  The paper estimates the need for additional attorney hours annually to
address the legal needs of indigent clients throughout the United States in
matters that comprise the so-called social determinants of health (SDoH). The
result will inform stakeholders such as policy makers and private donors so
they can allocate resources appropriately and design programs to close the
do-called justice gap. As a pilot study, the scope of the project covers only a
few major justice problems related to the social determinants of health
(standard housing, evictions and foreclosures, guardianships for the
incapacitated, and victims of domestic violence) because they significantly
impact health outcomes and there are data available. Based on our calculations,
we estimate that the total number of attorney hours to address only these five
legal issues is over 34 million per year. To put that in perspective, the
American Bar Association estimated that in 2018, the year from which much of
our data comes, the total number of practicing attorneys in the United States
was 1,338,678 (Weiss). Thus, to provide the needed hours, every single
practicing attorney in the United States would need to contribute about 26
hours a year. While many lawyers do in fact contribute pro bono hours, they
address the full range of legal needs that go well beyond just the five we
studied.
