Private Bar Delivery of Civil Legal Services to the Poor: A Design for a Combined Private Attorney and Staffed Office Delivery System

Since the advent of federally funded civil legal services to the poor, there has been a debate over which is the better delivery system for those services-the staffed office delivery system or the private attorney (judicare) delivery system. This Article does not join that debate, but rather proposes a hybrid delivery system that combines elements of both the staffed office and judicare systems. After an overview of the delivery system debate, the Article discusses the potential of a combined delivery system and presents a detailed design for such a system. The proposal includes a discussion of: type of panel; the scope of the private attorney component; the intake process, including eligibility determination, case approval, and case referral; payment of attorneys; and quality of service, including quality assurance and quality training techniques. The Article concludes that the implementation of such a combined delivery system could lead to the goal sought by both sides of the delivery system debate---effective and efficient civil legal services to the poor