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43 Pepp. L. Rev. 881 (2015-2016)
Do Lawyers Matter? The Effect of Legal Representation in Civil Disputes

handle is hein.journals/pepplr43 and id is 887 raw text is: Do Lawyers Matter? The Effect of Legal Representation in Civil Disputes Emily S. Taylor Poppe* & Jeffrey J. Rachlinski* Abstract With declining law school enrollments, rising rates of pro se litigation, increasing competition from international lawyers and other professionals, and disparaging assessmentsfrom the Supreme Court, the legalprofession is under increasing attack. Recent research suggesting that legal representation does not benefit clients has further fueled an existential anxiety in the profession. Are lawyers needed and do they matter? In this Article, we review the existing empirical research on the effect of legal representation on civil dispute outcomes. Although the pattern of results has complexities, across a wide range of substantive areas of law (housing, governmental benefits, family law, employment law, small claims, tax, bankruptcy, and torts), professional legal representation is associated with better outcomesfor litigants. Only injuvenile court (and perhaps in cases involving claims to government benefits) is the benefit ofrepresentation unclear. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. IN TRODU CTION ................................................................................... 882 II. RESEARCHING REPRESENTATION ....................................................... 886 A . Juvenile Cases......................................................................... 889 B . H ousing ................................................................................... 900 C. Administrative Hearings/Government Benefits....................... 910 D . Employm entLaw .....................................................................919 E . F am ily Law .............................................................................922 F . Sm all C laim s...........................................................................926 * Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Sociology, Cornell University; A.B., Duke University; J.D., Northwestern University School of Law. ** Henry Allen Mark Professor of Law, Cornell Law School; B.A. and M.A., Johns Hopkins University; J.D. and Ph.D., Stanford University. 881

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