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Demand for court-appointed legal work has risen sharply over the past decade, but there aren’t enough attorneys to fill the need, according to a press release from the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.
Forty-six counties qualify as legal deserts, defined by the American Bar Association as having fewer than one attorney for 1,000 residents.
Chief Justice Haley Bunn said the problem is expected to increase as more attorneys retire than join the state bar over the next five years.
“I took a double take when I read the number that says in the next five years, approximately 25% of the currently active attorneys intend to retire,” she said. “I think anything we can do to encourage young lawyers to stay here and practice here, we should try to do because the need is certainly there.”
Last year, the high court tasked a group with finding practical solutions to ensure there are enough attorneys to provide representation to the citizens who need it. The Commission on the Future of the Practice of Law released its report Monday detailing its findings and recommendations.
According to the report, while there has been a substantial increase in case filings which require court-appointed counsel over the past decade – specifically in child abuse and neglect cases – West Virginia has experienced a significant decline in private practice attorneys performing court-appointed work.
“This has been an issue that the entire court has been concerned about and seen coming down the pike for quite some time,” Bunn said. “We want to get it to the forefront of folks’ attention so we can try to address the problem.”
Bunn explained that the most common needs for a court-appointed attorney are in the context of criminal charges along with “folks who are facing termination of parental rights, or the folks who act as guardians ad litem to represent the children’s interests in an abuse and neglect context.
“Those are the most common areas of court-appointed work where we see really the greatest need, specifically in those abuse and neglect cases, because you often have multiple respondent parents,” she said.
The 13-member commission was chaired by Supreme Court Administrative Director Keith Hoover and included members of the state and federal judiciary, legislature and West Virginia State Bar.
Among the report’s findings:
- The number of active, in-state attorneys declined 9.29% from 2014, outpacing overall population decline of 4.3%.
- At the same time, legal demand increased, with the number of child abuse and neglect cases – which typically require court-appointed counsel – increasing 36.63%.
- Approximately 248 active, in-state attorneys leave practice each year, with an average of only 203 new attorneys admitted to the bar – a net annual decline of 45 attorneys per year.
- Approximately 25% of West Virginia private practice attorneys plan to retire during the next five years.
- Only 32% of current private practice attorneys accept court-appointed assignments.
To address these trends, the commission recommended a series of potential policy proposals in the following areas:
- Ease restrictions for out-of-state lawyers to practice in West Virgina.
- Create targeted opportunities for new or recent law school graduates to open small firms in rural areas.
- Create incentives to retain existing court-appointed attorneys and encourage more lawyers to accept court-appointed work.
- Explore more opportunities for individuals to enter the legal profession as attorneys or non-lawyers.
- Seek new funding opportunities to support innovation and robust programs.
Bunn cautioned that none of the recommendations are set in stone, but the commission will work with the Supreme Court, West Virginia State Bar, West Virginia University College of Law, still the state’s only law school, and lawmakers to review and discuss the recommendations in the coming months.
She also said she thinks the guardian ad litem work is especially valuable for a young attorney.
“I encourage young lawyers to take on that work, take the training, because it’s a great way to get on your feet. It’s a great way to get good experience in front of a judge, speaking to clients who may not have come from the same background as you,” she said. “Honestly, it’s a great way to get appellate experience as well because a large percentage of those cases are appealed and the guardians ad litem often are in a position to file summary response briefs and they get five minutes of arguments, in the typical case up here before our court. So it’s a wonderful way to get experience top to bottom in the court system.”
The full report from the Commission on the Future of the Practice of Law is available here: Commission on the Future of the Practice of Law Findings and Recommendations with Appendix.pdf.