SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT PERMITS
STATEWIDE LIMITED ASSISTANCE
REPRESENTATION IN ALL TRIAL COURT DEPARTMENTS
Stating
that "limited assistance representation can be of significant
benefit in expanding access to justice," the Justices
of the Supreme Judicial Court have issued a Standing
Order permitting the expansion of limited assistance
representation for use in all Trial Court Departments,
effective May 1, 2009. See http://www.mass.gov/courts/sjc/limited-rep.html
Limited
assistance representation (sometimes called "unbundling")
allows a lawyer and client to agree that the lawyer will
assist the client with part of a legal matter, while
the client will self-represent on other aspects of the
case. For example, the lawyer may limit his or her services
to advising the client behind the scenes on court procedures,
to providing assistance with document preparation, or
to appearing in court on specific occasions or for limited
purposes.
"With
many families suffering economically, and some court
caseloads growing dramatically, it is more important
than ever to provide the people of Massachusetts with
access to cost-effective, high quality legal assistance," said
Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall. "Limited
assistance representation is a proven method for addressing
the needs of justice in our 21st Century courts."
Limited
assistance representation is a timely solution to the
crisis of affordable legal services for middle-and lower-income
individuals and families in Massachusetts. Currently,
upwards of 80% of litigants in some Probate and Family
Court matters and 90 % of litigants in some Housing Court
matters come to court without an attorney, primarily
because they do not qualify for free legal assistance
or cannot afford to pay for full-service counsel. Limited
assistance representation offers litigants an affordable
way to obtain legal services for selected aspects of
their cases, and offers attorneys a way to broaden their
practice. Because lawyers are professionally trained
in court procedure, substantive law, and persuasive advocacy,
limited assistance representation promotes the fair and
timely resolution of cases.
The
Standing Order gives each Departmental Chief Justice
authority to implement limited assistance representation
in connection with such matters as each Chief Justice,
with the approval of the Chief Justice for Administration
and Management, may prescribe. It establishes uniform
forms and procedures for limited assistance representation
throughout the courts of the Commonwealth, and requires
attorneys who wish to represent clients on a limited
assistance basis to qualify to do so.
"Expansion
of limited assistance representation will improve access
to and delivery of justice by helping to marshal the
relevant issues in an organized, substantive presentation,"
said Chief Justice for Administration & Management
Robert A. Mulligan. "This will benefit litigants and
judges and should lead to the more timely resolution
of cases. I anticipate that it will be embraced by other
court departments, as it has been in the Probate and
Family Court."
The
expansion of limited assistance representation is based
on the positive results of the pilot programs in the
Probate and Family Courts in Norfolk, Hampden, and Suffolk
counties, and has been recommended in the recent Report
and Recommendations of the Supreme Judicial Court Steering
Committee on Self-Represented Litigants and by the Massachusetts
Access to Justice Commission. The Massachusetts model
of limited assistance representation has received national
attention for its thoughtful and comprehensive approach.
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