THEY HAVE ever-increasing legal needs that remain largely unmet. Often unable to afford to hire lawyers to assist them, the undaunted may forge into court on a pro se basis, an experience that more often than not results in frustration and failure. Others simply give up, assuming that there is nothing they can do to assert their rights. Such is the gloomy situation for many middle income New Yorkers who need to avail themselves of our justice system.
The New York State Bar Association believes it has found at least a partial solution to this problem. In June 1996, the association’s Commission on Providing Access to Legal Services for Middle Income Consumers recommended, among other things, that simplified case resolution procedures be established for litigating modest cases. Following approval by the NYSBA House of Delegates, legislation was introduced in the New York State Senate (S-1082) and Assembly (A-1007) in January 2001. If adopted, the law would add a new Article 30-A to the Civil Practice Law and Rules to allow cases in which the amount sought to be recovered is $75,000 or less to be resolved on a streamlined basis.
