Pay For Justice?

Despite the fact that I am basically a socially liberal type of guy, I do find it a bit exasperating when I hear stories in the media that utterly fail to get to the heart of the matter. For example, a recent story on NPR is about how beneficial it is for renters going through eviction to have an attorney. The conclusion, for some, is because having an attorney has an "incredibly strong evidence base" we as a society should provide free attorneys to people who receive eviction notices. The only question is who should pay for the lawyers, renters or the general public. 

The real question is why do you need a lawyer at all? Think about it. If having an attorney makes so much difference it means one of two things:

1. Either you should be evicted and the lawyer got you out of it in which case having a lawyer serves to unjustly punish the landlord.
2. The eviction notice was unjust and the lawyer prevented an unjust eviction. Which means... you have to pay lawyers to receive justice. Seems like a shakedown to me.  

In either case, lawyers get paid. They always do.