WASHINGTON, August 30, 2021 – The American Bar Association strongly supports efforts by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and others in calling on the legal community to help address the approaching evictions crisis that threatens the safety of renters and the livelihoods of landlords, and could strain our legal system beyond capacity. It is essential that we all step up to provide vulnerable families with access to counsel, divert evictions and connect renters and landlords to available resources.
With volunteer actions, individual lawyers and law students can make an enormous difference in ensuring access to justice and minimizing the impact of evictions on individuals, families and communities, as well as landlords, during this critical time. Join with state and local bar associations, volunteer with legal aid organizations and law school aid clinics, help state and local agencies with eviction diversion programs and work with struggling families and landlords. Every effort – large or small – will be meaningful.
The Lawyer’s Oath provides that a lawyer shall “never reject, from any consideration personal to myself, the cause of the defenseless or oppressed, or delay any cause for lucre or malice.” Accordingly, it is our duty and calling as lawyers and legal professionals to help prevent housing losses among struggling families and stabilize the economic interests of property owners so we can move forward as a nation and fulfill the promise of freedom and opportunity for all.
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