Political Science ETDs

Publication Date

6-10-1975

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to analyze the response of the legal profession to the civil legal problems of the poor. The first half of the study concerns the historical background of the profession and its role in the development of the legal aid societies. The second half focuses on the reaction of lawyers to the federal government's Legal Services Program (LSP). The situation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is included as a case study of the resistance mounted by lawyers in opposition to one local program. The LSP was created in 1965 as the legal component to the War on Poverty, a program designed to replace the traditional method of providing the needy with legal help on civil matters. Although the national bar fraternities supported the program, there was a great deal of animosity from lawyers in the local communities where LSP projects were established. Critics cite three primary reasons for opposition to the program--professional, ideological and economic. A random sample of 120 Albuquerque lawyers was used to determine reasons for support and opposition to that city's LSP, the Albuquerque Legal Aid Society (ALAS). A questionnaire was mailed to the sample soliciting demographic and professional background information and attitudes on certain operations of the program. Responses to all items were cross-tabulated to determine the relationships between the independent and dependent variables as well as patterns of opposition and support. Nationally, the program was subjected to continual opposition from congressional critics and big city mayors who objected to the way the projects were being used. The program did much to meet the legal needs of the impoverished; however, it was too controversial. With the decline in support for the poverty programs and the election of a Republican president in 1968, it became evident that the LSP experiment would be concluded. In 1974, Congress authorized a National Legal Services Corporation to replace the LSP. The majority of lawyers in Albuquerque was opposed to the ALAS project. Opposition was strongest among solo and small firm practitioners specializing in areas of the law which were also addressed by the ALAS. Additionally, older attorneys were more hostile to the program than younger attorneys and Democrats were more tolerant of the program than Republicans and Independents. Income was of less importance than originally anticipated in explaining opinions of the respondents. Lawyers cited professional reasons as their main basis for opposition to the program, reasons which included alleged violation of the Canons of Professional Ethics and a lack of competency on the part of ALAS attorneys. Practice arrangement and practice specialties were the foremost determinants of attitudes toward the ALAS with income playing a secondary role. The type of law school the respondents attended was not as important as when they attended them. Overall, the lawyers felt a new program for the delivery of legal services to the poor was needed. However, they wanted any program to be in the form of a bar directed--judicare--program rather than a federally funded project independent of the bar. This exploration into the sociology of the legal profession emphasizes the importance of understanding the political role played by lawyers acting in a professional capacity.

Degree Name

Political Science

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Political Science

First Committee Member (Chair)

Harry P. Strumpf

Second Committee Member

Edwin Chase Hoyt

Third Committee Member

Robert J. Sickels

Fourth Committee Member

Michael Pierpont Gehlen

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

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