Martha Bergmark

Key Voice, Legal Aid Advocate (Mississippi, NATIONAL)
Founding executive director of Voices for Civil Justice in Washington, DC. Has led legal aid organizations in her native Mississippi, worked at NLADA and been LSC president.
Tags: Civil Rights, Disaster Recovery, Justice Gap, Minorities: Racial/Ethnic

Links: Full bio | (Current as of: October 6, 2014)

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CONTENT BY THIS PERSON

Op-Ed

A cancer survivor paid an old debt, but collectors garnished her wages anyway. It’s part of a disturbing trend that’s about to get worse.

Martha Bergmark, Lauren Saunders
Business Insider
September 6, 2019
A few large debt-buying corporations overload our civil courts against powerless defendants who can't afford the legal help to defend themselves.

Op-Ed

Justice Ain’t Much if You Can’t Afford It. America Needs to Overhaul Its Civil Law

Martha Bergmark
Newsweek
July 18, 2019
There is a crisis in this country's civil justice system, but with new resolve and investment in systemic reforms and civil legal aid, we can achieve Fannie Lou Hamer's vision of a civil justice system that fulfills America's promise of justice for all.

Letter to Editor

We need more lawyers

Martha Bergmark
Washington Post
June 16, 2019
Perhaps corporations need fewer legal services, but meanwhile, most Americans — and especially those struggling to make ends meet — can’t get the legal help they need to address serious life challenges.

Op-Ed

America’s civil justice system needs reform, too

Martha Bergmark
USA Today
December 12, 2018
Poor remain underrepresented and taken advantage of when it comes to court claims and judgments.

Op-Ed

States’ Vital Role in Providing Civil Justice for Everyone

Martha Bergmark
Governing
April 2, 2018
It's up to lawmakers to provide the funding that's needed and to back reforms that make the system work better.

Op-Ed

Trump has a chance to help domestic violence survivors

Martha Bergmark
Hill, The
February 28, 2018
If he wants to change the story, and at the same time provide real support for survivors of domestic violence, the president has an opportunity at his fingertips: Defend, don’t defund, the Legal Services Corporation.

Op-Ed

Harvey and Irma survivors need food, water, shelter – and a lawyer

Martha Bergmark
Fox News
September 12, 2017
As recovery proceeds, survivors will have a critical need for something less obvious – legal help.

Op-Ed

A $15 tax bill nearly cost a family their home. With Trump, it would have

Martha Bergmark
Guardian
April 3, 2017
The president wants to scrap legal aid, which countless Americans rely on when they cannot afford a private attorney. If he succeeds, it would be devastating.

Op-Ed

Op-Ed: It’s Time for Candidates to Address the Justice Gap

Martha Bergmark
ALM
October 4, 2016
Millions of Americans are fighting legal battles alone without any access to legal help, compromising the fundamental fairness of our society. Yet we hear nearly nothing about it on the campaign trail.

Blog Post

What Does Justice For Sexual Assault Survivors Look Like?

Martha Bergmark
Huffington Post
September 7, 2016
We ought to adopt a definition of justice that is at least as concerned with supporting survivors as it is with punishing perpetrators.

Op-Ed

One reason so many veterans are homeless? They can’t afford lawyers.

Martha Bergmark, Ellen Lawton
Washington Post
July 8, 2016
New research shows that vets are losing their homes and missing out on crucial benefits because they lack legal aid. Medical-legal partnerships and other civil legal-aid interventions for veterans show the promise of a holistic approach to veterans care.

Op-Ed

Yes, Super Bowl Sunday is a crisis for domestic violence — just like every other day

Martha Bergmark
Fox News
February 5, 2016
We can help put a stop to this crisis by increasing our investment in civil legal aid, so survivors can get the legal help they need to build a new life for themselves and their children.

Op-Ed

How to reduce domestic violence with legal assistance

Martha Bergmark
Fox News
January 4, 2016
The causes of domestic violence are complex, and there is no single policy or program that can prevent it from happening. But there is one critical step we can take that we know makes a great deal of difference: ensuring survivors have access to legal help, regardless of their ability to pay.

Blog Post

Cutting the Poverty Rate with Civil Legal Aid

Martha Bergmark
TalkPoverty.org
September 28, 2015
How civil legal aid prevents poverty and injustice.

Letter to Editor

Letters to the Editor

Martha Bergmark
ALM
August 1, 2015
Voices' Martha Bergmark reacts to ALM's feature about big law and their legal aid funding role.

Op-Ed

How to save families from losing everything

Martha Bergmark, Thomas E. Perez
CNN
July 27, 2015
There is a resource for our communities that does not receive enough attention, yet is critical to ensuring that families not only stay afloat but move up the economic ladder: civil legal aid.

Op-Ed

We don’t need fewer lawyers. We need cheaper ones.

Martha Bergmark
Washington Post
June 2, 2015
Unable to afford representation, more Americans are going to court alone, and they're losing. An opinion piece by Voices for Civil Justice Executive Director Martha Bergmark.

Letter to Editor

A Need for Civil Legal Aid

Martha Bergmark
New York Times (NYT)
April 10, 2015
If we increase our investment in civil legal aid, we’ll have a healthy legal industry and a healthy justice system that fulfills our country’s promise of justice for all, not just for the few who can afford it.

Op-Ed

Fifty Years After ‘Freedom Summer,’ Reasons to Celebrate – and Lament

Martha Bergmark
National Law Journal, ALM
July 14, 2014
By leveling the playing field in the justice system, civil legal aid honors the American values and spirit embodied in the Freedom Summer of 1964.

Blog Post

First Katrina, Now Sandy: Three Mistakes We Keep Making After Natural Disasters

Martha Bergmark
Huffington Post
May 23, 2014
As a Mississippi native, civil legal aid lawyer and a veteran of Hurricane Katrina, I'm all too familiar with our mistakes during disaster recovery.

Blog Post

Protecting Taxpayers from Abuse

Martha Bergmark
Huffington Post
April 14, 2014
Civil legal aid groups, their lawyers and volunteers play an important role in protecting low-income taxpayers against abuse by tax preparers and minimizing the drain from taxpayers pocketbooks.

Blog Post

Unsung Heroes of Obamacare’s Enrollment Surge

Martha Bergmark
Huffington Post
April 3, 2014
From coast to coast, legal aid organizations helped low- and moderate-income Americans sign up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

Letter to Editor

July 4 Reading: Income Inequality

Martha Bergmark
New York Times (NYT)
July 3, 2014
Joseph E. Stiglitz astutely points out that “justice has become a commodity, affordable only to the few.”

Op-Ed

Tenants Facing Eviction in Era of Skyrocketing Rents Need Legal Assistance

Martha Bergmark
American Prospect, The
September 18, 2014
Without legal assistance, tenants often miss crucial steps and find themselves out of a home.

Op-Ed

Refuge-seeking kids face deportation hearings alone

Martha Bergmark
CNN
September 4, 2014
Voices' ED Bergmark spotlights the work of civil legal aid attorneys, and calls for more resources so thousands of unaccompanied migrant children do not face complicated, high-stakes legal proceedings alone.

Op-Ed

Creative Ways to Provide Access to Justice

Martha Bergmark
New York Law Journal, ALM
March 25, 2014
Federal funding for civil legal aid is crucial, but there the lesser-known story is that innovators in the legal field are taking matters into their own hands.



This page last modified: Tue, May 5, 2015 -- 2:01 pm ET