Post by Abigayl Rodriguez

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐩 Last week, I attended a 𝐓𝐚𝐱 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 and was struck by how many petitioners had no legal representation. In 2024, nearly 𝟖𝟗% 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐚𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨 𝐬𝐞, representing themselves in court. This problem isn’t limited to Tax Court. Across the U.S., millions of people face civil legal issues without access to affordable legal help, a crisis known as the 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐩. Legal scholars describe this as a system where people are often left with only two options: pay for an expensive private attorney or represent themselves. Texas is taking steps to address this issue. Under the leadership of 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 Santos Vargas (𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓–𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔), access to justice has become a central priority through initiatives like 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐬. I go deeper into what the justice gap looks like, why it exists, and what’s being done in Texas in my latest blog post. ➣ https://lnkd.in/g5TVqz5F _____________________________________________________________ #JusticeGap #AccessToJustice #LegalAid #ProBono #StateBarOfTexas