Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T13:13:03.540Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Trial and Error: Lawyers and Nonlawyer Advocates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Anna E. Carpenter ,
Alyx Mark  and
Colleen F. Shanahan
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Nonlawyer advocates are one proposed solution to the access to justice crisis. Theory and research suggest that nonlawyers might be effective, yet scholars know very little, empirically, about nonlawyer practice in the United States. Using data from more than 5,000 unemployment insurance appeal hearings and interviews with lawyers and nonlawyers who represent employers in these hearings, this article explores how both types of representatives develop expertise and what this means for effectiveness. We find judges play a critical role in shaping nonlawyer legal expertise and nonlawyers develop expertise almost exclusively through “trial and error.” We find evidence that while experienced nonlawyers can help parties through their expertise with common court procedures and basic substantive legal concepts, they are not equipped to challenge judges on contested issues of substantive or procedural law in individual cases, advance novel legal claims, or advocate for law reform on a broader scale. These findings have implications for future access to justice research and interventions.

Type
Articles
Information
Law & Social Inquiry , Volume 42 , Issue 4 , Fall 2017 , pp. 1023 - 1057
Copyright
Copyright © American Bar Foundation, 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Abel, Laura K. 2010. Evidence‐Based Access to Justice. University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Social Change 13 (3): 295–313.Google Scholar
Albiston, Catherine, and Sandefur, Rebecca. 2013. Expanding the Empirical Study of Access to Justice. Wisconsin Law Review 2013 (1): 101–19.Google Scholar
Ambrogi, Robert. 2015. Washington State Moves Around UPL, Using Legal Technicians to Help Close Justice Gap. American Bar Association. http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/washington_state_moves_around_upl_using_legal_technicians_to_help_close_the (accessed June 16, 2016).Google Scholar
Automatic Data Processing. 2015. Help Control Unemployment Claims Cost, Maximize Human Capital, and Mitigate Risk. Automatic Data Processing. https://www.adp.com/solutions/large-business/services/tax-and-compliance/unemployment-claims.aspx (accessed July 19, 2015).Google Scholar
Bartels, Brandon L. 2015. Beyond “Fixed Versus Random Effects”: A Framework for Improving Substantive and Statistical Analysis of Panel, TSCS, and Multilevel Data. In Quantitative Research in Political Science, ed. Franzese, Robert J. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.Google Scholar
Barton, Benjamin H. 2010. Against Civil Gideon (and for Pro Se Court Reform). Florida Law Review 62 (5): 1269–72.Google Scholar
Carlson, James. 2015. Colorado Studying New Limited Legal License. Colorado Supreme Court. http://www.coloradosupremecourt.us/Newsletters/Spring2015/Colorado%20studying%20new%20limited%20legal%20license.htm (accessed June 16, 2016).Google Scholar
Charn, Jeanne, and Selbin, Jeffrey. 2013. The Clinic Lab Office. Wisconsin Law Review 2013 (1): 162–64.Google Scholar
Creswell, John W. 2014. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.Google Scholar
Creswell, John W., and Plano Clark, Vicki L. 2011. Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.Google Scholar
Cummings, Scott, and Sandefur, Rebecca. 2013. Beyond the Numbers: What We Know—And Should Know—About American Pro Bono. Harvard Law and Policy Review 7 (1): 83–111.Google Scholar
Eagly, Ingrid V., and Shafer, Steven. 2015. A National Study of Access to Counsel in Immigration Court. University of Pennsylvania Law Review 164 (1): 1–91.Google Scholar
Engler, Russell. 2006. Toward a Context‐Based Civil Right to Counsel Through “Access to Justice” Initiatives. Clearinghouse Review Journal of Poverty Law and Policy 40 (3–4): 196–209.Google Scholar
Engler, Russell. 2009. Connecting Self‐Representation to Civil Gideon: What Existing Data Reveal About When Counsel Is Most Needed. Fordham Urban Law Journal 37 (1): 36–92.Google Scholar
Genn, Hazel. 1993. Tribunals and Informal Justice. Modern Law Review 56 (3): 399–411.Google Scholar
Goodman‐Delahunty, Jane, Par A, Granhag, Maria, Hartwig, and Elizabeth F, Loftus. 2010. Insightful or Wishful: Lawyers' Ability to Predict Case Outcomes. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law 16 (2): 133–57.Google Scholar
Greiner, D. James, and Pattanayak, Cassandra Wolos. 2012. Randomized Evaluation in Legal Assistance: What Difference Does Representation (Offer and Actual Use) Make? Yale Law Journal 121 (8): 2118–214.Google Scholar
Haire, Susan Brodie, Lindquist, Stefanie A., and Hartley, Roger. 1999. Attorney Expertise, Litigant Success, and Judicial Decision‐Making in the U.S. Courts of Appeals. Law & Society Review 33 (3): 667–85.Google Scholar
Korkki, Phyllis. 2012. When the H.R. Office Leaves the Building. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/jobs/more-companies-are-outsourcing-their-human-resources-work.html (accessed June 16, 2016).Google Scholar
Kritzer, Herbert M. 1998. Legal Advocacy: Lawyers and Nonlawyers at Work. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Larson, Erik. 2006. Case Characteristics and Defendant Tenant Default in Housing Court. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 3 (1): 121–44.Google Scholar
Legomsky, Stephen H. 2011. Transporting Padilla to Deportation Proceedings: A Due Process Right to the Effective Assistance of Counsel. St. Louis University Public Law Review 31 (1): 44–59.Google Scholar
McGuire, Kevin T. 1995. Repeat Players in the Supreme Court: The Role of Experienced Lawyers in Litigation Success. Journal of Politics 57 (1): 187–96.Google Scholar
Miller, Banks, Keith, Linda Camp, and Holmes, Jennifer S. 2015. Leveling the Odds: The Effect of Quality Legal Representation in Cases of Asymmetrical Capability. Law & Society Review 49 (1): 209–39.Google Scholar
Monsma, Karl, and Lempert, Richard. 1992. The Value of Counsel: 20 Years of Representation Before a Public Housing Eviction Board. Law & Society Review 26 (3): 627–68.Google Scholar
New York City Bar, Committee on Professional Responsibility. 2013. Narrowing the “Justice Gap”: Roles for Nonlawyer Practitioners. New York: New York City Bar. http://www2.nycbar.org/pdf/report/uploads/20072450-RolesforNonlawyerPractitioners.pdf (accessed June 16, 2016).Google Scholar
Nichols, Austin, and Simms, Margaret. 2012. Racial and Ethnic Differences in Receipt of Unemployment Insurance Benefits During the Great Recession. Urban Institute. http://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/alfresco/publication-pdfs/412596-Racial-and-Ethnic-Differences-in-Receipt-of-Unemployment-Insurance-Benefits-During-the-Great-Recession.PDF (accessed July 13, 2015).Google Scholar
Portillo, Shannon. 2014. The Adversarial Process of Administrative Claims: The Process of Unemployment Insurance Hearings. Administration & Society. doi: 10.1177/0095399714541267.Google Scholar
Pumar, Enrique S., and Mullen, Faith. 2012. The Plural of Anecdote Is Not Data: Teaching Law Students Basic Methodology to Improve Access to Justice in Unemployment Insurance Appeals. University of the District of Columbia Law Review 16 (1): 23–25.Google Scholar
Rhode, Deborah L. 1996. Professionalism in Perspective: Alternative Approaches to Nonlawyer Practice. New York University Review of Law and Social Change 22 (3): 701–16.Google Scholar
Rhode, Deborah L. 2004. Access to Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Rhode, Deborah L. 2009. Whatever Happened to Access to Justice? Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 42 (4): 531–50.Google Scholar
Sandefur, Rebecca. 2010. The Impact of Counsel: An Analysis of Empirical Evidence. Seattle Journal for Social Justice 9 (1): 51–95.Google Scholar
Sandefur, Rebecca. 2015. Elements of Professional Expertise: Understanding Relational and Substantive Expertise Through Lawyers' Impact. American Sociological Review 25: 909–33.Google Scholar
Schuyler, Nina. 2010. The Challenges and Rewards of an Administrative Law Judge. Bar Association of San Francisco. http://www.sfbar.org/forms/sfam/q12010/administrative-law-judges.pdf (accessed July 19, 2015).Google Scholar
Selbin, Jeffrey, Jeanne, Charn, Anthony, Alfieri, and Stephen, Wizner. 2012. Service Delivery, Resource Allocation, and Access to Justice: Greiner and Pattanayak and the Research Imperative. Yale Law Journal. http://www.yalelawjournal.org/forum/service-delivery-resource-allocation-and-access-to-justice-greiner-and-pattanayak-and-the-research-imperative (accessed July 12, 2015).Google Scholar
Seron, Carroll, Carroll, Seron, Gregg, Van Ryzin, and Jean, Frankel. 2001. The Impact of Legal Counsel on Outcomes for Poor Tenants in New York City's Housing Court: Results of a Randomized Experiment. Law & Society Review 35 (2): 419–34.Google Scholar
Shanahan, Colleen F., Carpenter, Anna E., and Mark, Alyx. 2016a. Can a Little Representation Be a Dangerous Thing? Hastings Law Journal 67 (5): 1367–88.Google Scholar
Shanahan, Colleen F., Carpenter, Anna E., and Mark, Alyx. 2016b. Lawyers, Power, and Strategic Expertise. Denver University Law Review 93 (2): 469–521.Google Scholar
State Bar of California, Civil Justice Strategies Task Force. 2015. Civil Justice Strategies Task Force Report & Recommendations. San Francisco, CA: State Bar of California. http://www.calbar.ca.gov/AboutUs/BoardofTrustees/CivilJusticeStrategiesTaskForce.aspx (accessed June 16, 2016).Google Scholar
Steinberg, Jessica K. 2011. In Pursuit of Justice? Case Outcomes and the Delivery of Unbundled Legal Services. Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy 18 (3): 453–505.Google Scholar
Szmer, John, Johnson, Susan W., and Sarver, Tammy A. 2007. Does the Lawyer Matter? Influencing Outcomes on the Supreme Court of Canada. Law & Society Review 41: 279–304.Google Scholar
Unemployment Insurance Solutions. 2015. Employers Group: Unemployment Insurance. http://www.employersgroup.com/Content.aspx?id=79 (accessed July 13, 2015).Google Scholar
US Government Accountability Office. 2007. Low‐Wage and Part‐Time Workers Continue to Experience Low Rates of Receipt, GAO‐0701147. U.S. Government Accountability Office. http://www.gao.gov/assets/270/266500.pdf (accessed June 16, 2016).Google Scholar
Zorza, Richard. 2002. The Self‐Help Friendly Court: Designed from the Ground Up to Work for People Without Lawyers. Williamsburg, VA: National Center for State Courts.Google Scholar
Zorza, Richard. 2014. Progress in Three States on Non‐Lawyer Access Interventions. Richard Zorza's Access to Justice Blog. nhttp://accesstojustice.net/2014/04/04/progress-in-three-states-on-non-lawyer-access-innovations/ (accessed August 13, 2015).Google Scholar
Rodriguez v. Filene's Basement Inc., 905 A.2d 177 (D.C. 2006).Google Scholar
D.C. Rules of Prof. Conduct R. 1.16 (2016).Google Scholar
D.C. Code §§ 51–103, 110 (2016).Google Scholar
D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 1, § 2982.1 (2016).Google Scholar
D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 1 § 2985 (2016).Google Scholar
Rodriguez v. Filene's Basement Inc., 905 A.2d 177 (D.C. 2006).Google Scholar
D.C. Rules of Prof. Conduct R. 1.16 (2016).Google Scholar
D.C. Code §§ 51–103, 110 (2016).Google Scholar
D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 1, § 2982.1 (2016).Google Scholar
D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 1 § 2985 (2016).Google Scholar