The Manifest and Latent Functions of Legal Aid

Abstract

The way in which legal aid services are provided can make a difference in the quality of that service. This paper argues that the fee-for-service model, which is profitable for lawyers, has considerable drawbacks for juvenile clients. By way of contrast, the Children's Court in Melbourne, Australia, illustrates how young, poorly paid lawyers can become skilled and effective in juvenile matters. Instead of going through the slow learning process experienced by new lawyers in the U.S. juvenile courts, and by duty counsels in Canadian youth courts, the young Melbourne lawyers take part in a training process that quickly familiarizes them with the subtleties of the system, gives them access to communication networks, and makes them part of a subculture that generates both competence and high morale. These young lawyers develop confidence and know that they are good at their job. In the Children's Court of Melbourne they accomplish more for their clients than the better paid, better dressed, higher status lawyers who occasionally appear in the juvenile system. The practices developed in Melbourne will probably not be imitated in North America, nor in the rest of Australia for that matter. The process that produces. expertise in legal matters relating to juveniles may be good for the clients, but it leads to greater efficiency and works against the financial interest of lawyers. One can therefore anticipate strenuous resistance from the established legal profession wherever such a program is suggested.