Chief Justice Paul C. Wilson expressed concern about whether the rule of law is being undermined by a lack of credibility, access, and diversity during an annual meeting of judges and lawyers.
“The lack of access to adequate legal representation is not going to go away,” Wilson said at the judicial conference on Sept. 23. “It’s just going to get worse. The solutions – whatever they turn out to be – will not be obvious or simple. So, it’s a discussion worth having and because this lack of access threatens our system of justice, it will be up to all of us to lead that conversation.”
The rule of law is a set of ideals to comply with in order to create a just society, according to the American Bar Association.
“There are those that simply do not have access to the court system because they just don't have the resources,” said Southern District Court of Appeals Judge Gary Lynch. “They don't have the help and they don't have the ability to do it themselves. Access to justice is a huge issue that we've tried to chip away at for decades and we want to do better.”
This is the second year the conference has occurred virtually. Last year, former Chief Justice George W. Draper III addressed the Missouri Bar remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is clear that what worked over the past year will not work indefinitely,” Wilson stated. “The reduced operations of 2020 simply cannot – and must not – become permanent. Despite our best efforts, filings in 2020 outpaced dispositions. The size of this backlog and the types of cases involved vary around the state but there is no doubt we have some catching up to do.”
Lynch, who chairs the Missouri Court Automation Committee, said the backlog of cases was created by not being able to hold trials during the pandemic lockdowns and that there are some cases that cannot be tried using virtual appearances.
“The Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides a right for a criminal defendant to confront their witnesses and there's a big question as to whether a video conference provides that constitutional protection,” Lynch told the St. Louis Record. “The system took some time to adjust. We've not completely adjusted but, by and large, most trial courts are back into the business of trying cases in person.”
Wilson urged lawyers to play an active role in recruiting the next generation of attorneys in order to enhance the credibility of the legal profession with diversity and size.
“We have failed to bring adequate diversity to our profession,” he said. “The next generation of lawyers needs to look a whole lot more like the 6 million Missourians they’ll represent than we do … not only in terms of race and ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation but also in terms of socioeconomic backgrounds and a willingness to live in and serve both urban and rural communities.”
But Lynch said in order to expand and diversify the Missouri Bar, the cost of law school must first be addressed.
For example, tuition at the University of Missouri Law School is $22,060 for a full-time student in-state and $40,732 for a full-time student out-of-state.
“Do you expand the pool of lawyers by spending more money on public law schools that would have lower tuition and lower costs,” Lynch said. “Do you subsidize them to become lawyers?”