Equal Access to Justice for All

Larry and I worked together as volunteer members of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services for a number of years. The Pro Bono Committee was charged with the responsibility, among others, of documenting the pro bono legal assistance being undertaken across the Commonwealth as well as seeking to promote and increase the delivery of pro bono legal services. I continue to serve on the Committee. Every year, my program (the New Center for Legal Advocacy), a provider of free legal assistance to poor and low-income persons, receives between 2,500 and 3,000 applications from eligible individuals seeking legal representation. Our staff attorneys cannot possibly meet this demand—which is a fraction of the overall demand for legal aid statewide. The help we receive from private attorneys is critical to providing meaningful access to justice. This is where Larry came in—his commitment to justice and, more importantly regarding his work with me and the Pro Bono Committee, his passion for equal access to justice. It is not enough to say that all citizens have access to the courts and are free to represent themselves. Without counsel, one is left with questionable “access” and certainly not meaningful access to justice. Larry was always willing to speak his mind and defend the need for increased access to justice, however defined. Consequently, even among the Pro Bono Committee, there would be differences on how to make the most significant or substantial improvement in pro bono—and Larry would not let up, always pressing the Committee to do the right thing and not be concerned with encountering resistance or controversy. My knowledge and relationship with Larry was limited to the Pro Bono Committee; however, our experiences in that endeavor told me much about Laurence Moss, the lawyer and the man. He was dedicated as an attorney member of our Committee and dedicated to the principles of pro bono legal services—and, in the final analysis, he was a passionate proponent of equal access to justice for all.