THE NEBRASKA LEGAL SERVICES DELIVERY SYSTEM: AN ANALYSIS OF STRUCTURAL CHANGE AND A METHODOLOGICAL ARTICULATION FOR PROGRAM EVALUATION

The objectives of this study are: (1) to analyze changes in the structural configuration of the legal services delivery system in Nebraska, (2) to identify potential problem areas, and (3) to devise a systems theoretic design for modeling the complexity involved in the provision of legal care which will be helpful for the choice and implementation of alternative institutional arrangements. These objectives are broken down into a group of seven questions which form the core around which the study is organized. (1) What is the nature of existing literature relevant to this study? (2) What are the anthropological and historical conditions surrounding the emergence of a secular and institutionalized group of professional law-men ; and how has this profession evolved to its present structure in the United States? (3) What characteristics of the state of Nebraska are relevant to the delivery of legal services; and what inferences can be drawn from projected future trends in these areas? (4) What are the discernible trends in the changing structure of the legal profession in Nebraska? (5) To what economic and social characteristics of the state have these trends been most sensitive? (6) What problems do these trends portend for the future delivery of legal services in Nebraska? (7) How can the complex set of interactions among the elements of the legal services delivery system be conceptualized and modeled to facilitate the choice and implementation of new institutional arrangements for providing legal care? Each question is treated separately as a chapter or section of a chapter. Question one is taken up in Chapter 2, where preexisting use studies and system studies of the delivery of legal services are reviewed. Chapter 3 addresses the second study question. Therein it is determined that all continuing social groups have law in an anthropological sense, but that a secular and institutionalized form of legal counsel is unique to complex societies. Further, developments in the history of the legal profession in the United States are briefly outlined. Questions three through six are discussed in Chapter 4. There it is determined that, based on prior studies of problem incidence and lawyer utilization, projected social, demographic, and economic developments in Nebraska indicate that the general public will likely utilize lawyers services to a greater extent in the near future. Whether or not existing structural trends will enable the legal profession to meet this challenge is the point of questions four, five, and six. The legal profession in Nebraska has grown considerably in the last thirty years, and in the process has become more concentrated in private industry and larger law firms. These trends are highly correlated with various indicators of economic activity, particularly in the areas of insurance, manufacturing, and banking. Moreover, it is determined that the larger firm sizes toward which the profession is moving are more likely to be involved in those areas of practice which are not immediately relevant to the legal problems of individual persons, and are also more likely to be involved in the representation of the local interests of large scale corporate enterprises. It is believed that some redress of these imbalances will be in the interest of both the public and the profession. Thus, Chapter 5 addresses question seven in seeking to develop a holistic and systems theoretic model of potential use in the purposeful design, choice, and implementation of new institutional arrangements for delivering legal care. It is concluded that legal practice today is founded in a common language and technique which is largely derived from the business-like ways of corporate organizations. New institutions for providing legal care should be designed with this in mind