South Coastal Counties Legal Services (SCCLS), an established non-profit legal services program providing free civil legal aid to low-income and elderly clients in Southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod and the Islands, is seeking experienced attorneys, to serve clients with family, housing and /or benefits issues from our Bristol County offices.
Every week, we honor an exceptional faculty/staff member who is making significant contributions to under-served populations, the public interest community, and/or legal education.
Today, we’re featuring an outstanding faculty member from the Gonzaga University School of Law, dedicated to providing pro bono mediation services.
Who: Megan J. Ballard, Professor of Law at Gonzaga University School of Law
Where: Gonzaga University School of Law partnered with Refugee Connections Spokane and the Community Colleges of Spokane to host a workshop, ‘American Law & Justice for Refugees and Immigrants’ on March 9, 2016 at Gonzaga University School of Law in Spokane, Washington.
What: Professor Ballard took the lead in coordinating a half-day workshop on American Law and Justice for Refugees and Immigrants, held March 9, 2016. This collaborative workshop helped refugees and immigrants overcome barriers to justice by providing participants information about their legal rights and responsibilities, and offering a positive view of legal actors, in 11 languages other than English.
The workshop served approximately 160 refugees and immigrants, representing more than 15 different languages. Community Colleges of Spokane provided interpreters for the largest 11 language groups. Most of the substantive instruction (including the criminal justice system, domestic violence, discrimination, police stops, and children) was carried out in small, language-based groups facilitated by 26 volunteers comprised of lawyers, judges, law professors, and law students and staffed by interpreters. In addition, Washington State Supreme Court Justice Mary Yu addressed the entire group, explaining constitutional rights and the rule of law, and providing each participant with a pocket-sized U.S. Constitution. Spokane Police Sergeant Dan Waters visited each of the small groups and gave everyone an emergency language card to facilitate communication between police and English language learners. From Gonzaga Law School, 7 students helped facilitate the small groups, plus 6 additional students volunteered during the workshop and with earlier preparation; 7 faculty and JD staff also helped to facilitate small-group instruction and assisted with preparation and execution of the event; and at least 14 staff lent assistance before, during and after the workshop. Collaborating organizations – Community Colleges of Spokane and Refugee Connections Spokane – also provided volunteers.
During a half-hour refreshment break, eight service providers and others staffed tables to provide information to participants. Each organization provided various printed resources at their table, some of which were translated into different languages. The organizations providing information, in addition to Refugee Connections Spokane were: Spokane County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Program, Catholic Charities, Northwest Justice Project, TeamChild, Northwest Fair Housing, Washington State Minority and Justice Commission, Washington State Interpreter Commission, Spokane Police Department, and the Washington Defenders Association.
On her work: Professor Ballard underscored the importance of this event: “Not only does this workshop help to welcome refugees and immigrants, but it introduces the broader Spokane legal community to a population and their legal needs that is otherwise somewhat hidden.“
by Christina Jackson, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives & Fellowships
Happy Friday! Are you an intern in a new city looking for fun (and cheap) stuff to do? Well, we’ve got you covered. Check out our “Having Fun on the Cheap” in PSJD’s Resource Center. You just might find your next great adventure.
Here are the week’s headlines:
New York State Senate approves indigent defense bill;
Texas Advocacy Project receives Texas Access to Justice Foundation grant;
John Marshall Law School Domestic Violence Clinic receives ISBA Excellence in Education Award;
ACLU sues Utah for failing indigent defense system;
Rhode Island Center for Law & Public Policy to close;
South Dakota lawyer set to launch the Collaborative Legal Incubator Program;
AmeriCorps to receive $2.7 million in Hawaii;
Texas A&M University School of Law launches incubator program;
Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants;
Super Music Bonus!
The summaries:
June 17, 2016 – “A long-running push to make the state pay full reimbursement for indigent defense costs passed a major hurdle Thursday afternoon. The state Senate voted 61-0 to approve the indigent defense bill, which came on the heels of the state Assembly’s unanimous approval last Friday. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has to sign the measure before it takes effect. The legislation would be phased in over the next seven years beginning in 2017.” (Watertown Daily Times)
June 17, 2016 – “Kicking off Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the Texas Advocacy Project announces it has received $165,496 in funding as one of eight agencies awarded a LASSA (Legal Aid for Survivors of Sexual Assault) grant from the Texas Access to Justice Foundation. The funding for these grants was obtained through a state tax levied on certain types of sexually-oriented businesses. With this funding The Project will continue delivering legal services to low-income sexual assault survivors including victims of intimate partner violence, acquaintance, and stranger sexual assault referred by collaborative partners. Family law services include advice and counsel through The Project’s legal lines, aid with protective orders including MOEPs, oversight in pro se matters, direct representation, and impact litigation. In addition to family law services, attorneys at The Project will provide holistic legal remedies that are identified as primary needs of survivors, such as safety, privacy, employment, housing, immigration, and education. Finally, funding allows The Project to participate in targeted outreach and trainings to college and university students, faculty, campus law enforcement, and others on the legal rights of victims of sexual assault, leveraging its experience with youth and education law to benefit that especially vulnerable population.” (The Dallas Weekly)
June 20, 2016 – “The John Marshall Law School’s Domestic Violence Clinic was awarded the Excellence in Legal Education Award by the Illinois State Bar Association. The ISBA award honors law school programs that emphasize real-world skills for students. The award is a wonderful honor, said Domestic Violence Clinic director and John Marshall Law School Professor Debra Pogrund Stark. ‘I’m so proud of the dedicated students and attorneys in our clinic who do such excellent work with adult and child survivors of domestic violence. We all hope the validation this award provides will help us to promote the clinic’s work and to fund the costs to operate the clinic at the highest level of excellence.’ The ISBA’s Standing Committee on Women and the Law nominated the Domestic Violence Clinic for the award calling it ‘truly unique.'” (Globe Newswire)
June 20, 2016 – “The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah is suing the state for failing to provide adequate indigent defense services to the public…a requirement under the 6th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The ACLU issued a report back in 2011 that said Utah was falling short of its obligation to provide attorneys to criminal defendants who can’t afford to hire one. The 6th Amendment Center, based in Boston, Massachusetts, reached the same conclusion last fall when it released a report of its own. Marina Lowe is the legislative and policy council for the ACLU of Utah. ‘People’s rights are being violated today,’ Lowe says. ‘It’s not enough to say, in three years maybe you’ll get what is your due under the constitution. It’s not like your rights can be put on a layaway plan.’ Utah is one of only two states that neither funds, nor oversees indigent defense. That responsibility is left to individual counties. That’s led to inconsistent service across the state, says Salt Lake City Attorney and former public defender Rich Mauro.” “During the 2016 Legislative Session, lawmakers passed a bill to create an indigent defense commission to track cases and develop guidelines for local defenders. It also provided $1.5 million in one-time funding for county governments. The ACLU’s Marina Low says that’s insignificant considering counties across the state spend roughly $24 million per year on indigent defense.” (KUER)
June 21, 2016 – “Louisiana will rework how it spends the money it allocates to defending the poor, to ensure two-thirds of it flows to local indigent defenders, under a new law signed by Gov. John Bel Edwards. That measure was among a package of bill signings released Monday evening by the governor’s office. The bill by Rep. Sherman Mack, R-Albany, requires the Louisiana Public Defender Board to dedicate at least 65 percent of its annual financing to local defenders of the indigent, which have been struggling with financial shortfalls.” (nola.com)
June 21, 2016 – “Geoffrey A. Schoos, president of the Rhode Island Center for Law and Public Policy, Inc. (RICLAPP), a non-profit legal services organization, recently announced the center will cease operations and close its doors at 3288 Post Road in Warwick effective June 30. ‘As a non-profit legal services organization that provided legal counsel and direct services to thousands of low-income, underserved Rhode Islanders, finances were always a challenge,’ Schoos wrote in an email to the Beacon. Over the past two years, Schoos said the center has attempted to obtain funds through the legislature and the judiciary, as well as from private donors and foundations. For several months, he said the center suspended taking new clients until funds could be found to continue operations. There were even attempts to merge with other organizations in an effort to keep the legal services available to those most in need, but those efforts were unsuccessful.” (Warwick Beacon)
June 21, 2016 – “A Sioux Falls lawyer wants to mobilize her peers to help close a gap that exists for lower-income South Dakotans in need of legal services. Taneeza Islam, a Sioux Falls immigration lawyer, created a free year-long program called the Collaborative Legal Incubator Program, or CLIP, that will train young lawyers on how to run successful firms, and in turn, they will provide free to low cost legal services to low-income clients for at least a year. ‘What it does is provide access to vulnerable community members by training new lawyers on how to build a sustainable practice,’ Islam said. ‘Access to a lawyer is critical for these vulnerable people to help them navigate the legal system.'” (Argus Leader)
June 23, 2016 – “Sen. Brian Schatz was able to secure $2.7 million to help fund AmeriCorps programs across the state, officials confirmed Wednesday. ‘This new funding is great news for Hawaii,’ Schatz said. ‘AmeriCorps members supported by these grants will serve across the state, teaching in high-need schools, improving public parks, and providing legal resources and other services to veterans and their families.’ The funds from the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency for volunteering and service programs, will support three grants. One will go toward supporting 18 AmeriCorps members who work at the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii.” (The Garden Island)
June 23, 2016 – “In response to the need to train recent law graduates for solo practice and to help bridge the state’s justice gap, Texas A&M University School of Law is introducing a new incubator program designed to accelerate recent graduates’ transition from law school to solo and small firm practice. This is the first incubator-type program launched in Texas. The Texas Bar Foundation approved a grant to support the program, formally titled The Texas Apprenticeship Network: Empowering Solo Practitioners to Help Bridge the Justice Gap.” “The Texas Apprenticeship Program will match recent law graduates with practitioners who share the common goal of helping address the state’s growing need for attorneys to assist pro bono and modest means clients. The recent graduates, as apprentices, will work in the offices of solo and small firm attorneys who mentor the apprentices in communities and areas of interest in which the apprentices want to work after admission to law practice. Through this process, the apprentices will obtain experience while learning about practice management. The mentors will also commit to connecting the apprentices in the community. In addition to learning from their mentors, the apprentices will complete a practicum on law practice management. In the practicum, the apprentices will develop their business plans and tools for their solo practices. The practicum also provides a network for the apprentices and opportunities for innovation. For example, the apprentices may collaborate in developing tools and applications for unbundled legal services.” (PRNewswire)
Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants:
Here at PSJD we love pro bono for so many reasons. This summer, we are honoring law school faculty and staff who dedicate their time to helping their communities. Our new blog series – Faculty/Staff Pro Bono Spotlight, is one way we’re recognizing these dedicated public servants. Check out the honorees every Tuesday. And if you are someone you know is doing great work, let us know about it at psjd@nalp.org. Don’t be shy. If you don’t get the word out there, who will?
Music Bonus!Music pick from the PSJD Fellow Eulen Jang.
Advocates for Children of New York, Inc. (AFC) is seeking a Post-Graduate Legal Fellow to work in one or more of the following areas: Direct representation of individual students and parents in school-related matters, including special education hearings and suspension hearings; Community education and training for students, parents, and professionals on students’ and parents’ rights; and/or Policy reform to address systemic barriers to quality education for NYC students. AFC is a not-for-profit organization that works in partnership with New York City’s most disadvantaged families to secure quality public education services.
Every week, we honor an exceptional faculty/staff member who is making significant contributions to under-served populations, the public interest community, and/or legal education.
Today, we’re featuring an outstanding faculty member from the Texas Tech University School of Law, dedicated to providing pro bono mediation services.
Who: Professor Gerry W. Beyer (Governor Preston E. Smith Regents Professor of Law)
Where: Partnership with Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas in Lubbock, Texas
What: Pro Bono Wills Clinic. Since the incorporation of a formal pro bono program at Texas Tech School of Law in 2014, Professor Beyer has been an integral part of the Pro Bono Wills Clinic. Over the past two years, approximately 70 law student volunteers have helped draft wills and assist with the execution of advanced directives and powers of attorney for low-income Lubbock-area clients under the supervision of licensed volunteer attorneys. As part of the program, Professor Beyer has shared his nationally recognized wealth of expertise in estate planning in a condensed one hour “Nuts & Bolts” training for both students and licensed attorneys. Licensed attorneys are able to earn CLE credit for attending the presentation. In addition to teaching the crash course, Professor Beyer attends the two-part clinic, providing overall assistance and mentoring to students and practitioners. He is always standing by to accept a more complex case himself, assisting a needy client and providing valuable mentorship to an eager student.
On his work: “Providing estate planning services to economically-challenged individuals is of vital importance, perhaps even more so than for those in better financial situations. Participating students gain a genuine appreciation of how an estate plan can reduce and even prevent family squabbles about property distribution and who will serve as guardians for the client’s minor children. The students also learn how other documents clarify who can manage the client’s property and make health care decisions when the client is unable to do so.”
“The volunteer students and their supervising attorneys did a stellar job in drafting and supervising the execution of the clients’ estate planning documents. In addition, other students partnered with me to handle cases for several legal aid clients who needed probate services. I was extremely impressed with the skill and professionalism of these students sometimes making me wonder whether they were already licensed!”
by Christina Jackson, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives & Fellowships
Happy Friday!
Here are the week’s headlines:
Harvard clinical program receives grant from Milstein Foundation to launch Syrian Refugee Resettlement Project;
Tennessee Supreme Court selects firm to launch new pro bono initiative;
The Legal Services Corporation turns to law firms for assistance;
Attorney and entrepreneur seek to uberize legal services;
Virginia Access to Justice Commission launches self-help website;
Pace University’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law launches Food and Beverage Law Clinic;
Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii receives surplus funds from bank settlement;
Echoing Green announces 2016 Fellows;
USPTO to expand law school clinic certification program;
Ohio Attorney General announces grant for legal aid for seniors;
Equal Justice Works gets grant to help elder-abuse victims;
Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants;
Super Music Bonus!
The summaries:
June 10, 2016 – “The Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program has received a generous grant from the Howard and Abby Milstein Foundation to launch the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Project. The Obama Administration has committed to resettling at least 10,000 Syrian refugees in the current fiscal year. Due to bottlenecks in processing, the United States has fallen far short of its goal to date. Over the next six months, the Clinic will be working to gather and analyze information regarding current obstacles to efficient processing of Syrians destined for U.S. resettlement. The Clinic will compile a compendium of relevant laws and regulations related to refugee resettlement, document current practice, and make practical recommendations for improvements to those processes. The report will be broadly disseminated to both Congress and the Administration and will include specific recommendations for reform.” (Harvard Law Today)
June 10, 2016 – “As part of an initiative designed to improve access to legal services, the Tennessee Supreme Court has created a new way for attorneys to earn required CLE credit for doing pro bono work and the court has designated Nashville’s Bass Berry & Sims as the first firm in the state to offer the program. Over the past decade, the court has, through the creation of the Access to Justice Commission, searched for ways to increase access to legal services. The Commission petitioned the Court to create a new designation — ‘approved legal assistance organization’ — to expand the types of entities that may confer CLE credit for pro bono cases. Under previous CLE rules, attorneys were ineligible to receive CLE credits for pro bono cases unless the cases were referred to them by a legal aid organization receiving federal funding. The update enables those organizations approved by the Tennessee Supreme Court to offer the incentive directly. As part of an approved legal assistance organization, Bass attorneys will be able to receive one hour of CLE credit for each five hours of pro bono representation. The maximum CLE credit an attorney can earn annually through this program is three. Tennessee attorneys are required to earn 15 CLE credits annually.” “Ann Pruitt, executive director at Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services, said several other law firms have completed the application and qualification process to become approved legal assistance organizations.” (Nashville Post)
June 13, 2016 – “In the fall of 2014, for the first time in its 40-year history, the Legal Services Corporation turned to the nation’s largest law firms for financial support. The cash-strapped organization asked big firms to commit as much as $250,000 or more to support its mission of funding civil legal services programs for the poor.” So far, the effort has yielded just over $2.5 million from law firm contributions. Some firms have stepped up in a big way, contributing the goal amount of $250,000 or more to the effort. “This first round of law firm donations are primarily funding a summer rural legal fellows program, in which 32 lawyers in 28 states will be helping the rural poor. (Equal Justice Works is training the fellows and administering the program.) LSC is committed to funding the rural fellows program for at least five years, said [John Levi, a Sidley & Austin partner who chairs LSC’s board], who added that he’d like to raise enough money to put 50 lawyers in the field.” The American Lawyer takes a look at who has contributed and how much. There have been some great efforts so far, but it is clear from the article, that there is more work to be done. (American Lawyer)
June 13, 2016 – “[U]p until now, the legal industry had remained relatively untouched by this newfound demand for digital automation. Partners Matthew Horn and Ryan Caltagirone are ready to change that. Founded in 2015, Legal Services Link has rapidly risen to become one of the industry’s most dynamic assets for consumers. It’s essentially an intuitive, online forum that enables businesses and individuals to instantly connect with the perfect attorney to suit their legal needs. Not only does Legal Services Link provide users with access to an all-encompassing, old-fashioned database with which to track down legal help — but it also allows them to post a concise summary of the precise job they’ve got in mind. In turn, multiple attorneys are then free to review the work and submit an application directly back to the user. Bottom line: rather than chase down dozens of attorneys, Legal Services Link ensures that the perfect person for the job comes directly to you. Better yet, the service is completely free for would-be clients. It’s also free for attorneys to join the forum — although they are required to pay a small annual fee in order to upgrade to a premium account and communicate directly with clients.” “As part of the Chicago-based 1871 incubator, Legal Services Link has taken off fast — and it’s already started to turn heads within the legal industry. In May, the fledgling start-up expanded its increasingly diverse pool of attorneys after launching a new partnership with the Military Spouse JD Network (MSJDN), a bar association for attorneys whose spouses are or were in the military. And as Legal Services Link continues its aggressive rate of expansion, Horn said he’s hopeful the legal industry will finally start to evolve along with it.” (Small Business Trends)
June 14, 2016 – “The Virginia Judicial System Court Self-Help Website provides neutral legal information as a public service on common topics of interest for self-represented litigants. Topics include traffic tickets, divorce, and landlord-tenant issues. The website features glossaries of legal terms used in the district and circuit courts and instructions for routine processes. The goal is to make the courts more accessible for all citizens, the court said in a news release. A project of the Virginia Access to Justice Commission, the website addresses various case types and organizes information from the state judicial system website and other sources into user friendly content areas. The site features responsive design that works on computers, smartphones, and tablets, the release said.” (Virginia Lawyers Weekly)
June 14, 2016 – “Pace University’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law announced today that it has received a generous grant of $400,000 from alumnus Rob Sands, and from Constellation Brands, where Mr. Sands is CEO and President. The gift will sponsor a two-year pilot of a new Food and Beverage Law Clinic that will provide transactional legal services to farmers, community and grassroots groups, and mission-oriented food and beverage entrepreneurs. The Clinic is part of a broader collaboration between Pace Law and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to expand the capacity of the legal community to provide direct services to individuals and organizations seeking to build a more sustainable and healthy regional food system. In order to implement innovative practices, farmers, food entrepreneurs, micro brewers and distillers, and other activists must navigate a complicated legal landscape governing everything from labeling to estate planning.” (PR Newswire)
June 14, 2016 – “Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii received $107,000 from the Perkin & Faria law firm after the settlement of a $2 million class action against American Savings Bank over the bank’s overdraft fees, firm partner Brandee Faria told Pacific Business News on Tuesday. The lawsuit was among a group of cases filed by Perkin & Faria in 2011 against American Savings Bank, Central Pacific Bank and Bank of Hawaii. The suits alleged that the banks used improper methods of calculating overdraft fees on debit card and ATM transactions.” “Surplus settlement funds accumulate when class members in a case are, for various reasons, unable to collect them. According to Hawaii’s cy pres rule, certain charitable organizations in Hawaii receive these funds, legal service organizations among them. Most of the money will go to support Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii’s core services, including its biweekly legal clinics.” (Pacific Business News)
June 14, 2016 – “Echoing Green, a global organization that supports social entrepreneurs, today announced its 2016 Fellowship class. These 33 exceptional innovators will develop social enterprises that address some of the world’s most intractable challenges around economic development, racial and gender equity, food security, and the environment. Each Fellow will become part of a global network of leaders identified by Echoing Green as dramatic, scalable, and important to the progress of the world. Fellows will access a community of funders, investors, and entrepreneurs across issue areas, geographies, and disciplines. Seed funding of up to $90,000 will also be available to them for two years to support the growth of their organizations. For nearly 30 years, Echoing Green has provided a launch pad for projects with a purpose. It serves as an early and important investor in the growing field of social entrepreneurship. This year, the organization reviewed 2,077 applications from 120 countries, which represent meaningful trends from the front lines of social change. This year’s Fellows are split almost evenly between for-profit (43 percent) and nonprofit organizations (39 percent). An additional 14 percent have a hybrid model, and 4 percent are not yet decided.” (Globe Newswire)
June 15, 2016 – “The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced that it opened the current Law School Clinic Certification Program (Program) to admit additional schools to commence participation in the Program. This Program allows law students to practice patent and/or trademark law before the USPTO under the guidance of a law school faculty clinic supervisor. Submissions from interested law school clinical programs will be accepted on a rolling basis until June 30, 2017. Applications from interested law school clinics will be examined for admission into the Program as they are received.
Students in both the patent and trademark portions of the Program can expect to draft and file applications and respond to Office Actions. Each law school clinical program must meet and maintain the requirements for USPTO certification in order for law school clinic students to practice before the USPTO. The Program began in 2008 with 6 schools selected to allow students to practice before the USPTO in patents and/or trademarks. The Program expanded in 2010, 2012 and 2014. Currently 42 law school clinics participate in the Program, 17 clinics participate in both the patent and trademark portions of the Program, 19 clinics participate only in the trademark portion of the Program, and 6 clinics participate only in the patent portion of the Program. Details on the Program expansion and application materials are available here.” (USPTO News & Updates)
June 15, 2016 – “In recognition of Elder Abuse Awareness Day, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has announced a $738,000 grant to support a statewide project of Pro Seniors and Ohio’s legal aids to provide free legal assistance to older Ohioans. The funding will support a telephone-based legal hotline and direct civil legal guidance and assistance to Ohioans age 60 and older. Pro Seniors, as the lead organization and coordinator, will receive referrals from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. In partnership with Ohio’s legal aids, they will provide legal assistance to seniors, their family members, and individuals concerned about the health, financial stability, safety, and security of seniors.” (The Van Wert Independent)
June 15, 2016 – “Equal Justice Works has received a $1.4 million grant as a part of the Elder Justice AmeriCorps initiative, the nonprofit organization announced Tuesday. In response to growing awareness of elder abuse, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Corporation for National and Community Service announced the creation of the Elder Justice AmeriCorps grant program in September 2015 to provide elder abuse victims with legal aid and support services. The $1.4 million grant, awarded over the next two years, will help Equal Justice Works connect 150 AmeriCorps members—25 practicing lawyers and 125 law students—and some 300 pro bono volunteers to a network of partner organizations that focus on elder abuse. Under the supervision and training of these organizations, volunteers will provide legal assistance to about 8,000 low-income adults.” (American Lawyer)
Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants:
Roger Benson, 83, may be retired but he hasn’t stopped working. As a volunteer for Prairie State Legal Services, the former associate judge handled 20 divorce cases last year. He’s lead the charge on 165 cases in his 15-year tenure, according to pro bono coordinator Nancy Hinton. Benson’s volunteer legal work has earned him the Illinois State Bar Association’s John C. McAndrews Pro Bono Service Award. Congratulations, and thank you!! (Daily Journal)
Music Bonus!Music pick from the PSJD Fellow Eulen Jang.
NALP, the Washington Council of Lawyers, and Georgetown University Law Center is co-sponsoring Fellowships 101 on Wednesday, July 13, from 6:30 – 8:30 pm in the Hart Auditorium of McDonough Hall at Georgetown Unviersity Law Center (600 New Jersey Avenue NW). RSVP by clicking here.
Public-interest fellowships offer a unique combination of substantive responsibility, training, and the chance to make meaningful contributions at the very start of your legal career. But, too often, law students may overlook or not be aware of the wide variety of postgraduate public interest fellowships that are available. That’s why we encourage all law students to attend Fellowships 101: An Introduction to Postgraduate Fellowships,where our panel of experts will provide an overview of public interest fellowships and tips on negotiating the application process for maximum chances of success.
Our discussion will be moderated by Christina Jackson, Director of Public Service Initiatives and Fellowships at the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), and the panel will include:
Ella Holman (Associate Manager, Education and Outreach, Partnership for Public Service)
Oscar Lopez (Skadden Fellow, The Advancement Project)
Erin Loubier (Senior Director of Medical-Legal Integration, Whitman-Walker Health)
Sterling Morriss (Senior Manager of Fellowships, Equal Justice Works)
The program is free for our members, and costs just $5 for non-members. (Join Washington Council of Lawyers now.) We’ll serve light refreshments at the start of the evening, and provide the opportunity for mixing, mingling, and asking additional questions at the conclusion of the formal program.
Street Law (located in Silver Spring, MD) is seeking a full-time program director to implement their Legal Diversity Pipeline Programs with law firms and corporate legal departments. Their Legal Diversity Pipeline Programs match diverse high schools across the country with law firms or corporate legal departments in their communities. Volunteer legal professionals teach students about the law and legal careers and provide support and encouragement for the students to pursue legal careers.
We are excited to introduce a new blog series: Faculty/Staff Pro Bono Spotlight! Every week, we will be honoring an exceptional faculty/staff member who is making significant contributions to under-served populations, the public interest community, and/or legal education.
Today, we’re featuring an outstanding faculty member from the University of Nebraska, College of Law, dedicated to providing pro bono mediation services.
Who: Professor Kristen Blankley, University of Nebraska College of Law
Where: The Meditation Center – Lincoln, NE
What: Professor Blankley has an extensive relationship with The Mediation Center, a non-profit mediation service provider in Lincoln, NE. She sits on the Board of Directors, works as a pro bono mediator, and helps the Center with their educational opportunities for mediators. Professor Blankley serves as a mediator in family, small claims, and other community cases. She has also donated time as a facilitator working with large groups, including the Nebraska Legislature and public sector workplaces.
On her work: “I love working with The Mediation Center. I am able to practice what I teach as well as influence policy and best practices.“
by Christina Jackson, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives & Fellowships
Happy Friday! I’m so sad to be saying goodbye to our PSJD Fellow Eulen Jang this week. She has been such a pleasure to work with, and has contributed so much to PSJD. We will miss her very much! In very good news for all of us, she has made sure we have music for the Super Music Bonus to sustain us through the rest of the summer. So we will have a piece of her for a bit longer. We wish her well at the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. We know she will be doing great things!
Here are the week’s headlines:
Toronto judge rules legal aid qualifying threshold too high;
Boston Bar Foundation grants support assistance to homeless and others;
Bill to reimburse counties for indigent defense passes New York Assembly;
Missouri public defense system to see budget increase;
Free women’s legal aid clinic opens in British Columbia in partnership with law school;
Ottawa commits an extra $30 million for legal aid;
Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants;
Super Music Bonus!
The summaries:
June 3, 2016 – “A Toronto judge has criticized the income cut-off for legal aid funding in Ontario as ‘not realistic’ given the face of poverty in Canada. Superior Court Justice Ian Nordheimer was presiding over the case of Tyrell Moodie, charged with a number of drug offences, who was denied funding by Legal Aid Ontario because he made more than the organization’s threshold income level for a single person — about $12,000. Moodie, 23, works part time and earned about $16,000 in 2015. Nordheimer put a halt to the charges against Moodie until the government picks up the tab for his lawyer, which the court heard could cost a minimum of $11,000. ‘It should be obvious to any outside observer that the income thresholds being used by Legal Aid Ontario do not bear any reasonable relationship to what constitutes poverty in this country,’ Nordheimer wrote in a ruling last week.” “A spokesperson for LAO said demand for legal aid for low-income individuals remains high. ‘Although the province has recognized this and has made a multi-year commitment to raising the legal aid financial eligibility thresholds, Legal Aid Ontario has a yearly budget it must adhere to and it must prioritize, in accordance with its legislation, the cases it is able to fund,’ said Feroneh Neil in an email. There have been three 6-percent increases to the financial eligibility thresholds since 2014, Neil noted, with the most recent this past April.” (The Hamilton Spectator)
June 3, 2016 – “Housing Families of Malden will get a share of $1 million in grants from the Boston Bar Foundation (BBF), the charitable affiliate of the Boston Bar Association. The grants will go to 21 community organizations that work to provide legal services to those in need. Approximately 55 percent of the funding comes from proceeds from BBF’s annual John & Abigail Adams Benefit and BBF reserves, with the remainder derived from Interest on Lawyer Trust Account (IOLTA) funds. The grantee organizations administer legal aid to the most vulnerable and underprivileged members of the population, such as the homeless, domestic violence survivors, at-risk children and veterans. ‘I am thrilled that the Boston Bar Foundation’s grants program has reached the million-dollar mark,’ said BBF President Lisa Goodheart, a partner at Sugarman Rogers Barshak & Cohen. ‘The tremendous success of the John & Abigail Adams Benefit, as well as the year-round support of the BBF’s mission by lawyers, law firms, and area businesses has allowed us to assist these 21 important organizations in providing access to justice for those in need.'” (Wicked Local Malden)
June 3, 2016 – “The New York State Assembly passed legislation [last week] that would fully reimburse counties for the costs of providing public defenders to poor defendants by 2023. The legislation, which passed with 132 yes votes, and 0 no votes, would reimburse counties an increasing percentage of public defense costs, starting at 25 percent in 2017 until it reimbursed 100 percent of counties’ costs by 2023.” “The legislation is in response to new guidelines released by the state’s Office of Indigent Legal Defense that drastically increase the number of criminal defendants who would qualify for a free public defender by doubling the income cutoff from 125 percent of the federal poverty threshold to 250 percent. The new 250 percent income cutoff means a single defendant would need to earn less than $29,700 a year to qualify for a free lawyer, double the $14,850 or less they’d have had to earn under the 125 percent cutoff. The new guidelines, announced in April, are set to go into effect October 3.” “An identical bill is currently pending in the Senate’s Finance Committee.” (Livingston County News)
June 6, 2016 – “Missouri’s public defenders will see a $4.5 million cash infusion in the coming fiscal year, after studies and experts have described the office as chronically underfunded. Under the state budget that takes effect July 1, the State Public Defender System could begin chipping away at caseloads that have raised questions about whether poor defendants are being adequately represented. While it likely will mean the hiring of an additional 10 employees, the bulk of the money is going to be used to hire private attorneys on a contractual basis, allowing the office’s 370-plus attorneys to focus on their cases, said system director Michael Barrett. ‘This targeted funding will allow us to contract out co-defendants to the private bar, significantly reducing the amount of time attorneys spend on the road and replacing it with time spent working on cases,’ Barrett said. ‘It makes an already efficient defender system all the more so.'” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
June 7, 2016 – “A new center for women, the first of its kind in British Columbia, opened its doors May 24 to provide legal help for free or a reduced-cost. ‘We are incredibly proud to announce that, today, the doors open to an historic new service in B.C.,’ said a spokesperson for the charity responsible for setting up the service. ‘We couldn’t be more thrilled that BC women will now have greater access to legal assistance.’ The charity, West Coast LEAF, partnered with the law school at the University of British Columbia to open a full service storefront legal clinic that will serve low income women. Rise Women’s Legal Centre, will provide a full range of legal services with a focus in family law. It will be staffed by upper-year law students who are closely supervised by onsite attorneys. Services will include filing documents in court and representing clients in their hearings.” (GoodNewsNetwork)
June 8, 2016 – “Ottawa plans to give the provinces more money for legal aid programs to help improve access to the justice system. ‘All Canadians — no matter their means — should have the right to a fair trial and access to a modern, efficient justice system,’ Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould said in a statement issued Wednesday. The federal government committed $88 million over five years in the federal budget this year. Wilson-Raybould now has announced another $30 million a year in ongoing funding to boost legal aid services for people who cannot afford to pay for lawyers. But that additional funding will not begin until 2021.” “The money will go to the federal Legal Aid Program, which is then distributed to the provinces for delivery of services. Each province and territory sets its own policies and priorities when it comes to legal aid. The government said the money will also come with performance measures to ensure it is doing what it is supposed to do.” (Winnipeg Free Press)
Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants:
Pro Bono Innovator of the Year – Suffolk Law School
One of two Pro Bono Innovator of the Year honors goes to Suffolk Law’s Institute on Law Practice Tech & Innovation (LPTI), the school’s parent organization of legal technology programs, and its Accelerator-to-Practice Program. The program teaches students how to use legal technology, practice law, and give legal services to low and middle income clients. LPTI is also training students on how to use high-tech tools that make lawyering more efficient and lower the costs per client. Law students learn about project management, process improvement and document automation, as well. (Legal Tech News)
Music Bonus!Music pick from the PSJD Fellow Eulen Jang.
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Photo: Brenda Gottsabend – CC License
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