While lawyers have a leadership responsibility in ensuring that everyone has access to justice to our justice system, equal access to justice is central to our democratic society, integral to the effective functioning of our justice system and a critical part of the safety net for vulnerable members of our community. Thus, just as is true with other critical services such as medical care and housing—and as part of the obligation to properly fund the judicial branch of government—federal, state and local governments have the primary funding responsibility for legal aid and related access to justice initiatives, in partnership with the legal community and other public and private sources.

The CBF's advocacy efforts at the federal, state and local levels focus primarily in three areas: (1) ensuring adequate government funding for legal aid and access to justice initiatives, including proper funding for the courts; (2) promoting loan repayment and forgiveness initiatives to help legal aid and public interest attorneys pursue these careers; and (3) advocacy on other legislative and administrative issues critical to equal access to justice and the legal aid system.