Justice Harriet O'Neill is the Court's official legal services liaison while Chief Justice Wallace B. Jefferson talks about expanding access at every chance. Low-income Texans are in good hands. Photo Credit: Kevin Vandivier

Team Texas
Led by the hands-on Supreme Court of Texas and unwavering support from its elected officials in Washington, a state known for producing great leaders has mobilized an all-star team of judges, lawmakers, and influential lawyers to set a national example of how to expand access to the justice system.

When word spread in 2003 of a looming budget crisis facing Texas, Betty Balli
Torres of the Texas Equal Access to
Justice Foundation (TEAJF) was not
alone in wondering what it would mean for the state’s legal services providers. Governor Rick Perry and the state legislature were mulling a range of spending cuts to cope with a projected two-year budget shortfall of $10 billion. Even popular programs in the areas of public education and children’s health were on the chopping blocks.

It was under those difficult circumstances that an appropriations hearing was held in Austin, where concerned citizens, public officials, and lobbyists waited for hours in a cramped hearing room for a chance to weigh in on the state’s spending priorities. Among those testifying that day was the most influential jurist in the state, then-Chief Justice Thomas Phillips. During his testimony, a committee member raised the possibility of using $4 million in annual revenue generated by filing fees to fund the administration of the courts—money earmarked for the Equal Access to Justice Foundation, which funds legal services for the poor.

“It was roundly rejected by the Court under Chief Justice Phillips,” recalls Justice Harriet O’Neill, who serves as the Court’s official liaison to the legal services community. “He basically said we’ll make whatever cuts we need to make to the courts’ budget. Just don’t touch that money.”

Throughout the day’s hearing and over the course of the remainder of the legislative session, the Texas Supreme Court, the Equal Access to Justice Foundation, the State Bar of Texas, and the Texas Access to Justice Commission continued educating state lawmakers on the precarious situation facing legal aid. They eloquently addressed why a reduction in funding was untenable: Legal aid programs were already operating at subsistence levels, thousands of eligible poor people were already being turned away due to lack of resources, and the legislature had not designated a state appropriation for civil access to justice efforts.

President Bush and Senator John Cornyn have both supported federally funded legal services. Bush credits LSC with advancing "the ideals that make our country strong," while Cornyn supported a $13.6 million boost in FY05. Photo Credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Supporters went on to explain that federal funding was waning even as new census figures showed a tremendous increase in the number of low-income Texans eligible for legal assistance. At last count, more than 3.7 million residents qualified, but fewer than one in four could get the help for which they were eligible. In short, legislators were told, more resources were urgently needed for legal aid providers; cuts would do irreparable harm to Texas advocates working to expand access to the justice system.

Torres recalls celebrating doubly hard when the legislative session was finally over. Not only was legal services funding not cut by the Appropriations Committee that session, the legislature unexpectedly approved a new pro hoc vice fee on out-of-state lawyer filings to raise additional capital for equal justice efforts. “Not only didn’t they touch us, we actually got more money,” says Torres, still flabbergasted. “I don’t know of a single other program that came out of that session with more money than it had going in. At a time when everyone was being cut, we were given an increase that came out to almost $400,000 per year.”

Torres says credit for the victory goes to Team Texas. “Our successes here have all been collaborative efforts,” she says. “It’s everyone cooperating and working together: the Access to Justice Commission, the Supreme Court, legal services providers, the State Bar, and our pro bono attorneys. We are all working together to expand access, to create relationships with lawmakers. Republicans are in power in Texas, and it makes a world of difference when members of our Supreme Court take the time to testify at our funding hearing. Leaders of that stature waiting in line to speak out on our behalf has a huge impact.”

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