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Introductory Bibliography
This bibliography is intended for those who are looking for a “primer” on civil right to counsel. It includes some materials that will help you get up to speed.
Cases
In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 (1967) (14th Amendment due process right to counsel for juveniles in delinquency cases).
Lassiter v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 452 U.S. 18 (1981) (adopting case-by-case approach to 14th Amendment due process right to counsel in termination of parental rights cases, and holding there is presumption against appointed counsel except where physical liberty is at stake).
Quail v. Municipal Court, 171 Cal.App.3d 572 (1985) (Johnson, J., dissenting).
Turner v. Rogers, 131 S.Ct. 2507 (2011) (finding no categorical right to counsel in child support-based civil contempt cases under 14th Amendment, where the plaintiff is neither the state nor represented by counsel and whether the matter is not “especially complex”).
Vitek v. Jones, 445 U.S. 480 (1980) (plurality opinion finding that prisoner involuntarily transferred to mental health facility has 14th Amendment due process right to “qualified representative”, but not necessarily an attorney).
Model Acts / Resolutions / Treaties
American Bar Association, Resolution 104 (Model Access Act) (Aug. 2010).
American Bar Association, Resolution 105 (Basic Principles of a Right to Counsel in Civil Legal Proceedings) (Aug. 2010).
American Bar Association, Resolution 112A (urging right to counsel in civil cases involving basic human needs) (Aug. 2006).
Law Review Articles / Treatises / Other Writings
Cathy Carr, Right to Counsel and Legal Services: From Fear and Loathing to Love and Support, 26 MIE Journal 37 (2012) (on file with the NCCRC).
Clare Pastore, Life After Lassiter: An Overview of State-Court Right-to-Counsel Decisions, 40 Clearinghouse Rev. J. of Poverty L. and Pol’y 186 (2006).
Debra Gardner and John Pollock, Civil Right to Counsel’s Relationship to Antipoverty Advocacy: Further Reflections, 45 Clearinghouse Rev. J. of Poverty L. and Pol’y 50 (July-Aug. 2011) [in response to Gary Smith, Poverty Warriors: A Historical Perspective, 5 Clearinghouse Rev. J. of Poverty L. and Pol’y 34 (May-June 2011)].
Heidi Schultheis and Caitlin Rooney, A Right to Counsel Is a Right to a Fighting Chance: The Importance of Legal Representation in Eviction Proceedings, Ctr. for American Progress (October 2, 2019).
John Pollock and Mary Deutsch Schneider, Ten Years In and Picking Up Steam: A Retrospective on the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel, 47 Clearinghouse Rev J. of Poverty L. and Pol’y 35 (May-June 2013).
John Pollock and Michael Greco, It’s Not Triage if the Patient Bleeds Out, 161 U. Penn. L.R. 40 (2012) [in response to Benjamin H. Barton and Stephanos Bibas, Triaging Appointed-Counsel Funding and Pro Se Access, 160 U. Pa. L. Rev. 967 (March 2012)].
John Pollock and Sandra Park, Tenants’ Right to Counsel is Critical to Fight Mass Evictions and Advance Race Equity During the Pandemic and Beyond, ACLU News (January 12, 2021).
John Pollock, “You Have a Right to a Lawyer … If You Can Afford It”: A Look at the History of the Right to Counsel in Civil Cases and the Current Efforts to Expand It, Bloomberg CNA Vol. 81 No. 48 at 1797 (June 18, 2013).
John Pollock, Appointment of Counsel for Civil Litigants: A Judicial Path to Ensuring the Fair and Ethical Administration of Justice, Court Review, Vol. 56 Issue 1 (2020).
John Pollock, Gideon and Civil Right to Counsel: Two Sides of a Coin, 34 NLADA Cornerstone 24 (2013).
John Pollock, The Case Against Case-By-Case: Courts Identifying Categorical Rights to Counsel in Basic Human Needs Civil Cases, 61 Drake L.J. 763 (Spring 2013).
John Pollock, Walking Before Running: Implementation of a Right to Counsel in Civil Cases, 14 MIE Journal 6 (2010).
Laura Abel and Max Rettig, State Statutes Providing for a Right to Counsel in Civil Cases, 40 Clearinghouse Rev. J. Of Poverty L. and Pol’y 245 (2006).
Laura K. Abel, Keeping Families Together, Saving Money, and Other Motivations Behind New Civil Right to Counsel Laws, 42 Loy. L.A. L. Rev. 1087 (2009).
Michael Millemann, The State Due Process Justification for a Right to Counsel in Some Civil Cases, 15 Temp. Pol. & Civ. Rts. L. Rev. 733 (2006).
Russell Engler, Connecting Self-Representation to Civil Gideon: What Existing Data Reveal About When Counsel Is Most Needed, 37 Fordham Urb. L.J. 37 (2010).
Russell Engler, Pursuing Access to Justice and Civil Right to Counsel in a Time of Economic Crisis, 15 Roger Williams U. L. Rev. 472 (2010).
Steve Eppler-Epstein, The Fight for Legal Aid Funding and Right to Counsel Advocacy: An Incremental Approach and an Overarching Message, 26 MIE Journal 41 (2012).
Reports / Studies
Bayview/Hunters Point Cmty. Legal, The Anti-Poverty Effect of Legal Aid: A Report (2016).
Boston Bar Ass’n Task Force on Expanding the Civil Right to Counsel, Gideon’s New Trumpet: Expanding the Civil Right to Counsel in Massachusetts (Sept. 2008).
Boston Bar Ass’n Task Force on Expanding the Civil Right to Counsel, The Importance of Representation in Eviction Cases and Homelessness Prevention (March 2012).
D. James Greiner, Cassandra Wolos Pattanayak, & Jonathan Hennessy, How Effective Are Limited Legal Assistance Programs? A Randomized Experiment in a Massachusetts Housing Court (Sept. 1, 2012).
D. James Greiner, Cassandra Wolos Pattanayak, & Jonathan Hennessy, The Limits of Unbundled Legal Assistance: A Randomized Study in a Massachusetts District Court and Prospects for the Future, 126 Harv. L. Rev. 901 (Feb. 2013).
John Pollock, Recent Studies Compare Full Representation to Limited Assistance in Eviction Cases, 42 National Housing Law Bulletin 72 (March 2012).
Laura Abel and Susan Vignola, Economic and Other Benefits Associated with the Provision of Civil Legal Aid, 9 Seattle J. for Soc. Just. 139 (Fall/Winter 2010).
Maryland Access to Justice Comm’n, Implementing a Civil Right to Counsel in Maryland (2011).
Rebecca Sandefur, Elements of Professional Expertise: Understanding Relational and Substantive Expertise through Lawyers’ Impact, American Sociological Review, vol. 80, 5: pp. 909-933 (Oct. 2015).
Resource for Great Programs, Inc., A Report on Pennsylvania’s Access to Justice Act, FY 2004-2011 (May 2012).
Russell Engler, Connecting Self-Representation to Civil Gideon: What Existing Data Reveal about When Counsel is Most Needed, 37 Fordham Urb. L.J. 37 (2010).
Supportive Writing by Judges and Public Defenders
Amicus Brief of Eleven County Judges, Kelly v. Warpinski, No. 04-2999-OA (Wis. 2004) (petition denied).
Amicus Brief of Retired Washington State Judges, King v. King, No. 79978-4 (Wash. 2007).
David J. Dreyer, Déjà Vu All Over Again: Turner v. Rogers and the Civil Right to Counsel, 61 Drake L. Rev. 639, 651 (2013).
Earl Johnson Jr., 50 Years of Gideon, 47 Years Working Toward a ‘Civil Gideon’, 47 Clearinghouse Rev. J. of Poverty L. and Pol’y 35 (May-June 2013).
Earl Johnson Jr., Equality Before the Law and the Social Contract: When Will the United States Finally Guarantee Its People the Equality Before the Law the Social Contract Demands?, 37 Fordham Urb. L.J. 157 (Feb. 2010).
Emily Jane Goodman, Facing Evictions – Without the Right to Counsel, Gotham Gazette (June 2008).
James Neuhard, Gideon Redux: A Defender’s View, 28 Cornerstone 5, 31 (Fall 2006).
John Gross, The True Benefits of Counsel: Why “Do-It-Yourself” Lawyering Does Not Protect the Rights of the Indigent, 43 N.M. L. Rev. 1 (Spring 2013).
Jon Levy, The World is Round: Why We Must Assure Equal Access to Civil Justice, 62 Me. L. Rev. 561 (2010).
Jonathan Lippman, New York’s Template to Address the Crisis in Civil Legal Services, 7 Harv. L. & Pol’y Rev. 13 (Winter 2013).
Laura Abel and Judge Lora Livingston, The Existing Civil Right to Counsel Infrastructure, 47 No. 4 Judges’ J. 24 (2008).
Margaret H. Marshall, Provide Legal Support To Those Most Vulnerable, Boston Globe (Oct. 29, 2011), available with subscription.
Mark Juhas, On the Anniversary of Gideon, An Argument for Free Civil Representation, 36-SEP L.A. Law. 44 (Sept. 2013).
Robert W. Sweet, Civil Gideon and Confidence in a Just Society, 17 Yale L. & Pol’y Rev. 503 (1998).
You can find additional information on judicial and state bar perspectives on the civil right to counsel here.
