Report on Legislation related to Client Satisfaction Surveys for City-Funded Indigent Legal Services

SUMMARY

The Pro Bono and Legal Services Committee submitted a letter to Council Member Lancman in support of the transparency and accountability goals of Introduction 0958. Int. 0958-2015 would amend the Administrative Code of the City of New York by requiring the Civil Justice Coordinator and the Criminal Justice Coordinator to develop client satisfaction surveys. These surveys would be filled out by those who have been represented by city-funded attorneys in order to determine client satisfaction with their attorney’s overall performance. The committee writes to provide recommendations so that the goals of Int. 958 can most effectively be accomplished. These recommendations include having the Civil Justice and Criminal Justice Coordinators continually test the method of data collection; creating a working group in order to establish what data would be most useful to determine the quality of the legal services; and suggesting a number of specific questions to capture the true nature of the representation and the client’s entire experience, including treatment by the attorney, court staff and others, so that the survey does not merely become dependent on the legal outcome of the client’s case.

BILL INFORMATION

Int. 0958-2015 – client satisfaction surveys for city-funded indigent legal services