Community Justice Worker (CJW) is a broad umbrella definition we use to describe the new category of legal helper. CJWs are trusted community members who offer essential civil legal support. While CJWs are not lawyers, a proposed Texas rule would allow them to be licensed and accredited to provide certain legal services. Review the rule here.

Community Justice Workers (CJWs) engage within their community to provide essential civil legal support. CJWs may provide legal assistance to lower income community members in: housing, consumer debt defense, employment law, family law, probate and estate planning, among other areas. 

The gap in access to justice in Texas is well-documented and pervasive. The CJW model has been implemented in other states and growing evidence indicates it meaningfully increases the provision of legal services to lower-income individuals who are otherwise priced out of legal help, falling into the justice gap.

Great question – no. The sobering reality is that the unauthorized practice of law already exists, often by unregulated and unsupervised individuals who are filling the void created by the access to justice gap and putting their “clients” at risk. The CJW model proposes a different solution: further regulating legal services that can be accurately and safety provided to the community. The proposed rule to accredit and license individuals to work as community justice workers impose trainings, continuing education requirements, and examinations on subject-matter and ethics for licensed and certified individuals. 

The CJW model is conceived as a solution to a problem that lawyers have not been able to fix: increasing legal representation amongst the community that cannot afford a lawyer. 

Check out the Join the Movement section below and stay tuned!