IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 960 
Recognizing the right to counsel in civil proceedings. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 8, 2020 
Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. DIN-
GELL, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. OMAR, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. 
SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. UPTON, Ms. 
TLAIB, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, and Mr. NADLER) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judici-
ary 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the right to counsel in civil proceedings. 
Whereas the justice system in the United States depends on 
fair and equal access to the courts as a fundamental 
right in a democratic society; 
Whereas the first line of the United States Constitution iden-
tifies ‘‘establish Justice’’ as a purpose of the Constitu-
tion; 
Whereas, in criminal proceedings involving imprisonment, the 
United States Constitution guarantees a lawyer for any-
one unable to afford one in order to ensure fairness and 
equal treatment; 
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Whereas engraved in stone above the entrance to the United 
States Supreme Court reads ‘‘Equal Justice Under 
Law’’; 
Whereas Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas and 
president of the Conference of Chief Justices Nathan 
Hecht has said ‘‘justice for only those who can afford it 
is neither justice for all nor justice at all’’; 
Whereas civil proceedings often determine issues involving 
basic human needs, including shelter, custody of children, 
safety from abuse, health, and sustenance; 
Whereas the American Bar Association, which is the largest 
voluntary association of legal professionals in the world, 
has long urged the Federal Government and State and 
territorial governments to provide legal counsel as a mat-
ter of right at public expense to low-income individuals 
in adversarial proceedings involving basic human needs, 
including shelter, sustenance, safety, health, and child 
custody, as determined by each jurisdiction; 
Whereas individuals without lawyers face difficult and often 
insurmountable barriers to obtaining justice in the 
courts; 
Whereas courts attempting to provide justice to individuals 
without lawyers often cannot obtain vital information 
necessary for making fully informed decisions on the 
merits; 
Whereas the 2017 Justice Gap Report published by the fed-
erally funded Legal Services Corporation found that at 
least 71 percent of low-income households experience a 
civil legal problem, including problems regarding domestic 
violence, veterans’ benefits, disability access, evictions, 
housing conditions, and health care; 
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Whereas the 2017 Justice Gap Report found that low-income 
individuals in the United States received inadequate or 
no legal help for 86 percent of their civil legal problems; 
Whereas millions of individuals in the United States cannot 
afford to hire a lawyer, including approximately 
94,000,000 individuals with family incomes below 200 
percent of the Federal poverty guidelines (as defined by 
the Department of Health and Human Services); 
Whereas assistance programs support less than 1 civil legal 
aid attorney per 10,000 individuals with an income under 
200 percent of the Federal poverty guidelines; 
Whereas countless studies have shown that programs that 
provide attorneys to low-income individuals produce fairer 
outcomes, promote public confidence in the justice sys-
tem, facilitate greater judicial efficiency, and save tax-
payer dollars; 
Whereas a 2015 report titled ‘‘The Landscape of Civil Litiga-
tion in State Courts’’ published by the National Center 
for State Courts found that only 26 percent of defend-
ants have an attorney; 
Whereas the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference 
of State Court Administrators resolved in 2015 to ‘‘sup-
port the aspirational goal of 100 percent access to effec-
tive assistance for essential civil legal needs’’; 
Whereas self-represented litigants face significantly worse 
outcomes in court, including that— 
(1) in Montgomery County, Maryland, domestic vio-
lence victims without lawyers are almost three times more 
likely than those with lawyers to drop their cases before 
obtaining final protection; 
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(2) in Maricopa County, Arizona, judges take, on av-
erage, less than a minute to hear eviction proceedings in-
volving unrepresented tenants, with judgments over-
whelmingly favoring landlords; 
(3) in Wisconsin, Social Security Disability claim-
ants with representation succeed up to 70 percent of the 
time while unrepresented claimants succeed only 30 to 55 
percent of the time; and 
(4) nationwide, only 14 percent of defendants in 
debt collection proceedings have attorneys (compared 
with 99 percent of plaintiffs) and defendants with an at-
torney are significantly more likely to prevail (including 
10 times more likely to prevail in Virginia); 
Whereas investing in civil legal aid provides enormous cost 
savings to States, including that— 
(1) in 2016, Florida saved $60,400,000 by providing 
civil legal services, including $2,900,000 in avoided costs 
of emergency shelter, $50,600,000 in avoided foreclosure 
costs, and $6,900,000 in avoided costs associated with 
domestic violence; 
(2) for every $1 spent on civil legal aid for housing 
cases in Massachusetts in 2014 the Commonwealth saved 
$2.69 on other services, including emergency shelter, 
health care, foster care, and law enforcement, and by 
providing legal services to survivors of domestic violence, 
Massachusetts saved $2 for each $1 spent that year; 
(3) in 2011, a $53,600,000 investment in civil legal 
services in Pennsylvania created 2,643 jobs and yielded 
$594,000,000 in income and cost savings for residents, 
including a $25,000,000 savings in emergency shelter 
costs and an influx of $118,000,000 in Social Security 
benefits for low-income residents; and 
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