For most of us, the idea of needing a lawyer brings to mind a criminal case. But some of the legal problems that can most quickly upend a person's life happen outside the criminal justice system: an eviction, a domestic violence protection order, a custody dispute, or the loss of benefits someone depends on.
And in most civil cases, there's no guarantee that someone who can't afford an attorney will have one.
That leaves thousands of Idahoans trying to navigate a complicated legal system on their own, often at a moment when their housing, safety or financial security is already at risk.
Two organizations working to close that gap are Idaho Legal Aid Services and the Idaho Volunteer Lawyers Program. They're among the organizations supported by Access to Justice Idaho and its annual fundraiser, Justice Uncorked, coming up Thursday, Sept. 17 in Garden City.
Sunrise Ayers, executive director of Idaho Legal Aid Services, and Jennifer Schindele, director of the Idaho Volunteer Lawyers Program, joined Idaho Matters to talk more.
