Survey Finds Americans Lack Knowledge About Civil Legal Issues

Washington—Experts discuss the findings from a new survey on Americans’ knowledge of civil legal issues on the latest episode of LSC’s “Talk Justice” podcast, released August 13th. The recent survey of more than 2,000 Americans was conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of LSC. It revealed widespread misconceptions about civil legal rights, and that many people do not reach out for help with their civil legal problems. Lee Rawles hosts the podcast conversation with LSC President Ron Flagg and Harris Poll Vice President Kathy Steinberg.

“A couple of the most compelling and probably most concerning findings [were] some of the misconceptions,” says Steinberg.

The survey revealed that 56% of Americans mistakenly believe they are entitled to free legal representation for all civil matters if they cannot afford a lawyer, a percentage that jumps to 67% among younger adults aged 18 to 34. Flagg says that he is unsurprised by these findings, noting that Americans are much more familiar with the criminal justice system than the civil and often do not understand the differences.

“Many of us have seen episodes of ‘Law and Order’ in which every week we hear that defendants are entitled to have a lawyer appointed if they can't afford one,” says Flagg. “It’s not surprising that people might reasonably think that if they face a life-impacting legal issue such as the loss of a home or the threat or occurrence of domestic violence, that they have a right to an attorney just like they see on TV.”

“Maybe I'm being overly optimistic, but my second thought is that the public reaction reflected in the polling data while not factually correct, do generally show an entirely reasonable aspiration: people should not face the loss of a home, loss of a child or child custody or domestic violence without legal help,” Flagg continues. “And indeed, in recent years, a number of states and cities have, for example, created a right to counsel in eviction cases.”

Currently five states and 17 cities have right-to-counsel programs for eviction cases, though sometimes these apply only to people under a designated income threshold. The Harris Poll survey found that nearly one of three Americans who were threatened with eviction or foreclosure in the past three years (31%) did not seek legal help. Additionally, 35% of those who were threatened say they did reach out for legal help but did not receive it.

LSC commissioned the survey as part of its 50th anniversary campaign. Flagg hopes that its results will increase public awareness about the legal needs of low-income Americans, correct misconceptions and close the so-called “knowledge gap.”

“Another key finding we found was that many Americans who did experience some kind of civil legal issue in the past three years did not seek legal help—or perhaps even more concerningly, many sought legal help but were not able to receive it,” Steinberg says. “And this includes for things like being contacted by creditors or collection agencies, people who've been fired from a job, natural disaster survivors, and even more than 80% [of adults 55 and older] who were victims of scams or identity theft failed to seek legal help in that instance.”

The survey found that a majority of Americans (59%) who experienced a civil legal matter within the past three years did not seek help from an attorney.

Talk Justice episodes are available online and on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple and other popular podcast apps. The podcast is sponsored by LSC’s Leaders Council.