Access to Legal Services

Archive Report

Public's Unmet Legal Needs

Inability and Reluctance to Hire Lawyers

According to the basic laws of economics, excess supply usually results in lower prices and greater accessibility to a product. Conversely, high prices along with growing difficulty in obtaining the product should indicate an inadequate supply. But the law of supply and demand does not always function smoothly, as the current state of legal services in the United States demonstrates.

In the past 10 years, law has become the country's fastest growing profession. There are now approximately 445,000 lawyers in the United States. The nation has one lawyer for every 484 persons—a higher ratio than in any other country except Israel. Despite the number of attorneys, there appears to be a significant demand for legal services that ...

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