California Creates New Program to Provide State-Paid Lawyers in Certain Civil Cases

Forty-six years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Gideon v. Wainwright, a case which first provided the right to counsel for indigent defendants in criminal cases.  In the spirit of that landmark case, Gov. Schwarzenegger recently signed AB 590, the Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act, which for the first time will provide a lawyer to people who cannot afford one in civil cases related to basic human needs.