The number of lawyers in Oregon has declined since 2018. This excellent report revealed the “access to justice” crisis in my state. https://olf.osbar.org/files/2019/02/Barriers-to-Justice-2018-OR-Civil-Legal-Needs-Study.pdf https://twitter.com/profdaf/status/1277083733066043394

There are generous, great lawyers who care about these issues and we should be grateful for their service. Where are the rest of you? This is a question that is now again in the forefront. It won’t go away.

Maybe I’m also part of the problem. I will be thinking about that a lot.

When people are denied justice, their faith in the legal system erodes.

“When we say the pledge of allegiance, we close ‘justice for all.’”

Anybody believe that we are living up to that? In Oregon or elsewhere?

Seems like the fish to fry are bigger than some other fish.

What does “protecting the public” mean? That’s the question we all must answer.

If you think that the path to improvement means cracking down on the bar exam, until 2017, Oregon had one of the highest cut scores in the nation. It was lowered a smidgen, it’s still one of the highest.

Let’s work collaboratively to fix what’s broken.

This report will be required reading for every 1L I teach. And we will talk about it in every single class I teach.