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Message from the President

We Cannot Neglect The Courts

History has taught us an important lesson about the rule of law. Generally speaking, countries that have an effective rule of law for resolving civil disputes prosper. Although there may be exceptions to the general rule, countries deprived of the rule of law in civil disputes and infected with systemic corruption normally do not prosper. I am not suggesting that having a "rule of law" will necessarily lead to economic prosperity (certainly we have our hands full in the US with respect to the current economic crisis), but an effective "rule of law" is an essential element to prosperity and a sense of justice within a country.

I turn now to our Court system in California. Of course, we have a "rule of law" -- and a good one. But I fear that that our rule of law is only a theoretical nicety in the many cases where middle income families or small businesses simply do not have the financial resources that give them any realistic access to the judicial system. When people cannot afford justice (i.e. lawyers) -- there is always the increased risk that they will toss the rule of law aside and take matters into their own hands. That's not right, it is fair, and it is not good for our country.

Compounding this problem are other serious problems. In California, our judges -- who are among the hardest working of all lawyers and who often make some of the most important and difficult decisions in people's lives that enforce the rule of law -- are paid less in salary than junior associates at large law firms. To add insult to injury, the State of California (and other states) then underfund the Court system so that the people who are willing to serve as judges -- for a small salary -- must do so under circumstances where they are crushed on a daily basis by a deluge of cases that is nearly impossible to manage. While I realize that we have our own economic crises in California, there are simply portions of the budget -- such as the Court system -- that must be protected.

One frightening example of the threat to the rule of law can be found in the Family Court system. I am not a family law lawyer, and know very little about that particular court system. But I do know that most of the cases that go through the system involve individuals representing themselves. Sometimes, it's even difficult for me to navigate all of the complex procedural rules, local rules, and substantive law that exist in my area of practice. Now imagine someone without any legal training trying to do that on their own -- often in the context of experiencing some of the most traumatic experiences of their lives. That's bad enough, but things get worse when that court system is deprived of the resources necessary to handle the enormously important issues that confront them daily.

I do not offer any solutions -- and am not aware of whether any persons or committees are seriously working to find solutions to these and other serious problems (I certainly hope so). But I do know that, as a community of lawyers collectively responsible for upholding the principles of justice for all, the bar needs to do something to prevent these alarming erosions to the rule of law. We cannot let our court system suffocate by lack of funding. We also need to acknowledge that there are many people and entities (other than the extremely poor that are eligible for help from pro bono agencies), who simply do not have, but should have, access to our Court system and start thinking about how we as lawyers can serve the growing population of people who are not poor, but who do not have realistic access to the Court system.

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