III. The Purpose of the Standards A. The Principles Underlying the Standards The ABA Standing Committee lists four essential principles upon which it has based the standards. It seeks the provision of high-quality legal services in standards that address issues of practitioner qualifications and training, specific quality assurance control mechanisms, and the fundamental elements of effective representation.16 The committee supports the zealous representation of client interests by standards that suggest challenging laws, policies, or practices when they present obstacles to resolving individual clients' problems or when they result in the same or similar problems for many indigent clients.17 The committee seeks to encourage client participation in the representation of low-income clients because there is greater potential for an unequal relationship between a practitioner and an indigent client.18 Finally, the committee seeks responsiveness to the needs of clients in commentary to various standards that suggests of a number of ways for a provider to seek input from the eligible client population regarding which problems are most critical. 19 B. Program Self-Evaluation Based upon the Standards In analyzing the principles underlying the standards upon which program conduct must be based, program directors have often directed self-evaluation of their programs. Martha Bergmark, Program Director of Southeast Mississippi Legal Services Corporation related how her program has gone through an elaborate process of self-evaluation through use of the standards. In August 1985, her program started analysis of the standards; the program's staff spent over a year and a half engaged in the process of reviewing the standards and their application to the program's practice through three retreats and numerous staff meetings. Committees composed of a few staff members each looked at separate parts of the standards. Ben Cole said that East Arkansas Legal Services was to conduct a retreat in June at which 10 to 15 percent of the staff's time would be devoted to analyzing the standards. Like the staff of Southeast Mississippi Legal Services Corporation, different groups of staff each were to study one or two of the standards. At a meeting conducted quarterly, the group will report on the standards they investigated. Chris Cadin, Interim Program Director of Legal Services of Central New York, stated that he would like to have an annual self-evaluation system based on the standards in which certain staff members would focus on just a few of the standards to analyze them for the whole staff. Paul Doyle stated that a Florida Rural Legal Services staff member has been delegated responsibility for reviewing the standards so that sometime later this year the standards will "hopefully become a part of how we do our work...." CALL TOLL FREE 1-800-621-3256 for Document Orders Computer Searches -in our service area only in Illinois, call collect 312-939-3834 Barry Sturm |