Supporting civil legal aid is a good investment 

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When Gov. Wes Moore announced his 2024 housing package, the connection to the legal community at-large might not have been readily apparent. Yet, within one of the pieces of legislation currently pending before the Maryland General Assembly is a provision that has the capacity to provide sustainable support to the Maryland Legal Services Corporation and the grantees it supports.

The Renters Rights and Stabilization Act of 2024 can help not only address the disparities within our landlord/tenant law framework, but also support and sustain the MLSC and in turn the civil legal aid organizations upon whom so much relies, by raising the filing surcharges in landlord/tenant matters to just below the national average and distributing those funds equally between a statewide Rental Assistance Voucher Program and the legislatively created MLSC Fund.

MLSC’s mission is to ensure low-income Marylanders have access to stable, efficient and effective civil legal assistance through the distribution of funds to nonprofit legal services organizations. It currently funds 46 organizations to work toward that mission across the entire state. The Maryland General Assembly created MLSC in 1982 to administer the state’s Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program, and since that time MLSC grantees have assisted approximately 4 million Marylanders with a wide variety of civil legal needs.

In 1998, the General Assembly enacted surcharges in civil cases as a source of funding for MLSC, and those surcharges now amount to one of MLSC’s largest funding streams.

The funds from these increased surcharges will support legal services for over 82,000 Marylanders, directly benefiting over 160,000 individuals. MLSC grantees helped clients obtain more than $16.2 million in economic awards and avoid over $18.8 million in costs through their cases, for issues such as child support, consumer judgments and discharged debts.

Civil cases constitute approximately 85% of the cases heard within our courts, yet people who cannot afford an attorney in those matters are left to handle these complicated issues on their own, even when the issues at stake affect fundamental rights, such as custody of their children, their physical safety, their housing, or their employment.

Supporting civil legal aid is an investment with a good return for taxpayers, businesses, and communities, saving money from legal aid’s success in reducing homelessness and domestic violence. Civil legal aid also helps streamline the court system by reducing the number of unnecessary lawsuits and cutting down on court costs and staff overtime.

Providing access to an attorney not only meets a litigant’s existing legal needs but can equip them for future success, preventing legal conflicts from arising in the first place, and decreasing the need for further costly intervention.

Additionally, research shows that every $1 spent on civil legal aid returns $6 of benefits to our communities and state.  It is estimated to generate $190 million per year in economic activity, cost savings, and increased productivity according to the most recent study of the Administrative Office of the Courts, with the return on investment even greater in some areas, such as evictions, where a $5.7M investment in attorneys on the front end resulted in $35.7M in savings to the government on the back end.

The work MLSC grantees perform touch all facets of life, including evictions and foreclosures; protection from domestic violence and elder abuse; bankruptcy and debt collection; child support and custody; and access to unemployment, health and other benefits. The pandemic made these issues even more prevalent and complicated, while at the same time also wreaking havoc on the service providers who continue to face unprecedented staffing shortages and turnover.

Having an experienced advocate can make a tremendous difference for a low-income Marylander who, if not for civil legal aid, would be forced to navigate the legal system alone.

Maryland’s dedicated cadre of legal services providers, many of whom are graduates from Maryland’s two prestigious law schools, provide representation across the state, from Western Maryland to the Eastern Shore, Baltimore City, and all the counties in between. Often sacrificing the financial stability from opportunities to work in private practice, they have chosen to dedicate their careers to fighting for access to justice for all Marylanders.

The work they perform is quite literally life-changing, whether it is representing a tenant being unjustly evicted, a working mother trying to obtain benefits for her family, or a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault, seeking the protection of the courts.

MLSC-funded attorneys are there to ensure, in the words of our governor, that no one is left behind to face the justice system alone.  Therefore, we endorse the passage of the Renters Rights and Stabilization Act of 2024.

Editorial Advisory Board member Susan Francis is executive director of the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service, which is funded by the Maryland Legal Services Corporation. Editorial Advisory Board members Arthur F. Fergenson, Debra G. Schubert and H. Mark Stichel did not participate in this opinion.

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS

James B. Astrachan, Chair

James K. Archibald

Gary E. Bair

Andre M. Davis

Eric Easton

Arthur F. Fergenson

Nancy Forster

Susan Francis

Leigh Goodmark

Julie C. Janofsky

Ericka N. King

Angela W. Russell

Debra G. Schubert

H. Mark Stichel

The Daily Record Editorial Advisory Board is composed of members of the legal profession who serve voluntarily and are independent of The Daily Record. Through their ongoing exchange of views, members of the board attempt to develop consensus on issues of importance to the bench, bar and public. When their minds meet, unsigned opinions will result. When they differ, or if a conflict exists, majority views and the names of members who do not participate will appear. Members of the community are invited to contribute letters to the editor and/or columns about opinions expressed by the Editorial Advisory Board.