CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia has approved Justice Brent Benjamin’s proposal to initiate an Access to Justice program in West Virginia. The Court approved the proposal during its Administrative Conference on Tuesday, December 9, 2008.

Working with the West Virginia State Bar, Legal Aid of West Virginia, and West Virginia’s voluntary bar associations and groups, the Supreme Court, through Special Counsel Jennifer Singletary, will seek to identify areas of the West Virginia judicial system which can be improved for the benefit of West Virginia citizens and for the members of the Bar.

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who will be Justice Benjamin in 2009, will appoint a nine-member Access to Justice Commission. The state-wide commission will identify barriers to justice that exist for people who want to use the civil court system and plan ways to eliminate those barriers so citizens have easier access to the courts. The West Virginia University College of Law will nominate one member of the Commission, the Governor will nominate one member, the West Virginia State Bar will nominate three members, and the Supreme Court will nominate four members.

"Just as the role of West Virginia’s judicial system is to protect the rights of its citizens and to resolve disputes, I believe that the court system should also constantly strive to enhance its delivery of judicial services to the people of West Virginia," Justice Benjamin said.

"West Virginians of all socio-economic levels should be able to bring and defend their civil legal problems within our judicial system in a meaningful manner," Justice Benjamin said.

He emphasized that the program will help middle income West Virginians as well as those with fewer economic means.

"I’m talking about the working person striving to make ends meet at the end of the month; the single parent trying to keep his or her head above water; the senior citizen on a fixed income; and the ordinary middle-class family raising children during troubled economic times. In short, I’m talking about our friends and neighbors," Justice Benjamin said.

"Legal problems can strike anyone, regardless of resources. We – the judiciary and the bar – can delay this important task no longer," Justice Benjamin said.

The Access to Justice Commission is expected to establish subcommittees to carry out its work. Subcommittee topics are expected to be pro se litigants, pro bono services, Access to Justice for working West Virginians, resource development, domestic violence, and elder law and disproportionate minority contact with the courts.

Anita R. Casey, Executive Director of the West Virginia State Bar, said, "The West Virginia State Bar looks forward to working with the Supreme Court on this important and innovative program to help our citizens. The Access to Justice Commission will bring an unprecedented amount of coordination to existing legal outreach programs and allow them to expand. It also will encourage attorneys who have not done much pro bono work to do more; once they participate, they will see the benefit to themselves, and their communities.

Ms. Singletary said, "The West Virginia Court System has been consistently making procedural improvements under the creative and dynamic administrative direction of Steve Canterbury. A statewide Access to Justice Commission will dramatically build on those improvements in an unprecedented way – by assessing what West Virginians need to truly achieve the "justice for all" anticipated in the pledge to the American flag – and meeting those identified needs.

"My division intends for West Virginia’s Commission to rapidly move from a think tank to an all-out action force to be reckoned with. We’ve tirelessly researched, worked with other states’ access leaders and service providers, and studied other states’ models long enough," Ms. Singletary said. "West Virginia is primed and ready to become a role-model for social justice."