A Brief Moment of Opportunity: The Effects of the Economic Downturn on the Delivery of Legal Services to the Poor

The legal needs of the poor have long outstripped the resources available in the legal community to meet those needs. This does not in any way discount the substantial contribution of direct funding and services provided by individual lawyers. There are, however, other factors that shape the supply side of the marketplace for the delivery of legal services to persons of limited means – and it is the supply side that interests us. The recent economic downturn provided law firms and legal service providers with the opportunity to examine the business models that support and provide mechanisms for the delivery of legal services through the pro bono contributions of individual lawyers. This article examines the challenges and opportunities experienced by the legal services provider community in a large metropolitan area during a period of economic downturn.
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