1. You don't pay, you just deposit money. If you show up to court, you get the money back. If you don't have that money on hand, its common to take out a loan.

2. Everyone has the right to a free public defender. I don't know if there's any study on how they compare to private lawyers.

3, 4, 5, and 7. Low income people are eligible for Medicaid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicaid

6. I've never heard of location mattering

I wouldn't really base my worldview of something on what I see in fiction, since the purpose of these shows is to show drama, rather than to be informative. It wouldn't be as exciting to watch people solve their problems by applying for welfare.