PASSION FOR JUSTICE
Perhaps a lot of my views in my sixties come from the fact that I was told I was going to die in my forties and didn’t. It allowed me an early retirement and caused me to reflect about what mattered in my life while I expected to pass on. When I returned to working full time thereafter, I regained an appreciation for my profession, the practice of law, which grows stronger each day. I am acutely aware of the problems which our present day justice system causes for most Americans. In Washington State, for example, as far back as 2003 most people (approximately 85%) could not afford an attorney to help them with legal matters. “This is true even though legal problems often involve housing conditions, access to or conditions of employment or other basic human needs, and are almost always characterized as ‘important’ by the households themselves.” And 2003 was well before the foreclosure crisis started the evil of hundreds of thousands of Americans being forced from their homes. So what does the fact that access to lawyers for most people is almost non-existent mean in today’s world? Banks pay attorneys to have courts evict homeowners. Homeowners often don’t have the money to fight the banks so they represent themselves pro se. Most of the time the bank win, the pro se loses. Adding a lawyer to the equation really does not change much if it is the amount of money that determines the attorneys efforts with regards to … Continue Reading