The ABA’s Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services has released a report that finds 3.7 million Americans use legal self-help centers because they cannot afford to pay for an attorney:

The study gathered data from 222 of the nearly 500 legal self-help centers around the U.S., finding that most centers have less than five staff members and rely heavily on volunteer help provided by attorneys, paralegals, law students and others.

Even with external help, most of the centers have had to turn people away because the volume of clients exceeded their ability to help.  Approximately 81% said they had to turn potential clients away because the legal matters were too complex or not handled by the center.

A substantial majority of centers—89%—said their center focused on providing assistance with family law issues, including divorce, child support and domestic violence.  Other services provided included probate, guardianship, landlord/tenant disputes, general civil litigation, small claims and traffic.

Many of the centers provide referrals, with 66% saying they refer to lawyer referral services, 36% refer to pro bono attorneys, 28% refer to attorneys that provide unbundled services and 26% were other referrals to attorneys.

A majority of the centers voiced support for limited scope representation, where an attorney provides limited assistance on the case while clients handle other aspects in order to reduce legal costs.  86% of the responding centers said that at least some of their clients would benefit from limited scope representation, while 21% said that most if not all of their clients would benefit.

However, most also believed that their center’s clients would not be able to afford limited scope representation if it was priced at the going rate in their communities.