-understood across all levels of American society. Intellectual property lawyer Graham Syfert was hearing from a lot of defendants in cases about illegal downloading. For many of these people, the amount plaintiffs were seeking from them was substantial, but less than what he would charge them just to begin working on their case. In a savvy business move that also benefits consumers, Syfert began selling forms that would help these people represent themselves. The forms, along with instructions, were priced at $9.99, which is far less than any lawyer would charge.
Written by Tom Gordon
Recently, the New York Times did consumers a great service by reviewing self-help legal products. That review can be found here. A follow-up blog post on the article can also be found here. While it's true, as was noted in the article and the blog, that not every consumer is best served by DIY software, not every consumer is best served by a lawyer either. Consumers are best served when there is a wide range of legal services available to meet the continuum of legal needs that they face. The New Jersey State Bar Association's Advisory Committees on Professional Ethics and Attorney Advertising issued a joint opinion on March 26th effectively banning lawyers from creating virtual law offices. The decision requires every attorney to maintain a permanent address. This comes as virtual law offices, in which the attorney maintains an online or "virtual" law office and rents office space as needed, are growing in popularity. According to New Jersey State Bar Chief Allen Etish, "[t]he need for a bona fide office is necessary," while acknowledging "that the idea of a virtual office needs more study," noting that virtual law offices are "not totally wild-eyed or preposterous."
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