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

Happy Friday!

Here are the week’s headlines:

• UCLA to provide major new services to veterans;
• DLA Piper adds pro bono counsel in D.C.;
• Maryland relaunches Access to Justice Commission;
• Texas Appleseed celebrates 20 years of service;
• Ohio legal aid adds service for veterans;
• Social Justice Hackathon winners present ideas;
• Spotlight on Public Service Servants;
• Super Music Bonus!

The summaries:

January 28, 2016 – “UCLA Chancellor Gene Block and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald today announced a stronger academic affiliation to benefit our nation’s veterans as UCLA committed to providing $1.15 million annually in support of new programs and services, approximately $200,000 of in-kind contributions and $300,000 a year in fair-market rent for the continued use of Jackie Robinson Stadium. New and expanded services will include mental health, family support, legal advocacy and recreation services.” The new initiative includes “$400,000 annually to expand and relocate the UCLA Veterans Legal Clinic to provide enhanced legal services to veterans on the West Los Angeles VA campus, emphasizing the benefits of advocacy and the legal needs of homeless veterans.” (UCLA Newsroom)

January 28, 2016 – “One of the rarest areas for lateral hires has a new face: Suzanna Brickman joined DLA Piper as full-time pro bono counsel. Brickman becomes one of the global firm’s seven pro bono lawyers, some of whom work on cases the attorneys handle and some of whom work with the nonprofit the firm owns, New Perimeter. Brickman said she’ll split her time between New Perimeter and projects in the U.S., which focus on veterans, criminal justice, domestic violence, education, fighting hunger and access-to-justice legal work.” (National Law Journal)(subscription required)

February 1, 2016 –  “The University of Victoria Faculty of Law has established the Access to Justice Centre for Excellence with plans for five research projects to help determine need in the province. Kathryn E. Thomson, who helped develop the centre, says the centre is preparing for the two-part research colloquium to take place in May and September of this year, ‘just to talk about the research needs in British Columbia and the role ACE plays in helping to support and facilitate or partner in those research needs.’ There are also five projects on the go for the justice centre at the moment, the Data Map Project, Justice Integration Project, the Justice Metrics Conversation, the Access to Justice Education Project, and the Access and Information Technology Project.” (Canadian Lawyer)

February 1, 2016 – “Rep. Elijah Cummings and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh will launch the newly re-formed Maryland Access to Justice Commission on February 2, 2016. The renewed commission is an independent entity devoted to driving systemic change in Maryland’s justice system. Among the commission’s foremost goals are improving Marylanders’ awareness of their legal rights and providing all residents equal access to justice.” “[T]he Access to Justice Commission plans to back legislation in the General Assembly to provide lawyers in custody and domestic violence protective-order cases to those who can’t afford them. They also aim to collect data to better understand how poor people fare in the civil courts. The commission existed previously as a project of the state judiciary but had become defunct.”(Maryland Access to Justice Commission)(The Baltimore Sun)

February 1, 2016 – “A legal organization that has spurred big changes in Texas through lobbying and litigation is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Founded in 1996, Texas Appleseed works to find justice and solutions to social and economic problems for underrepresented Texans, such as children, disabled people and low-income families. By galvanizing pro bono efforts of major Texas law firms, the nonprofit works toward change by lobbying the state, city and counties for new laws, and by using targeted litigation to force change.” Congratulations! (Texas Lawyer)

February 2, 2016 – “Legal Aid of the Bluegrass recently advanced its goal of increasing legal services to veterans of the U.S. military. The veteran population is underserved in the communities of Legal Aid’s geographic area, according to information reported to the legal service agency. Potential clients now have a dedicated intake hotline available for advice and answers to their legal questions about civil matters. The veterans hotline is 866-516-3054. Legal Aid has an attorney designated for veterans services. That attorney is available for general advice and is accredited for appeals of Veterans Administration disability determinations.” (Cincinnati.com)

February 3, 2016 – “Miguel Willis, a second-year law student at Seattle University, wants to do something about [the proper access to legal aid] problem. And that’s why he was inspired to create the Social Justice Hackathon, a two-day coding event sponsored by Seattle University which brought together 70 technology innovators and law professionals to address specific issues related to legal aid.” “The hackathon took place last November, and three teams moved on to develop fully functioning apps and web pages addressing a selection of obstacles in legal aid access. Those three winning teams will present their ideas to legal aid organizations and the public Wednesday night at the Social Justice Hackathon Demo Day.” “‘The core purpose of the hackathon is to solve real problems,’ Willis said. ‘These are all problems that legal aid organizations have faced, and these are solutions that legal aid organizations can use.'” (GeekWire)

Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants: