The role of CED lawerying in promoting / implementing a strategic model of legal aid in Ireland

Abstract

This thesis aims at determining what role, if any, Community Economic Development (CED) lawyering plays in Ireland in relation to the promotion/implementation of a strategic model of legal aid. The research starts by introducing the topic of CED as developed in the United States, followed by a discussion of some of its theoretical and practical aspects. Then a theory (founded on how the idea of community law centres developed outside the United States as well as on access to justice) is developed which discusses how CED lawyering may have made it across the Atlantic, resulting in the finding of a paradox or what I call "the CED paradox". This paradox shows that while CED developed in the United States in response to the demise of the neighbourhood law firms (NLFs) of the 1960s and early 1970s, it developed in other jurisdictions as part of the community law centre movement (which was based on the NLFs of the 1960s and early 1970s), thus explaining how and why CED lawyering became embedded in the idea of what community law centres do in Ireland and further substantiating the idea that CED lawyering is not just a phenomenon that takes place in the United States. Then, the topic of CED lawyering in Ireland is looked at in detail, including the analysis of two community law centres that act as case-studies which illustrate how CED lawyering has developed in Ireland and how it can help to promote/implement a strategic model of legal aid. Finally, the thesis offers a series of comparisons between CED lawyering in Ireland and the United States as well as suggesting ideas for best practice.