The recent economic recession has brought new urgency to longstanding problems in the delivery of legal services. For decades, bar studies have consistently estimated that more than four-fifths of the individual legal needs of the poor and a majority of the needs of middle-income Americans remain unmet. Our failures in providing access to justice have been compounded in recent years. High rates of unemployment, bankruptcies, foreclosures and reductions in social services have created more demands for legal representation at a time when many of its providers have faced cutbacks in their own budgets. As a consequence, legal aid and public interest programs are often being asked to do more with less.