Civil Gideon: Should the State Provide Counsel to Indigent Litigants in Civil Lawsuits?

In 1963, in the matter of Gideon v. Wainwright, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution mandated the right to counsel in criminal cases for defendants who were unable to afford an attorney.

The Supreme Court explained, "From the very beginning, our state and national constitutions and laws have laid great emphasis on procedural and substantive safeguards designed to assure fair trials before impartial tribunals in which every defendant stands equal before the law. This noble ideal cannot be realized if the poor man charged with crime has to face his accusers without a lawyer to assist him."

A movement to provide greater legal representation for the poor in certain civil cases — known as "Civil Gideon" — began to take shape in the 1990s and has recently gained increased attention and support. In August 2006, the American Bar Association House of Delegates unanimously passed Resolution 112A, which resolved:

"That the American Bar Association urges federal, state, and territorial governments to provide legal counsel as a matter of right at public expense to low-income persons in those categories of adversarial proceedings where basic human needs are at stake, such as those involving shelter, sustenance, safety, health or child custody, as determined by each jurisdiction."

The Pennsylvania Bar Association followed suit one year later in September 2007, passing a resolution urging the commonwealth to provide a right to legal counsel to low-income persons in adversarial proceedings where basic human needs are at stake.

In early 2009, then-Chancellor Sadie Ladov of the Philadelphia Bar Association appointed a Task Force on Civil Gideon, and thereafter, in April 2009, the same group's Board of Governors unanimously endorsed a resolution charging that task force with investigating and considering all aspects of an effective system of Civil Gideon.

YL Editorial Board Peter Buckley Kristine L. Calalang Mary Doherty, chairwoman Patrick Duffy John Encarnacion Clarissa Freeman Eileen K. Ke ...