Research into the effects of legal representation is rare because in many settings in which people might have lawyers, legal representation is either so common or so unusual that it cannot serve as a variable. Moreover, such research as exists is often poorly controlled or otherwise methodologically deficient. Our data set, derived from the case files of a public housing eviction board, allows us to overcome most of the difficulties that plague prior studies because it is relatively large and unusually rich in information about individual cases. We model the effects of various tenant and case characteristics on lawyer involvement as well as the effects of legal representation on case outcome. We find that lawyers tend to handle more difficult cases and that the likelihood that legal representation will aid a tenant depends on case type and changes over time. Our results, though likely to be context dependent, suggest how the effects of legal representation may be studied in other settings and the kinds of variables that may condition such effects.

In Hawaii Samoans are a stigmatized ethnic group. We examine how this group is treated by a public housing eviction board. Statistical analysis suggests Samoans are discriminated against in financial cases.Interviews indicate^however, that Samoans are disadvantaged largely because their excuses are unpersuasive and would be so regardless of the ethnicity of the tenants making them. In this sense Samoans are treated "like any other tenant," and illegal discrimination, as defined by the Fourteenth Amendment, has not occurred. But Samoans make unpersuasive excuses more often than other tenants because excuses that are reasonable in the context of Samoan culture do not seem reasonable to judges from a different culture. Thus cunong tenants behind in their rent, Samoans fare worse than do non-Samoans, much as they might fare if board members held anti-Samoan prejudices. We call this implication of cultural hegemony "cultural discrimination" and note the dilemmas it poses, not the least of which is that it makes problematic the very concept of discrimination. Judges responding to these excuses similarly consider -and indeed discuss -the validity of the excuses they hear. Thus, our example shows how cultural understandings, can limit even conscious cognitive efforts to behave in ways acceptable to a dominant culture and can lead to considered decisions that reject another's cultural motivations, even while recognizing and on occasion appreciating them.In examining how Samoans fare before the HHh's eviction board, we are observing an unfamiliar minority group before an unusual court.This situation in fact enhances our ability to identify and explore HHA's case was briefly presented, usually by questioning the housing project manager, and the tenant could respond however he or she wanted.Almost always the HHA's charges were admitted. In three-quarters of the cases, the charge was nonpayment of rent, and the fact of nonpayment was almost always indisputable; but even when some other lease violation was charged like fighting or keeping pets, the tenant usually admitted the violation and made excuses for it. Ordinarily, after the tenant presented explanations, promises, or excuses, board members, the HHA's prosecutor, and occasionally the project manager questioned the tenant.Throughout, the tone was informal, and there was considerable effort to Overtime, while the informality of the basic hearing remained more or less the same, other features of the eviction process and the board's decision-making process changed. Changes are described in detail in Lempert [1989]. For example, the HHA's prosecutors changed, with lawyers eventually taking over this role, and the board at one point was divided into two panels to allow more frequent meetings. The "Period"variable in the models we present is designed to capture significant Only some of the HHA's eviction files included information on ethnicity. Where this information was missing, we coded ethnicity into two categories, Seunoan or non-Samoan, based on first and last na...

Work ott this paper Was su)o)01ted by grant #SES-86 17981 ft'om the Law and Social Science Program of the National Science FIoundation and by the Cook Funds of the Univers it of Michigait Law School. The cooperation of the Hawaii Housing Authoirity was essential to this research. We would like to thank the many people associated with the Authority who facilitated this investigation and Professor Paul D. Carrington of' Duke I.aw School, Who galvanized us to write this article and read and commented ott an earlier version. We also thank Gail Ristow lot work she (lid typing this manuscript and for not making us feel guihy about the many times we asked her to retype portions of it and the tight deadlines we imposed. All findings and opinions expressed in this paper arc the authors' and should not be attributed to the National Science Focindation, the University of Michigan, or the Hawaii Housing AuLthority. 1. Substantive legal knowledge is essential. butt substantive courses deal with particular problems, and lawyers who do not practice in an area arc not expected to know mItch about it even if theyv took a relevant course in law school. Other lawyer skills like negotiation or drafting do ccit across areas of practice, but the\, are thought to be inborn in the lawyer or not distinctively legal. Until retentlv courses designed to hone such skills wete seldom taught in the nation's law schools, .nd even now they tend to he taught in small doses in connection with substantive courses or as limited enrollment electives. 6. Galanter, W /hy te "llaves' Come Out .lhead. SpeuIioos on he 1,1i111s of le~ga ChaOnge. 9 LAW & Soc's REv. 95, 114-19 (1974). 7. The relationship of infornal cotLs to fornal courts varies b\ the type of tibunal and by the problems with which it deals. In some instances informality, which mnav extend to the denial of certain basic rights such as the right to counsel, is justified because the partics must consent to the tribunal's jurisdiction and/or a party dissatisfied with the tribunal's decision has a right to a de novo trial in a inore formal Court. In other instances review by mote formal courts may be limited to (questions of law including, perhaps, the issue of whether the factual findings of the informal tribunal were supported by substantial evidence. 8. See Lempert, The Dnamics of ltformal Prou'dure. The (.le of a Public Housing Eviction Board, LAW & Soc'v REVIEW (forthconing 1989) [hereinafter D-naiics ].

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E xiste certo consenso na literatura sobre o período pós-abolição no Estado de São Paulo de que os negros, sobretudo os libertos, foram afastados das atividades produtivas centrais pela competição dos imigrantes. Estes teriam monopolizado os contratos de colonato nas fazendas de café, que forneciam algumas oportunidades para acumular dinheiro e adquirir terras ou propriedades urbanas, e também teriam monopolizado os ofícios artesanais, deixando aos negros os empregos precários, mal remunerados e desprestigiados, tais como o serviço doméstico, o comércio ambulante e os serviços auxiliares nas fazendas de café, como o desmatamento ou o conserto de cercas e estradas. Nas suas explicações pelas vantagens dos imigrantes, os autores recentes geralmente se contrapõem aos argumentos mais antigos de Florestan Fernandes (1978) e outros (cf. Beiguelman, 1978:114-115; Costa, 1999:341; Durhan, 1966:28-29), que afirmam que os libertos eram mal 509 * Versões anteriores deste artigo foram apresentadas no XVI Encontro Nacional de Estudos Populacionais, em 2008, e no seminário Imigração e raça na conformação das identidades e da estrutura social paulista, na Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), também em 2008. Agradeço os comentários dos participantes de ambos os eventos, especialmente Sérgio Nadalin e Oswaldo Truzzi. Também agradeço a ajuda dos funcionários da Fundação Pró-Memória de São Carlos. Daniela Barcellos ajudou na organização do banco de dados. Esta pesquisa recebe o apoio do Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) (bolsa produtividade e auxílio à pesquisa).