Laurence Tribe, who is leading the Obama administration’s effort to enhance access to justice for poor and middle-class Americans, announced several initiatives this morning that are designed to increase the number of individuals who have access to a lawyer when facing complex legal problems. The initiatives target Americans seeking unpaid wages or overtime, veterans needing legal advice and people who are facing foreclosures on their homes.  Tribe, who is on leave as a professor at Harvard Law School to serve as senior counselor for the Access to Justice Initiative at the Department of Justice, said the initiatives were designed to help “close the access to justice gap” that he said has widened during the recent period of economic turmoil.

“We’re under no illusion that these steps are going to transform the national landscape,” Tribe said. “But we see them as helping to close a gap that has grown into a chasm.” Tribe said today that he will be stepping down from DOJ and returning to Harvard next month.

The announcements, billed as a Middle Class Task Force event and held in the White House's Eisenhower Executive Office Building, featured some of the administration’s top lawyers and officials, including Vice President Joe Biden, Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, among others. (click on link to read full story)