In a nation that professes equal justice for all, U.S. jurists have long been troubled by the fact that reality seems to provide quite a bit less justice for the poor. This concern is at the root of the Office of Economic Opportunity's $25 million program of legal services for the indigent. During the past year, federal cash has funded no-fee "neighborhood law offices" in 28 major cities, with 22 more cities on the way. The nation's second biggest such project has just received an independent appraisal from a dispassionate Philadelphia judge.
Early this year, the Philadelphia Bar Association organized...