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Legal Aid Society of Cleveland
United Way Cleveland

THE JURY IS IN:

Independent evaluation shows Right to Counsel in Cleveland Housing Court results in significant positive outcomes for clients and positive return on investment.

About the Report

“You have the right to an attorney” — everyone is familiar with the Miranda rights, thanks to television crime shows. Our constitution ensures access to no-cost legal counsel when someone is accused of a serious crime and cannot afford an attorney. Yet many do not realize there is no such constitutional right to legal counsel in eviction cases.

As of July 1, 2020 – the City of Cleveland was only the 4th city in the United States to legislate a Right to Counsel in eviction cases.  The effort is funded initially as a public-private partnership, with a goal of being fully funded by City support once studies prove long-term sustainability and return on community investment.

In September 2020, Stout was engaged as the independent 3-year evaluator of Right to Counsel in Cleveland Housing Court.  Stout collaborates with United Way and Legal Aid to assess program success.  Over the past year, Stout has developed more than 100 analyses (with thousands of variations through filters and selections) in a data visualization platform to monitor key performance metrics, identify opportunities for refinement and further research, and evaluate the impact of Cleveland’s novel and nationally recognized Right to Counsel in housing.

This site highlights Stout’s Cleveland Eviction Right to Counsel Annual Independent Evaluation for 2021, published January 31, 2022.

Key Outcomes

Cleveland Legal Aid overwhelmingly achieved clients’ goals, including but not limited to: preventing eviction judgments, securing time to move, and mitigating damages. Cleveland Legal Aid also assisted clients in securing rental assistance, which landlord counsel identified as a strength of Cleveland’s eviction right to counsel.

Stout’s evaluation of Cleveland’s Right to Counsel in 2021 resulted in many new and unique insights including, but not limited to:

Prevent Evictions, Achieve Client Goals Prevent Evictions, Achieve Client Goals
Identify and Respond to Poor Housing Conditions Identify and Respond to Poor Housing Conditions
Respond to Eviction Crisis that Disproportionately Impacts Black and Female Households Respond to Eviction Crisis that Disproportionately Impacts Black and Female Households
Leverage Rental Assistance Leverage Rental Assistance
Preliminary Assessment of Fiscal Impacts Preliminary Assessment of Fiscal Impacts
Access to Justice: Significant Increase in Eligible Tenants Who Accessed a Lawyer Access to Justice: Significant Increase in Eligible Tenants Who Accessed a Lawyer

Download the Executive Summary

Download the Key Findings

Download the Full Report

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Legal Aid Society of Cleveland

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United Way Greater Cleveland

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STOUT

Cleveland’s Right to Counsel was independently studied by the firm Stout Risius Ross, LLC (Stout), a global investment bank and advisory firm specializing in corporate finance, valuation, financial disputes, and investigations. In addition to these services, Stout’s professionals have expertise in strategy consulting involving a variety of socioeconomic issues, including issues of or related to access to justice and the needs of low-income individuals and communities. This microsite was created by Legal Aid and United Way to highlight Stout’s independent report findings.