2018 Equal Justice Conference: Civil Right to Counsel in the Trump Era

There is no legal right to access counsel in most types of civil cases. But with changes initiated by the Trump Administration, the need for civil rights to counsel are essential in protecting vulnerable people, especially in immigration and housing cases. In this report from On The Road at the 2018 Equal Justice Conference, host Kimberly Sanchez talks to John Pollock and Andrew Sherer about their panel titled “Civil Right to Counsel in the Trump Era: Protecting Vulnerable Communities from Fees/Fines, Deportation, Increased Inequity, and More.” They discuss when the right to counsel is granted, how the Trump administration’s attitude towards immigration is affecting change, and the local-level governmental response.

John Pollock is the coordinator of the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel and is an attorney at the Public Justice Center.

Andrew Scherer is the policy direc­tor of the Impact Center for Public Interest Law at New York Law School and a distinguished adjunct professor at the law school, where he teaches Land Use Regulation. He also directs the Impact Center’s Right to Counsel Project.