Legal News

The Riverside County Superior Court in February created a management position for a staff attorney to oversee its self-help program for family law, small claims, probate and eviction cases. The court program does not offer legal representation but can show people how to navigate the legal system on their own, something more litigants are doing to save costs during the ongoing recession and foreclosure crisis.

But this program and others like it in the area depend on grants and donations to keep going, and the recession hasn't made it any easier on them.  The California State Bar's contribution has shrunk by $15 million over the year, and there's a $40 million difference between House and Senate bills for next year's funding of the Legal Services Corp., which in turn gives grants to local groups. Both versions give the corporation more money than the previous year, but the demand for it is also higher.

Riverside County eviction cases increased from 13,898 filings in 2007 to 21,780 in the 2008 calendar year. In San Bernardino County, the numbers went from 14,016 in fiscal 2006-07 to 18,568 in fiscal 2007-08.

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