Thursday, March 6, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Chief Justice Miriam Shearing told the Nevada Legislature that additional attorney services must be provided to low-income families because they experience legal problems more often than mod-erate-income families.
Shearing, in a "State of the Judiciary" address, said attorneys have started a number of programs to provide free or low-cost legal services to those who cannot afford them.
But she added, "There is an increasing deficit in legal services because of the continuing growth of the low- and moderate-income communities and decreasing federal funding for civil legal services.
"Despite the stellar efforts of the attorneys in these volunteer programs, the need is greater than the availability of services," Shearing said. Areas that need to be addressed are housing, employment, bankruptcy and health care.
Shearing also said that news stories about the judiciary and attorneys "seem to emphasize the negative and don't usually give an accurate or complete picture of what is really happening in our judicial system."
She outlined numerous programs run by lawyers to help the poor or to settle disputes before they get to court.
After her talk, she told reporters she hoped the lawmakers would "come away with a better understanding of our judicial system and the positive contributions that we're making ... that the lawyers and judges are making."
"You know the negative stuff is the stuff that makes the news," she said.
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