How businesses can help Kansas’ pro bono lawyer problem

We encourage the Kansas Board of Law Examiners to recommend this rule change to the state Supreme Court, to answer the call of the underserved across Kansas, and to remove barriers to opportunity for all.

Op-Ed (Kansas)

Jennifer Adams
Kansas City Star
April 17, 2018
READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Tags: Justice for All, Pro Bono

Organizations mentioned/involved: Kansas Legal Services


DETAILS

You hear it all the time: There are just too many lawyers. But that couldn’t be any further from the truth in Kansas, where less than one-third of one percent of the population is a lawyer and the demand for indigent defense far outpaces the supply.

Attorneys with the nonprofit Kansas Legal Services represented more than 9,000 disadvantaged clients in 2017, but even more requests for legal assistance — upwards of 10,000 — went unanswered. This is an injustice, disproportionately hurting those who lack the resources to navigate a complicated legal system while perpetuating a two-tiered system that seems to serve only the wealthy and well-connected at the expense of everyone else.