Judge Walter Matthews To Host Meeting On Civil Legal Needs
Rome Judicial Circuit Superior Court Chief Judge Walter J. Matthews will host a roundtable discussion on Friday, Sept. 25, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Floyd County Courthouse to focus on the civil legal needs of low- and moderate-income households in Floyd County .
Sponsored by the Supreme Court of Georgia’s Committee on Civil Justice, the local meeting is part of an ongoing initiative to improve access to the civil justice system in Georgia.
Roundtable participants will discuss the findings of a study of the civil legal needs of the state’s low- and moderate-income population and begin developing recommendations to address needs identified in the process.
The study, which was conducted by the A.L. Burruss Institute of Public Service and Research at Kennesaw State University, was commissioned by the Committee on Civil Justice to provide up-to-date information and analysis about the current level of access to the civil justice system.
“In this discussion, we will identify the scope of the problem, the existing obstacles to access to justice and the local resources that are available, as well as open a dialogue on addressing these issues in our area of the state,” said Judge Matthews. “We have invited leaders from the local business and legal communities, state legislators and other citizens to participate, because we are all stakeholders in closing the justice gap.”
The 2007/2008 Georgia Civil Legal Needs Study is the first to be conducted in the state since 1994. According to the study, released earlier this year, more than 60 percent of low- and moderate-income households in Georgia experience one or more civil legal needs per year.
Low-income households, defined as up to $30,000 annual income with four people in the household, experience an average of three civil legal needs annually, totaling more than 2 million civil legal needs per year. Households in the moderate income category (up to $60,000 annual income for a four-person household) have an average of 2.63 civil legal needs per year, for an annual total exceeding 4 million.
Common problems experienced by low- and moderate-income households in Georgia, according to the study, include consumer issues, housing, health care, employment, public benefits, education and family matters. Close to 75 percent of participants in the public telephone survey component of the study said they did not realize these problems could be remedied in the justice system, a key reason they often fail to seek legal assistance.
The report addresses other obstacles interfering with access to the justice system and how the courts, attorneys and legal services providers are responding to the situation.
The Supreme Court of Georgia Equal Justice Commission Committee on Civil Justice was created by court order in 2005, began work in 2006 and was charged with the task of creating equal access to justice for all Georgians. The committee’s mission statement is “to develop for implementation in Georgia a statewide, broad-based, publicly known and supported, coordinated system for the poor which provide education, advice and tools to identify and address legal issues; ensures competent legal representation when appropriate; and promotes the efficient, effective and fair resolution of legal issues and disputes.” Rome attorney Paul Todd Carroll III is a member of the committee.
The public is invited to attend the roundtable discussion. Two hours of Continuing Legal Education credit will be available for a small fee.
For further details, visit the Georgia Committee on Civil Justice website at www.gaccj.org.
