by Christina Jackson, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives & Fellowships

Happy Friday!  Any big summer plans out there?  Are you refreshing and recharging?  I hope so.  If you’re a NALP member, one thing that could help is to join the Public Service Section (if you haven’t already) and consider serving on a work group.  It is a great way to both learn and contribute, and we have a lot of fun on the calls with our colleagues.  To see the Section and work groups, check out NALPconnect.

Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants: If you know someone we should honor, drop me a line.

Here are the week’s headlines:

• Utah State Bar provides modest means lawyer referral;
• Rankings bombshell – ABA will stop collecting expenditure data;
• McGeorge law school to cut incoming class and staff;
• Federal defenders outlook bleak;
• Wayne State University Law School and ACLU Michigan open a civil rights clinic;
• Spotlight on Public Service Servants: Lonnie Lutz, Coles County (IL) Chief Public Defender, retires after 33 years!;
• Super Music Bonus featuring Ashley Matthews, PSJD Fellow!

The summaries:

July 8, 2013 – Volunteer lawyers in Utah will now provide modest means legal services to those in need.  “It’s pretty much available for all types of law,” Sean Toomey, Communications Director of the Utah State Bar said of the Modest Means Referral Program. This includes civil matters, probate, administrative proceedings, estates, etc.  On the criminal side, most people can take advantage of the public defender system so the program is primarily for civil where there is no right to an attorney,” Toomey said. (StGeorgeUtah.com)

July 8, 2013 – Ok, I admit, part of why I included this article is the provocative headline.  The other part is because this seems like it will be great news for a lot of folks, especially smaller law schools with great public interest programs. “[T]he ABA Council of the Section on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar voted at its June 7 meeting to eliminate the requirement that law schools report their expenditures to the ABA as part of the annual questionnaire (expenditures will be reported only as part of the sabbatical site visit process).”  Expenditures were a relatively large part of the rankings – Expenditures Per Student (9.75%) and Financial Aid Per Student (1.5%).  While it remains to be seen the effect, I can’t help but think this is a good thing.  (TaxProf Blog)

July 9 2013 – “[T]he University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law is cutting its enrollment and staffing.  Over the next three years, McGeorge plans to cut enrollment by 42% and has already laid off 9 staff members.  The school cites decreased applications for the move.  Will other schools follow? (ABA Journal)

July 9, 2013– Federal defenders offices across the country are being hit hard by the budget cuts.  “The lawyers who represent poor people charged with federal crimes across the country have been told they must reduce spending by 14 percent for fiscal year 2014, on top of the roughly 9 percent cut this year.  More than 900 of the public defender program’s approximately 2,700 staff members are expected to be cut over the next two years. Defenders in more than 20 states are planning to close offices.”  And it’s not just staffing.  Offices have to cut other expenses like training.  We are heading for a real constitutional crisis if offices are not able to maintain quality representation levels.  (WWLTVnews – posted July 2, 2013)

July 9, 2013 – “The Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Clinic, a collaborative venture between Wayne Law and the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, will allow students to litigate civil rights and civil liberties impact cases before state and federal courts.”  The students will be exposed to the full range of ACLU issues.  (New York Law Journal) (WNYC)

Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants:  Coles County, Illinois Chief Public Defender Lonnie Lutz has only held one job in his legal career – public defender.  He started his career as an intern in the office, becoming the Chief two years after he was hired on permanently.  To see more of his amazing career, check out the Journal Gazette & Times-Courier article.

Super Music Bonus! From PSJD Fellow Ashley M. –

This song goes out to all the legal service organizations and law schools facing budget cuts right now. This too shall pass!