Sometimes, the world puts you in a situation so unfair, so absurd, that only a lawyer can get you out of it. But what if you can’t afford a lawyer? People who can’t pay an attorney have a right to a public defender when they face criminal charges. There’s no such guarantee for poor people who to get mixed up in bureaucratic messes. And so they turn to the overworked, underfunded network of attorneys who will take their cases.