Addressing the unmet legal needs of low-income Washingtonians
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BY FRANCIS ADEWALE
“Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong, but in finding out the right and upholding it, wherever found, against the wrong.”
— Theodore Roosevelt
When Benito (last name withheld) first walked into the makeshift food bank I used as an office to consult with civil legal aid clients in Spokane Valley, I had no idea he would have a profound influence on me. At the time, I was running a limited legal clinic that merely helped fill out paperwork for welfare recipients and write wills and letters for those who came through the door. I helped identify civil legal needs issues for folks and then made referrals to Washington Law Help.
Benito is well known in the community as a hardworking refugee from Cuba. He repairs cars for others and works as a day laborer pouring concrete for a living. He has been through a lot, but you wouldn’t know it by his infectious optimism. His phone is constantly ringing; a single mother needs help to jumpstart her car, voila! He’s there. Another person needs Benito’s help moving to a new apartment; he’s there. Benito epitomizes the consummate American described in Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, published in 1835, “Among a democratic people, where there is no hereditary wealth, every man works to earn a living. … Labor is held in honor; the prejudice is not against but in its favor.” Benito is a successful American today with a street named after him in Spokane, but he struggled to access justice throughout his adult life. He helps others but could not find help to address his own legal needs. He barely makes enough money to provide for his family and as such cannot afford to hire a lawyer. He cares about his community, but the legal system is very frequently not there for him. Benito is among the 74 percent of low-income Americans that experience one or more civil legal needs each year.
The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) defines the justice gap as the difference between the civil legal needs of low-income Americans and the resources available to meet those needs. In its 2022 Justice Gap Study,11 https://justicegap.lsc.gov/the-report/ LSC estimated that about 50 million Americans have household incomes below 125 percent of the poverty threshold—including more than 15 million children and nearly 8 million seniors. Civil legal needs typically involve securing and protecting basic needs such as housing, education, health care, income, and safety. Single parent households are disparately impacted. About 55 percent of low-income Americans who personally experience a problem say these civil legal needs substantially impacted their lives, with the consequences affecting their finances, mental health, physical health, safety, and relationships.
I have been involved in dialogue seeking to address this hydra-headed problem since I joined the Access to Justice (ATJ) Board. Others like ada shen-jaffe and Jim Bamberger have actually spent more time on this issue; at least since they joined efforts to open the doors of Columbia Legal Services and Evergreen Legal Services in our state. When I served as chair of the ATJ Board, our primary focus was on how to narrow the justice gap. It still remains the number one priority of the ATJ Board strategic plan. Washington state has always led these efforts and in recent years, we have made tremendous progress in some areas such as the right to an attorney in eviction proceedings. But the gap remains wide and gets wider as more people fall into poverty due to the affordability challenges we face as a state and country.
Last year, the WSBA Board of Governors approved the Equity and Justice Plan, which emphasized the importance of enhancing access to justice and removing barriers in the legal system. This plan helped inform the Board of Governors’ new three-year strategic plan, which includes a goal on closing the justice gap. Along with setting these priorities, the WSBA is also committed to identifying how it can best address the unmet legal needs not only of low-income people but also of middle-income people who do not qualify for free legal aid but cannot afford market legal rates.
I strongly believe that the current convergence of these strategic priorities presents a unique opportunity to bring together a Justice Gap Solutions Scoping Work Group with members drawn from the WSBA and the ATJ Board. The group will help delve deeper into identifying the needs related to the justice gap and exploring potential solutions that both the Board of Governors and the Access to Justice Board could pursue. The group will also help address the needs of moderate-income folks following the sunset of the Moderate Means Program. The WSBA’s collaboration with the ATJ Board and other agencies and commissions is intentional as the task force will not be limited to civil legal needs only. It is intended that the work group will conduct a literature review, examine roles and responsibilities, identify impacted parties, and establish initial steps toward addressing the justice gap in Washington state.
In furtherance of this goal, the WSBA executive director and I have met with the leadership of the ATJ Board and other agencies to find alignment and common purpose. By consolidating the expertise and strategic interests of both the WSBA, the ATJ Board, and other agencies, we can generate significant momentum in addressing these critical issues. The challenges of accessing justice in rural communities and inner cities in Washington will be front and center in this work.
As someone committed to community advocacy, I firmly believe that the success of this effort will be totally dependent on community input. A community-informed lens will enable the work group to ensure that the perspectives and experiences of people who are most impacted by the legal system are placed at the center of this challenge.
The work group’s charter envisions broad outreach to other legal community members that could be impacted in various capacities or who hold unique knowledge of the legal environment. This is where you, the readers of the Bar News, come in. Your involvement and participation is greatly encouraged and highly appreciated. What are your experiences dealing with this challenge? As sole practitioners in rural communities or inner cities, what do you see? As pro bono volunteers with Qualified Legal Services Providers, what can we do?
We anticipate that the work group will grow and develop outreach to impacted groups continually throughout the process to ensure all voices are heard. The work group’s impact will be measured in part by its relationships with affected groups. Success will be gauged against our existing strategic plans and goals, particularly those outlined in the WSBA Equity and Justice Plan, the ATJ Board’s strategic plan, and the WSBA Board of Governors’ strategic plan. The voice of the underserved communities in our state will be amplified through this effort.
Bend the Arc!
GUEST COLUMN > In each issue of Bar News, WSBA President Adewale asks one Washington legal professional, one “Hero of Justice,” to share how they came to practice law, read the column here.
About the author
Francis A. Adewale is the 2025-2026 WSBA president. He can be reached at:
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