Happy Friday, dear readers.

“May you live in interesting times.”*  Is this a well-wish or a curse?  It could be either, and I was reminded of this while attending the Equal Justice Conference earlier this week.  I was heartened to learn of so many creative approaches taken by access-to-justice stakeholders in trying to serve increasing numbers of clients even in the midst of crushing funding shortages.  But the fact remains that these are dark times for the AtJ community.  One legal services executive director, while contemplating funding cuts, the disappearance of government support programs for low-income communities, and swollen caseloads, said simply, “I feel like we’re losing.”  It was a sobering experience for me to hear that from someone who’s spent her entire career fighting for those on society’s margins.

Still, I left the conference with a sense of optimism.  After all, the EJC brings together a highly diverse group of legal professionals – legal services and law firm lawyers, bar association officials, judges, law school faculty and administrators, etc. – who are unified by a commitment to making our justice system work for all, especially our most vulnerable.  Many of the older more senior attendees have weathered storms like the present one before – funding cuts on federal and state levels, IOLTA shortfalls, staff layoffs, client-support programs eroding.  And yet here they are, year after year, sharing the solutions they’ve developed to make due in tough circumstances, and brainstorming to generate new solutions.  They are accustomed to uphill battles.  In these interesting times, I’m so grateful for the creativity and resilience which has long characterized the access-to-justice community.  (And I’m grateful that Angela Vigil makes us all laugh.)

(*I stole this proverb from David Udell of the National Center for Access to Justice at Cardozo Law.  Thanks, David.)               

This week:

• a new diversionary court for vets in Illinois;
• filing-fee increase in Connecticut will boost legal services funding;
• Governor Brown may siphon mortgage settlement cash away from legal services providers;
• a nicely written piece on the importance of pro bono in the profession;
• in PA, class action residuals will better assist the legal services community;
• the financially strapped NOLA public defender’s office may have been shorted thousands in $;
• a Houston Chronicle editorial supports the controversial public defense program in Harris County;
• a call for indigent defense reform in PA.

The summaries:

• 5.17.12 – http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/may2012/def1-m17.shtml

• 5.16.12 – as has happened in many other county court systems, a new diversionary court for veterans has launched in Joliet, IL (Will County).  “The new court will function like the existing drug court in Will County… In many cases, selected defendants will be required to plead guilty to their crimes up front before they are allowed into the court. They will be required to remain drug free, submit to random drug tests, find work, follow through with treatment and attend weekly counseling sessions. If they comply with all of the court terms, they will graduate and their charges will be dismissed.  In certain cases, the court may not require a guilty plea upfront, or the state may forego filing criminal charges at all if the participant successfully completes the program.”  (Story from the Herald-News.)  

• 5.14.12 – in Connecticut, a boost in court filing fees will generate funds for legal services providers.  “State lawmakers have provided cash-strapped legal aid programs with a financial shot in the arm, as they agreed last week to increase court filing fees for the second time since 2009…. The latest increases are expected to generate more than $4.8 million annually for legal aid agencies, which have been hit hard by layoffs and service cuts in recent years. Agency leaders say they think the new money will stave off further cuts — for the time being…. By all accounts, the higher filing fees were the topic of intense negotiations by lawmakers, legal aid officials and lawyers. Some trial lawyers were not pleased with the latest round of increases.”  (Story from Connecticut Law Tribune.)  

• 5.14.12 – [In California,] Gov. Jerry Brown apparently has his own plans for a $410-million all-cash slice of a national mortgage settlement: Plug some of the holes of California’s massive deficit.  The state attorney general’s office told The Times last Friday it hoped to use about half the cash from the settlement with the nation’s five biggest banks to aid housing counselors and legal services agencies. But the governor plans instead to use the money to make interest payments on bonds for housing projects that include low-income and senior housing as well as shelters for battered women (see page 89 of the revised budget).  Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris immediately objected to the redirecting of the money, which was won as part of a massive settlement with five of the nation’s largest banks over mortgage servicing and foreclosure abuses.”  (Full story in the L.A. Times.)
  • here was an earlier L.A. Times report: “About half of the $410 million flowing into California’s coffers from the national mortgage settlement with major banks will be pumped into the state’s housing counselors and legal services agencies that help struggling homeowners.”

• 5.14.12 – here’s a nice post on the Marquette Law School blog about the importance of pro bono to the legal profession. 

• 5.14.12 – “New rules announced May 11 by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania direct unclaimed money from class-action lawsuits be mandated to provide legal services for low-income Pennsylvanians.  Prior to this, the disposition of residual funds was left to the discretion of the trial judge.  The new civil procedure rules take effect July 1.”  (Story from LegalNewsline.com)  (And here’s a little more coverage from the Allentown Morning Call.)

• 5.14.12 – a brouhaha concerning statutorily required funding transfers among various NOLA city agencies seems to have shorted the already strapped public defender’s office by potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. 

• 5.13.12 – criticism of the much-discussed plan to require 50 hours of pro bono service for admission to the New York bar.  “Mandatory pro bono work for lawyers is a good idea. But Judge Lippman’s plan is deeply flawed, as it affects only aspiring lawyers who have not yet gained admission to the bar. As a result, the beneficiaries of Judge Lippman’s largess will be served by people unlicensed to practice law — who by definition have no real practice experience. (Though internships and law school clinics are useful training grounds for future lawyers, they are no substitute for the rigors of licensed practice.)”  Full op-ed, by Prof. Ben Trachtenberg of the U. of Missouri School of Law, in the New York Times.

• 5.11.12 – a Houston Chronicle editorial voices strong support for the city’s public defense program which, two years after its creation, is being sharply criticized by some judges and the local Republican party.  

• 5.10.12 – a blog post from the ACLU of Pennsylvania makes the case for reforming the Keystone State’s indigent defense system.