Fla. Seeking Ways To Meet Civil Needs

A huge segment of society make too much money to qualify for legal aid, but not enough to hire an attorney, says one member of a Florida panel hoping to find solutions to that problem. The 27-member panel was created in November by Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Jorge Labarga via an administrative order.

The Palm Beach Post reports that Greg Coleman, president of The Florida Bar and a partner in the West Palm Beach firm Critton Luttier Coleman, said he expects the members to educate business leaders on the need to expand financing. “We have a broken system right now with legal aid having severely reduced funding and a void in the court system in terms of access to justice by middle-income Americans who make too much money to qualify for legal aid but cannot afford a lawyer,” Coleman said. “These are people who are living paycheck to paycheck.”

Read the Florida story here: Panel to look at opening civil legal system more to middle class