Who Speaks for the Unrepresented? Exploring New Models for Legal Access

About this episode

The episode discusses the challenges of legal access in underserved communities and explores new models involving non-attorney legal advocates.

A Question of Ethics: A Conversation on Courts and Ethics November 20th, 2025 Across America, many communities are in what scholars call “legal deserts,” areas with few, if any, available attorneys to meet the legal needs of local citizens. Rural towns and poorurban neighborhoods often lack affordable access to lawyers, leaving residents without practical guidance for solving their legal problems. This shortage frustrates individuals seeking justice, and undermines confidence in the justice system itself. It widens the gap between those who can afford representation and those who cannot. To help bridge this gap, a few states (for example, Utah, Alaska, and now Oregon), are experimenting with using non-attorney legal advocates. These are trained professionals, often known as Community Justice Workers, who work under the guidance of a practicing attorney. Others, in Arizona for example, are called Certified Community Legal Advocates. They are untethered from a practicing lawyer. These non-attorney advocates can assist people in certain specific legal areas including: · family law · landlord-tenant disputes · employment issues · government benefits · domestic violence, or · debt…

Topics covered

• legal access
• community justice
• non-attorney advocates
• legal deserts

Keywords

• legal representation
• justice system
• affordable lawyers
• Community Justice Workers
• Certified Community Legal Advocates

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: A Question of Ethics

Places: America, Utah, Alaska, Oregon, Arizona, Anchorage, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Eugene

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