November 24, 2015 1:00 PM

Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Jefferson says cost of legal services has grown to crisis proportions

New panel will focus on making legal services affordable for the middle class and small businesses.

The Texas Supreme Court has appointed a 18-member commission to address what Chief Justice Nathan Hecht calls the “growing justice gap.”

The court has tried to address indigent defense – the cost of representing those who can’t afford a lawyer – since the 1980s. Last year, that initiative cost an estimated $229 million, of which the state funds $27 million in formula and discretionary grants, according to the Texas Indigent Defense Commission.

But the gap between available lawyers and those who can afford legal services is growing. Hecht appointed panel to discuss how to make legal services affordable for the middle class and small businesses. The group will be known as the Texas Commission to Expand Civil Legal Services.

By Kimberly Reeves