DeMichele v. Waltham Division of the District Court Department

The question on appeal is whether a judge in the District Court may disqualify a litigant in a civil case from receiving free legal representation by a State-funded *244law school legal services program on the ground that the litigant is not indigent.2

The appellate issue arose in the following context. The plaintiff, David DeMichele, filed a complaint in the Waltham Division of the District Court Department against his former landlord, Baron Realty Trust, and Bernard LeBlanc, trustee of Baron Realty Trust, alleging unfair and deceptive trade practices in violation of G. L. c. 93A (1992 ed.),…