In the early 1970's, a group of young 'radical' lawyers organized themselves as the Legal Aid Association (LAA). The LAA initiated bargaining between itself, the Bar Association, and the Ministry of Justice in an effort to create a nationwide network of neighborhood centers staffed by reformist lawyers employed by the state to provide a broad-based legal effort to upgrade the quality of life of the poor through legal advocacy. In 1974, the Ministry granted the request for funds to the Amsterdam Advocates' Collective, and five more collectives obtained state grants within the next 2 years. A survey of the types of cases taken by members of the collectives shows that relatively inexperienced advocates devote significantly more attention to criminal, labor, housing, and social insurance law, while the most experienced advocates prefer to focus on commercial and property law. Advocates working in small law firms tend to devote more attention to family law and debt collection. Those in the largest law firms focus on commercial law. While the original intent of the establishment of the collectives was to impact structural injustices and inequalities impacting the poor, this is proving to be an illusive strategy, as the form of services is taking the more traditional approach of solving the personal problems of clients. The experiment, however, appears on the way to becoming institutionalized as a means of broadening the base of legal services to the poor. The modified remuneration schemes being proposed are likely to facilitate this institutionalization. Twelve references are provided.