A few weeks ago I posted on a recent paper, What Difference Representation?, by James Greiner (Harvard) and Cassandra Wolos Pattanayak (Harv. Stats.--grad student). To briefly refresh, the paper uses data generated by the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau (HLAB) and sets out to assess "[P]articularly with respect to low-income clients in civil cases, how much of a difference does legal representation make?" The authors conclude, in part, that "these claimants would have been better off without the offer of representation."
"This study raises deep ethical questions both for HLAB and other legal service providers. Does HLAB have a duty to stop offering representation or to change its modus operandi? Does it at least have an ethical duty to disclose the results of the study to prospective clients? Can other student legal service organizations ethically ignore the results of the study?"