Texas Judicial

Branch

  • Skip to main content
  • Home
  • CourtsClick to expand submenu
      • About Texas Courts
      • Supreme Court
      • Court of Criminal Appeals
      • 1st Court of Appeals
      • 2nd Court of Appeals
      • 3rd Court of Appeals
      • 4th Court of Appeals
      • 5th Court of Appeals
      • 6th Court of Appeals
      • 7th Court of Appeals
      • 8th Court of Appeals
      • 9th Court of Appeals
      • 10th Court of Appeals
      • 11th Court of Appeals
      • 12th Court of Appeals
      • 13th Court of Appeals
      • 14th Court of Appeals
      • Multi-District Litigation Panel
      • Children's Courts
      • Specialty Courts
      • Trial Courts
  • Rules & FormsClick to expand submenu
    • Forms
    • Orders of Nondisclosure
    • Rules & Standards
    • Rules Advisories
    • Local Rules, Forms and Standing Orders
  • OrganizationsClick to expand submenu
      • Policy & Funding
      • Administrative Judicial Regions
      • Children's Commission
      • Criminal Justice Integrity Unit
      • Judicial Committee on Information Technology
      • Judicial Branch Certification Commission
      • Judicial Commission on Mental Health
      • Judicial Compensation Commission
      • Supreme Court Advisory Committee
      • Judicial Districts Board
      • Task Force on Judicial Emergency Preparedness
      • Texas Access to Justice Commission
      • Texas Access to Justice Foundation
      • Texas Commission on Judicial Selection
      • Texas Commission to Expand Civil Legal Services
      • Texas Forensic Science Commission
      • Texas Indigent Defense Commission
      • Texas Judicial Council
      • Timothy Cole Exoneration Review Commission
      • Agencies
      • Office of Capital and Forensic Writs
      • Office of Court Administration
      • State Commission on Judicial Conduct
      • State Law Library
      • State Prosecuting Attorney
      • Bar & Education
      • Board of Law Examiners
      • Judicial Education
      • Ombudsman for Attorney Discipline
      • State Bar of Texas
      • Texas Board of Legal Specialization
      • Texas Center for Legal Ethics
  • Publications & TrainingClick to expand submenu
    • Judicial Ethics & Bench Books
    • Legislative Information
    • Publications
    • Training Materials
    • Webinars
  • Programs & ServicesClick to expand submenu
    • Centers of Excellence
    • Certification, Registration & Licensing
    • Court Consultant Services
    • Court Security
    • COVID-19 Court Guidance
    • Domestic Violence Resource Program
    • Electronic Filing
    • Electronic Hearings (Zoom)
    • Eviction Diversion Program
    • Guardianship Abuse, Fraud and Exploitation Deterrence Program (GAFEDP)
    • Indigent Defense
    • Interpretation & Translation
    • Legal Aid
    • Pretrial Risk Assessment Information System for Texas
    • Public Safety Report System
    • Remote Marriage Licenses
    • Self-Help
    • Uniform Case Management System
    • Weighted Workload Study
    • YouTube Channel Directory
  • Judicial DataClick to expand submenu
    • CPS Reporting
    • Citation by Publication
    • Court Activity Database
    • Judicial Directory
    • Open Records Policy
    • Protective Order Registry
    • Reporting to OCA
    • Settlement Database
    • Statistics & Other Data
    • Vexatious Litigants
  • eFile Texas
  • MediaClick to expand submenu
    • Public Affairs

Texas Commission to Expand Civil Legal Services

  • Texas Judicial Branch
  • Web
You are here:
  • Home/
  • Organizations/
  • Policy & Funding/
  • Texas Commission to Expand Civil Legal Services
TCECLS Home
  • Members
  • Meetings & Agenda

Judge Learned Hand famously observed: "If we are to keep our democracy, there must be one commandment: Thou shalt not ration justice." But without access to quality legal representation, Justice Antonin Scalia has noted, there is no justice.

Federal and state law provide a right to legal representation in cases where a person's liberty or other constitutional interests are at stake, such as felony criminal cases and government-initiated actions to terminate the parent-child relationship. But a person has no right to legal representation in other matters, including divorce and child custody, protection from domestic violence, eviction and foreclosure, landlord-tenant disputes, entitlements, contract disputes, probate, and elder assistance. Legal aid lawyers work tirelessly to help as many of the poor as their limited resources allow, and lawyers in the private sector donate their services to help pro bono public - for the public good. A University of North Texas study has shown that Texas lawyers provide more than two million hours of pro bono legal services to the poor annually. Despite all these efforts, the demand for civil legal services remains overwhelming. Texas legal aid providers help more than 100,000 families each year, yet they estimate that three out of four qualified applicants are turned away for lack of resources. Studies conducted nationally or in other states project that 80-90% of low- and moderate-income Americans with civil legal problems are unable to obtain representation.

The unmet need for legal services is not limited to the very poor. The middle class, who earn too much to qualify for legal aid but not enough to afford an attorney, sometimes feel forced to try to represent themselves or forgo their rights altogether. The cost of legal services has become prohibitive for most Americans. An important factor in the cost of legal services is the rising cost of a legal education. Law students are graduating with six-figure student debt. At the same time, many new lawyers are facing limited job opportunities. In short: more than ever, people need lawyers, and lawyers need work, but the cost of legal services keeps them apart. This gulf has been called the "justice gap", and it is widening. The integrity of the justice system depends on our ability to close it. Justice for only those who can afford it is neither justice for all nor justice at all.

States, bar associations, and commentators have proposed various reforms, which the American Bar Association Commission on the Future of Legal Services has been studying. A Texas Commission to Expand Civil Legal Services is needed to study and recommend ways to close the justice gap in Texas.

The mission of the Commission is to gather information on initiatives and proposals to expand the availability of civil legal services to low- and middle-income Texans, to evaluate that information, and to recommend to the Supreme Court of Texas ways to accomplish that expansion.

Latest News

    Texas Commission to Expand Civil Legal Services Releases Report

    December 07, 2016

    The Texas Commission to Expand Civil Legal Services released their report and recommendations to the Supreme Court of Texas on December 6, 2016.  

     Read more...

    Justice Gap Commission

    November 23, 2015

    By an order Monday the Texas Supreme Court has created an 18-member Texas Commission to Expand Civil Legal Services charged to explore means to bring more affordable legal services to small businesses and people who cannot qualify for legal aid. Read more...

Texas Judicial Branch SealTop 10 Court Websites of 2015 badge
Finance:
Where the Money Goes
Report Fraud, Waste and Abuse
Resources:
Careers
Site Policies
Texas Homeland Security
Texas Veterans Portal
Texas.gov
Texas Records and Information Locator (TRAIL)
Webmaster