Report of the Civil Legal Justice Coalition to the Pennsylvania State Senate Judiciary Committee

The Pennsylvania Civil Legal Justice Coalition is a statewide coalition of bar leaders, representatives of the public interest legal community, and other key stakeholders that was formed to work collaboratively on exploring and implementing strategies to improve access to justice and address the growing crisis in unmet civil legal services needs of low-income Pennsylvanians.

The Coalition originated in parallel efforts by the Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Bar Associations to address the growing need for free civil legal services among low-income Pennsylvanians through bar-appointed task forces.

The Coalition began its task by planning three hearings, conducted by the Senate Judiciary Committee and chaired by Senator Stewart J. Greenleaf, that addressed the following question: Civil Legal Representation of the Indigent: Have We Achieved Equal Access to Justice? The hearings were held May 7, 2013, in Harrisburg; May 23, 2013, in Philadelphia; and October 29, 2013, in Pittsburgh.

The purpose of the public hearings was to explore and create awareness of the current state and scope of the unmet need for civil legal services by low-income Pennsylvanians confronting legal problems involving basic human needs.

Information from the hearings is available at the links below. Links to complete video recordings of each of the hearings are available in the materials for the respective hearings. Also available below is a video featuring highlights from the three hearings.

Senator Greenleaf has called upon the Coalition to present findings and to make recommendations relating to improving access to justice, and to present those to the Judiciary Committee. The Coalition's report, based on the record of the public hearings, contains those findings and recommendations. The report is available at the link below.

TOWARD EQUAL JUSTICE FOR ALL:
Report of the Civil Legal Justice Coalition
to the Pennsylvania State Senate Judiciary Committee

Video Featuring Highlights of the Three Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Hearings held in 2013:

Full information from each of the Senate Judiciary Hearings is available at the links below:

Harrisburg - May 7, 2013:

Location: Room 8E-B in the East Wing of the Capitol Building.

Philadelphia - May 23, 2013:

Location: Philadelphia Bar Association, 11th Floor Conference Center, 1101 Market Street, Philadelphia PA 19107

Pittsburgh - October 29, 2013:

Location: Koppers Building, 436 Seventh Ave. 9th Floor, Grant Room Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

For more information on these hearings and related information about Civil Gideon, visit the Philadelphia Bar Association's Civil Gideon Corner on the bar association's website.