How to meet the unmet legal needs of low and moderate income state residents is the charge of the new Wisconsin Access to Justice Commission. Marsha Mansfield is a member of the commission, which was created by the state Supreme Court in 2009 in response to a petition filed by the State Bar of Wisconsin. The issues the commission will address were spelled out in a report issued by the State Bar in March of 2007. “Five hundred thousand people in Wisconsin experienced an average of at least two civil legal problems a year,” explains Mansfield. “And the poorer families had an even higher need. So, many of the people who are from low income households go to court in Wisconsin, or go to an administrative hearing, and don’t have a lawyer.”
Mansfield says existing legal resources are “doing a very capable job,” but that “the problem is that there aren’t enough resources to address all of the need that exists.” Mansfield says the commission, which recently met for the first time in Stevens Point, hopes to address the growing problem and find solutions, including solutions that don’t necessarily require more money. “But of course, money is a part of it, and many of the commissions in other states have been very successful in raising awareness of the problems that people have in accessing justice, and that results in increased funding.” She hopes the issue here in Wisconsin can be addressed by a wide range of stakeholders. “Not only people in the court system . . . but also those in the legislature and those in the business community, because this problem of access to justice is a community issue, it’s not just a lawyer issue.”
