On September 26th, the Canadian Bar Association British Columbia Branch (CBABC) will host a live panel discussing the importance of sustaining legal services for vulnerable citizens in critical situations. The event is to commemorate the 3rd annual observance of “A Day for Legal Aid,” created by the CBABC to increase dialogue on the dire need for legal aid in the province of British Columbia.

“A Day for Legal Aid” is one part of the larger We Need Legal Aid campaign, which CBABC launched in October 2011 as a response to the socioeconomic effects of funding cuts to legal aid in British Columbia. The issue of civil legal aid funding will hit home for many beyond Canadian borders, as we are facing our own funding crisis here in the States.

Although the event will be held at the University of Victoria, anyone can view the panel discussion by clicking this link, housed on CBABC’s website. Details on the event are below!

Who: Canadian Bar Association British Columbia Branch

What: “A Day for Legal Aid” panel discussion, featuring the following panelists: Hon. Judge Susan Wishart, Carmen Rogers, Richard Schwartz, Kasari Govender, and Trish Kumpf. CBABC President Kerry Simons will moderate.

When: September 26, 2012, 12:30 – 1:30 pm

Where:

– Panel at University of Victoria, Fraser Building Room 158.

– Livestream event: Thompson Rivers University, Room IB 1020.

– Livestream link available at http://weneedlegalaid.com

By: Steve Grumm

Hi, folks.  There is much news to cover in the access-to-justice, pro bono, and public interest arenas – including, of course, information about New York State’s newly implemented rule requiring 50 hours of pro bono service before getting licensed to practice.  Before that, a few other items that caught my attention this week: 

• as I mentioned in a previous bulletin edition, new data are out looking at poverty in the U.S.  Here, from the Census Bureau, is Poverty: 2010 and 2011 – American Community Survey Briefs. 
• nonprofit news: the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports on a Forbes study of wealthy charitable donors’ giving habits: “The richer a donor is, the less likely he or she is to make unrestricted gifts, a new study of the world’s wealthiest donors has found. Nearly 70 percent of donors with $1-million to $5-million in investable assets say they prefer to give unrestricted gifts to charity, while among those with assets of $50-million or more, just 45 percent say they prefer to make unrestricted gifts.”
• a report getting much attention this week was this one, from the New York Times, about collaborations between debt collection agencies and prosecutors’ offices through which the former issue notices to debtors on the latter’s letterhead. 

Okay, the public interest news in very brief:

• more legal aid funding from the national mortgage foreclosure fraud class-action settlement (MA and RI):
• Missouri public defenders about to implement new policies to limit caseloads;
• the legal aid community should use more research and data to make progress on the access-to-justice front;
• a new veterans initiative from 2 Florida legal services providers;
• an update on San Fran’s Neighborhood Prosecutor Initiative;
• details on NY’s new 50-hour pro bono requirement for admission to the bar;
• light on lawyers to help the poor in NW Texas;
• Contra Costa County prosecutors headed for the picket lines(?);
• rolling out the Ohio Veterans and Military Legal Assistance Project;
• trouble in Warren County, NY meeting new state indigent defense standards;
• educating nonprofit funders about legal aid’s importance;
• LSC has a new VP for grants management;
• call for proposals for the Equal Justice Conference’s law school pro bono pre-conference;
• more self-help legal centers in Illinois (keeping w/ a national trend);
• NorCal pro bono all-stars;
• public defenders should not post pictures of clients’ underwear (leopard-skin or otherwise) on the Facebooks;
• Harvard, Stanford, NYU, and Yale law schools get Ford Foundation funding to promote student public interest work;
• Super music bonus!

The summaries:

• 9.20.12 – some good legal-aid funding news out of New England, stemming from the national foreclosure fraud class-action settlement:
  • Rhode Island: “To assist low and middle income families facing foreclosure, Attorney General Peter Kilmartin today announced a two-year, $1.57 million grant to Rhode Island Legal Services (RILS) to fund the Foreclosure Prevention Project.  The Foreclosure Prevention Project grant is funded through the National Mortgage Settlement between the five largest mortgage service providers and attorneys general nationwide…. With the grant, RILS expects to help stop, prevent, or delay the foreclosure of approximately 1,800 homes each year.”  (Full article on LoanSafe website.) 
  • Massachusetts: “The Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation (MLAC) and the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) are set to launch a two-year effort to give legal help to homeowners facing foreclosure or eviction.  The Borrower Representation Initiative is being funded by a $6 million grant from the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office.”  (Story from the Boston Business Journal.  And here’s more info from AG’s website.

• 9.20.12 – Missouri public defenders are about to implement new policies regarding caseload restrictions in order to alleviate pressures and increase quality of service to defendants.  Here is an interview with Cat Kelly, head of the statewide indigent defense program.  An excerpt of Ms. Kelly explaining forthcoming changes: “As of October, 17 district public defender offices serving 54 counties will be operating on limited availability — meaning they will be able to take cases during that month only up to their maximum allowable monthly caseload and then their doors will have to close.  Any remaining applications will have to go on a waiting list for defender services unless the judges choose to do something else with them — e.g. dispose of the cases without jail time (since the possibility of jail time is the constitutional trigger that requires appointment of counsel) or appointing private attorneys to handle the cases pro bono (without pay).  Another 10-12 offices are in line to do the same in the next month or two.  All but three public defender trial offices are significantly overloaded and those three (Moberly, Maryville, and Kirksville) are operating right at or just slightly over their capacity.” More coverage: 
  • 9.20.12 – a story from TV station KY3: The Missouri State Public Defenders office is bursting at the seams. It’s a problem that’s been brewing since the early 1990s.  Caseloads keep growing but staffing increases are not keeping up.   In 2008, the Public Defender Commission decided enough was enough.  It limited the number of cases each district could take as a way to deal with the growing overload.   The commission’s ability to impose such caps was tied up in litigation.  That changed in last July.  That’s when the Missouri Supreme Court decided judges cannot appoint public defenders to additional cases after they’ve reached their
  • 9.13.12 – “Boone and Callaway County attorneys who practice civil law found out yesterday they might be assigned criminal defense cases as soon as next month as the result of a new cap local public defenders are placing on their caseloads…. Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Presiding Judge Gary Oxenhandler [went on to say,] ‘Don’t think for a moment that somehow this crisis is the fault of the public defender. It is not. For the past 40 years, the public defender has been the savior of the private bar.”  (Story from the Columbia Tribune.)   

• 9.20.12 – the Pro Bono Institute’s Esther Lardent calls for increased use of statistical- and research-based processes in evaluating access-to-justice needs in the civil legal services community.  “All too often in the civil legal services and pro bono worlds we simply rely on our sense of what works and anecdotal information, rather than rigorous and evidence-based research on what strategies, fora, and approaches work best for which low-income clients. With so many low-income families facing foreclosure, can we identify with any degree of confidence and evidence of outcomes, which approaches – mediation, litigation, negotiation – work best for which types of homeowners? As the number of bankruptcies grows, have we analyzed the outcomes of these cases to identify the most effective steps and protocols? At a time when more and more people come to court without a lawyer, have we examined the different models of pro se/self-representation and their usefulness for various matters such as landlord/tenant versus small claims?  Sadly, the answer is that, with some notable exceptions, we have not.”   Here’s Lardent’s full piece.

• 9.20.12 – in Florida, the Legal Aid Service of Broward County and Coast to Coast Legal Aid of South Florida are collaborating on a goal “to create a veterans’ initiative, expanding upon current services provided to military members and their families. Expanded services include representation in securing veterans’ benefits and Social Security benefits for homeless veterans, and obtaining driver’s licenses and birth certificates. The initiative will assist in eviction and foreclosure prevention; family issues such as child support, custody and divorce, and probate and consumer matters.”  (Full op-ed in the Sun-Sentinel.)

• 9.20.12 – in San Francisco, “District Attorney George Gascón updated reporters Wednesday morning on his office’s 18-month old Neighborhood Prosecutor Initiative and announced his plan for a program for juvenile offenders throughout the city.  The initiative aims at curbing recidivism and keeping non-violent crimes such as infractions out of the criminal court system.  There are currently nine neighborhood courts, each with prosecutor assigned to work with two police districts.”  The initiative uses volunteer “adjudicators” who work with prosecutors to determine criminal punishment and treatment options that will help defendants avoid future criminal activity.  (Story from the MissionLocal website.)

• 9.19.12 – Details of the new 50-hour pro bono requirement for applicants to the New York bar were unveiled yesterday by Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman…. The first-in-the-nation requirement will take effect immediately for first- and second-year law students, who will have up to 34 months to fulfill the mandate. Current third-years are exempt.  Starting Jan. 1, 2015, every applicant to the bar will be required to fulfill the requirement….  Approved pro bono work includes legal services for people of “limited means”; not-for-profit organizations; individuals or groups seeking to promote access to justice; and public service in the judiciary and state and local governments….  Participation in law school clinics for which students receive credit would count.   (Here’s a New York Law Journal article.)  Also noteworthy is that New York Law School, where Chief Judge Lippman made the announcement, rode its momentum by announcing a new pro bono program to help its students meet the requirement.  Finally, some additional materials from the state high court: 
  • an FAQ sheet;
  • a press release;
  • a report from the committee tasked with crafting the rule.

• 9.18.12 – despite the efforts of Legal Aid of Northwest Texas and a group of pro bono volunteers, “the demand [for legal aid] is still far greater than the available help”  (Article on the NewsWest 9 website.) 

• 9.18.12 – “Deputy district attorneys in Contra Costa County said that a strike is a distinct possibility given the wave of deep cuts that have swept through their office.  Since 2006, the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office has lost more than 30 prosecutors – many to neighboring counties that pay more with lighter workloads…. In July, the county imposed a contract on deputy district attorneys, cutting wages by 5.25 percent while also reducing benefits.”  (Report on the KCBS website.)
  • Here’s more coverage, from the San Jose Mercury News, on how budget cuts are adversely affecting Contra Costa’s criminal justice system.

• 9.18.12 – well, “OVMLAP” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but this is still good news: in Ohio, diversionary courts have helped veterans to avoid getting into criminal trouble.  But many Ohio vets  have unmet civil legal aid needs.  With grants from Walmart Foundation and Ohio State Bar Foundation, the Ohio Veterans and Military Legal Assistance Project is starting now.  “The project will connect low-income veterans to lawyers who are willing to help them with landlords, credit-card companies or some family-law cases.”  (Article in the Columbus Dispatch.)

• 9.17.12 – “Warren County (NY) officials are protesting a change to the way the state funds legal services provided to the indigent [criminal defendants].  The county Board of Supervisors Mandate Relief Committee plans to contact the state Mandate Relief Council about the change.  The new policy requires the county Public Defender’s Office to add or improve services each year or risk losing a quarter of its $213,000 annual state funding.” (Article in the Post-Star.)

• 9.17.12 – educating nonprofit funders about civil legal aid’s importance.  From the Lawscape blog: “The Public Welfare Foundation has been making important grants in the area of access to civil justice.  Mary McClymont, PWF President, has also been making a major effort to talk to her foundation colleagues about the importance of supporting civil legal aid. She was interviewed recently by Tamara Lucas Copeland, president of Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers, about the needs of low-income people and what private funders can do to help. This video, aimed at the funder community, is available on the PWF’s website, www.publicwelfare.org . It’s also found on YouTube here.”

• 9.17.12 – a Legal Services Corporation staffing announcement: “Amid continuing tough times for the Legal Services Corp., the group has announced a new vice president.  Lynn Jennings joins the LSC, the largest source of funding nationwide for civil legal aid, as vice president for grants management. Her duties include overseeing programmatic operations, the competitive grant process, and assessment and oversight of grantees.” (Story from the National Law Journal.)

• 9.17.12 – The 2013 Equal Justice Conference Law School Pre-conference planning team invites you to submit program recommendations for this year’s pre-conference.  Please refer to the proposal guidelines and complete the training proposal submission form online.  If you have questions about filling out the online form, please contact Adrienne Packard at adrienne.packard@americanbar.org.  Training proposals are due no later than October 15, 2012.

• 9.14.12 – the continuing rise of self-help centers for litigants who represent themselves in civil matters (in most cases b/c they can’t afford a lawyers and legal aid doesn’t have the resources to handle the case): People in Macoupin County [Illinois] who can’t afford to hire an attorney soon will be getting online help through the efforts of the court system and the Carlinville library.  A free online legal self-help center will be accessible to anyone with a computer connected to the Internet….  The Macoupin legal self-help center is one of 91 throughout Illinois, each in a separate county.  Start-up funding for the legal center is provided by the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation through a state appropriation.” (Story from the State Journal-Register.

• 9.14.12 – The Recorder recognizes the outstanding pro bono efforts of 10 law-firm offices in Northern California.

• 9.14.12 – this news items contains a good lesson for law students about a very, very inappropriate use of social media.  “A Miami-Dade judge declared a mistrial in a murder case Wednesday after a defense lawyer posted a photo of her client’s leopard-print underwear on Facebook.  [Defendant Fermin Recalde’s] family brought him a bag of fresh clothes to wear during trial. When Miami-Dade corrections officers lifted up the pieces for a routine inspection, Recalde’s public defender Anya Cintron Stern snapped a photo of Recalde’s briefs with her cellphone, witnesses said.   While on a break, the 31-year-old lawyer posted the photo on her personal Facebook page with a caption suggesting the client’s family believed the underwear was ‘proper attire for trial.’  Although her Facebook page is private and can only be viewed by her friends, somebody who saw the posting notified Miami-Dade Judge Leon Firtel, who declared a mistrial.  And Cintron Stern was immediately fired, according to Miami-Dade Public Defender Carlos Martinez, whose office represents clients who cannot afford a private attorney.”  (Article from the Miami Herald.)

• 9.13.12 – “The Ford Foundation…announced plans to place as many as 100 students from Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School, New York University School of Law and Yale Law School in public interest summer jobs in 2013.   Public interest fellowships typically pay stipends just large enough to cover basic costs. By contrast, the Ford fellows will receive $15,000 for summer work at an array of high-profile public interest organizations, including the Brookings Institution, the Environmental Defense Fund and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. The foundation has committed $1.75 million for the inaugural year.”  (Article in the National Law Journal.)

• Music!  A few weeks ago I went to a great concert featuring punk-rock legend Bob Mould.  Mould’s had a fascinating music career trajectory.  He started off as the front-man in legendary punk band Husker Du, moved into indie rock, then electronica, then back to rock.  Now one never knows quite what he’s going to get into.  But he played a great rock show here in DC a couple of weeks back.  So here’s “See A Little Light,” a lighter song from his 1989 s0lo debut. 

Ms. JD, an organization committed to improving the experiences of female law students and lawyers, has partnered up with the American University Washington College of Law to present its annual SHE Leads conference in Washington, DC.

She Leads presents young women attorneys and law students with the opportunity to connect with the nation’s most talented leaders in the law. At She Leads, participants will develop core leadership skills, which can be applied in law school, legal practice, the government, or at non-profits. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet top lawyers, hear from incredible and inspiring speakers, connect with other attorneys and law students in the field, and plan for a year ahead working together on future collaborations.

Click here for more information on registering for the She Leads Conference!

 We now have some details on how the 50-hour requirement/rule will be rolled out.  Here’s the New York Law Journal piece.  A couple of important points:

• “The…requirement will take effect immediately for first- and second-year law students, who will have up to 34 months to fulfill the mandate. Current third-years are exempt….  Starting Jan. 1, 2015, every applicant to the bar will be required to fulfill the requirement.
• “Participation in law school clinics for which students receive credit would count [toward satisfying the rule].”

Also, we’ve hosted on PSJD some handouts from the press conference at which the details were announced:

1. an FAQ sheet;
2. a press release;
3. a report from the committee tasked with crafting the rule.

We weren’t much aware of Constitution Day’s existence either.  Turns out it’s a relatively new federal day of observance, and is wrapped up with a previous federal holiday which was known as Citizenship Day.  As it also turns out, today is the 225th anniversary of the Constitution’s signing (Sept. 17, 1787).  So do a little dance, make a little love, and get down tonight in celebration of such things as the separation of powers and the ever-exciting Arisings Clause.

Calling all aspiring Skadden Fellows.  A reminder that the proposal/application deadline is October 1, 2012.   Use PSJD’s fellowship application tools to polish up your proposal now.  Good luck!

The Emory Public Interest Committee (EPIC, Emory Law School’s public interest student group) is delighted to announce their conference entitled “And Justice for All? Criminal Justice in the South.”  The conference will be held on Saturday, October 13, 2012, at Emory University School of Law, and it will broadly track the core stages a criminal defendant goes through as s/he moves throughout the justice system:  pre-trial, trial, and post-conviction.  The conference seeks to engage participants in a meaningful and balanced dialogue concerning the flaws within the Southern justice system, as well as possibilities for alternatives and reform.

Following a keynote address by Stephen Bright, president and senior counsel for the Southern Center for Human Rights, the conference will feature three sets of panel discussions with topics such as search and seizure, prison conditions, and rehabilitation of released defendants.  All panels will address these issues with a special emphasis on identifying existing inadequacies and possible reform within the South.  The conference will address and examine the existing problems and potential for change from a wide range of perspectives, including legislators, prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement officials, and judges.

Information is available at http://www.law.emory.edu/academics/conferences/2012-epic-conference.html, and registration is open now.  There is no fee to attend (small charge for those seeking CLE credits), but registration is requested in order to plan for materials and meals.  Please email conference co-chairs Anam Ismail and Steve Justus at epicconference2012@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Do you know a law student who’s a public interest/pro bono rock star?  NALP is seeking nominations for the 2012 PSLawNet/PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award. 

Download the Nomination Form Here!

Purpose: To recognize the significant contributions that law students make to underserved populations, the public interest community, and legal education by performing pro bono or public service work.

Eligibility: The Pro Bono Publico Award is available to any second- or third-year law student at a PSJD Subscriber School. The recipient will be honored during an Award Luncheon at NALP’s Public Service Mini-Conference on Thursday, October 25, 2012 at the Washington, DC office of Crowell & Moring, LLP. The award recipient will receive transportation to Washington, a one-night stay in an area hotel, a commemorative plaque, and a small monetary award.

Award Criteria: Law students are judged by the extracurricular commitment they have made to law-related public service projects or organizations; the quality of work they performed; and the impact of their work on the community, their fellow students, and the school. Though a student’s involvement in law school-based public interest organizing and fundraising is relevant; actual pro bono and public interest legal work will be the primary consideration. 

Nomination Deadline & Packet Contents: Nominations must be received by Friday, September 14, 2012 at 5pm Eastern Time, by fax, mail, or email (see contact information at bottom). Along with the nomination form and a résumé, nomination packets may include any materials which support a nominee’s candidacy; such as letters of recommendation, statements detailing a nominee’s work, and media articles. 

by Ashley Matthews

Here at PSJD, we are constantly thinking of ways to connect law students and lawyers with public interest jobs and career-building resources. The main way we do this is through our website, where employers can post new public interest opportunities for interested job seekers, who are also able to browse our library of resources. And of course, we post great opportunities, news and resources to this blog and our Facebook page everyday.

In our latest effort to bridge communication between employers, career service leaders, and job seekers, PSJD is proud to announce the launch of its new live weekly Twitter chat! Kicking off on September 26th at 3 pm, #PSJDChat will feature weekly topics designed to build a supportive community around the daunting process of looking for legal employment. The first #PSJDChat topic will be“Personal Branding: Using Social Media During The Job Hunt”.

The goal of #PSJDChat is to encourage our Twitter community to learn from one another by sharing insight, info, horror stories, success stories and everything in between. #PSJDChat is the first and only Twitter mixer dedicated solely to law students and lawyers looking for public interest employment, so this is the (virtual) place to meet new like-minded friends followers, ask questions, find support, and get advice from those in-the-know.

You don’t have to do anything but tweet with the hashtag #PSJDChat to join, but we recommend using TweetChat as an easy way to participate and keep up with the discussion without your timeline distracting you. TweetChat will allow you to view a filtered version of the chat with only our discussion, and will also automatically add #PSJDChat to all your tweets so you don’t have to! When the time comes, just log in with your Twitter username and password, and enter #PSJDChat to join us. If you’re still confused, check out MediaBistro’s How-To article, or email us at psjd@nalp.org with any questions.

Although the chat is informal, all we ask is that you stay on-topic as much as possible, and tweet “#PSJDChat” so everyone involved knows you are a part of the discussion. Also, don’t forget to make your Twitter profile public! If your account is private, no one in #PSJDChat will be able to see your replies. Last but not least, tell all your friends! The more people involved, the better the discussion.

After every chat, you can check this blog for transcripts of the discussion, standout tweets, and a recap of what went down. Here’s a schedule of our upcoming Twitter chats and topics:

Wednesday, September 26, 2012, 3 PM: “Personal Branding: Using Social Media During The Job Hunt”

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012, 3 PM: “Drafting the Perfect Public Interest Cover Letter”

Wednesday, October 10th, 2012, 3 PM: “Drafting the Perfect Public Interest Resume”

Wednesday, October 17th, 2012, 3 PM: “Tips & Tricks for Successful Interviewing & Networking”

See you all on Twitter, and don’t forget to follow us @PSJDTweets!

Hot off the presses is our 2012-13 Federal Legal Employment Opportunities Guide!  (It goes by the unfortunate acronym FLEOG; that’s why we tend to write it all out.)  The Guide offers a broad-based review of different career opportunities and paths to employment for law students and graduates who are interested in federal legal careers.  The Guide is a distillation of the key content from PSJD’s more extensive Federal Govenment Careers page.  We hope you find both the guide and online content useful.