About
History
Because of chronic underfunding, existing legal aid programs in North Carolina have long been unable to meet the need of low-income people for legal assistance in cases involving basic human needs. As the number of low-income people needing legal assistance has continued to increase, court, bar, and community leaders in North Carolina have worked to develop new methods and strategies to address this growing need.
In November 2005, shortly before his retirement from the bench, Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake, by order of the state Supreme Court (See link to Court Order below), established the North Carolina Equal Access to Justice Commission, making North Carolina the 19th state to establish such an entity. The mission of the Commission is to expand access to civil legal representation for people of low income and modest means in North Carolina.
The 25-member Commission was structured to include representative stakeholders from across the state, to reflect the diversity of ethnic, gender, legal, and geographic communities of North Carolina and to be chaired by the Chief Justice. Commission members included representatives of the judiciary, legal aid programs, law schools, general public, state government, philanthropic organizations, business communities, and client communities, as well as practicing lawyers.
Commission Members
| Name | Organization Represented |
| The Honorable Sarah Parker | Supreme Court |
| The Honorable Linda M. McGee | Court of Appeals |
| The Honorable Paul L. Jones | Superior Court |
| vacant | District Court |
| Carol Allen White | Clerk of Court or Administrative Office of the Courts |
| E. Carol Spruill | Law Schools |
| George V. Hanna III
Reginald Combs |
North Carolina Bar Association |
| Victor J. Boone
E. Fitzgerald Parnell, III |
North Carolina State Bar |
| James M. Talley, Jr. | IOLTA |
| Anita S. Earls
Richard M. Taylor, Jr. James Nicholas Ellis |
Voluntary Bar Associations |
| Barbara Roole | Philanthropy Community |
| Michael P. Rizer | Business Community |
| George Hausen
Reid Calwell Adams, Jr. |
Legal Aid of North Carolina |
| Melinda Lawrence | NC Justice Center |
| Kenneth L. Schorr | Legal Services of Southern Piedmont |
| Willis Williams | Client Community |
| The Honorable James Long | Governor of North Carolina |
| Senator Daniel Clodfelter | North Carolina Senate |
| Representative Martha B. Alexander | North Carolina House of Representatives |
Commission Documents
After kidney and pancreas transplants, a 44-year-old woman with diabetes was denied disability insurance benefits. Legal aid representation was the only way she was able to afford the anti-rejection medicine needed to maintain her transplant:
“The letter terminating the disability was a shocker; it meant no medication, no doctors’ visits, and the medication was very, very expensive. The anti-rejection medication is about $1,500 a month, and I need that every day for the rest of my life as long as I have the transplant. Legal Services of Southern Piedmont really came through for me. It was a life or death situation, and they brought me life.”
More than 1.3 million people under age 65 are uninsured in North Carolina, including some 240,000 children. Availability of legal services often makes the difference in access to vital health care.