(SACRAMENTO) — A key source of funds for legal aid programs to assist needy Californians is expected to at least double under a bill signed by Governor Schwarzenegger, helping to close the persistent "justice gap" between the legal needs of low-income people and the services available to assist them. 

The bill by Assembly Judiciary Committee Chairperson Dave Jones (D-Sacramento) raises additional funds for legal aid programs without spending government tax dollars by reforming the rules governing the interest banks pay on lawyer trust accounts.  Under the bill, lawyers will be allowed to deposit the funds in new types of accounts that pay higher interest, and banks will treat lawyers the same as other customers for whom these types of accounts have been available for many years.  Interest on lawyer trust accounts (IOLTA) has been one of the primary sources of funding for legal aid programs for the past 25 years, but interest rates on these accounts have remained low, despite increases in the interest rates bank pay on other types of accounts.  Since 1993, IOLTA funding has dropped nearly 60 percent. 

Increased funding for civil legal aid programs is critically needed to address the safety and security of our state’s most vulnerable families and children, Jones stated.  "A lack of representation not only disadvantages people with legal problems, it also burdens the justice system itself and impairs the administration of justice," Jones said.

Legal aid programs provide legal assistance to low-income clients, such as victims of domestic violence and elder abuse, help to keep families intact by avoiding homelessness and establishing guardianships, and work to ensure that low-income children receive needed health care and special education services.
According to expert reports issued by the nonpartisan Commission on Access to Justice, such programs may save tax dollars by reducing reduce the need for many state services. 

Pointing to recent studies showing an overwhelming "justice-gap" of nearly $400 million between the legal needs of low-income people and the legal help they receive, Jones noted that legal aid groups that serve the poor are currently able to meet only a fraction of the demand for help.  According to Jones, California continues to lag far behind other industrial states in total funding of legal services for the poor.  Due to insufficient funding and increased poverty, at least two-thirds of the civil legal needs of low-income Californians are not being met, especially in underserved groups such as elderly, disabled and children.  "California provides less than $23.00 of legal services per poor person on average,” Jones noted, “That's about the cost of a trip to the movies.”

In urging passage of the bill, AB 1723, Jones commented that poor Californians have far less access to legal services than the general public, noting that that there is currently one legal aid attorney for every 8,361 poor people in California, while the number of attorneys for the general population is approximately one for every 240 people – nearly 35 times higher.  In other words, one-half of one percent of California lawyers is available to serve approximately 17 % of the population.