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

Happy Friday! I hope to see many of you at the ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conference next week in Chicago.  Because I will have an opportunity to share the news in person, the Digest will return on Friday, May 20.

Here are the week’s headlines:

• Legal Aid of Nebraska establishes autistic legal hotline;
• Wisconsin Supreme Court approves petitions encouraging more pro bono work;
• Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe announces pro bono partnership with the Americans for Safe Access Foundation;
• Federal government seeks to join suit against Idaho’s public defense system;
• Missouri to get $6.7 million for foreclosure help;
• Saint Louis University School of Law legal clinics and St. Louis Housing Authority receive grant;
• Lambda Legal announces new executive director;
• Milwaukee programs get grant for legal services;
• Public defenders in Tennessee county have stopped taking cases;
• Spotlight on Public Service Servants;
• Super Music Bonus!

The summaries:

April 28, 2016 – “Autism affects approximately 1% of children ages three to 18 in Nebraska, according to the Autism Action Partnership. The Legal Aid of Nebraska recently received a grant from the Autism Action Partnership in Omaha to provide free legal advice and assistance to people with autism and families who help an autistic relative. Children and their families often run into problems and barriers to leading full, productive lives, particularly if they are low-income families, Legal Aid said Thursday. Landlords sometimes misunderstand these families, schools refuse to help with education, social service agencies do not provide benefits, child welfare officials and law enforcement may see neglect rather than parents fighting for their kids. The project will be led through Legal Aid’s Medical-Legal Partnership Project with assistance from the University Of Nebraska Medical Center Munroe-Meyer Institute, and the Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Omaha.” (North Platte Bulletin)

April 28, 2016 – “A package approved by the Wisconsin Supreme Court is designed to encourage more pro bono work and increase access to justice. Attorneys will be able to get up to six continuing legal education (CLE) credits per reporting period for doing qualified pro bono work, under a petition that was recently adopted by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, subject to minor language changes.” “The court also adopted a so-called cy pres petition, submitted by the Wisconsin Access to Justice Commission, which will require a portion of unclaimed class action awards (residual funds) to be diverted to the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation (WisTAF), which supports legal services to low-income and indigent persons.” (State Bar of Wisconsin)

April 28, 2016 – “Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe announced a pro bono partnership Thursday with the Americans for Safe Access Foundation, a medical marijuana advocacy group, signifying to some that the push to make legal cannabis available to patients nationwide has gone mainstream. The Oakland, California-based nonprofit, which lobbies lawmakers on how to improve their states’ medical marijuana laws and seeks to educate patients on their rights, will work with Orrick lawyers to update a series of manuals on state medical marijuana laws. Eventually, Orrick hopes to coordinate a hotline for medical marijuana patients in need of legal advice that will involve other law firms.” (The American Lawyer)

April 29, 2016 – “The U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney Wendy Olson are requesting to weigh in on a class-action lawsuit against Idaho’s public defense system. The parties earlier this month filed a motion to join the lawsuit on behalf of the United States. The Idaho Supreme Court has not yet approved the request. ‘The United States has a strong interest in ensuring that all jurisdictions — federal, state, and local — fulfill their constitutional obligation to provide counsel to criminal defendants and juveniles facing incarceration who cannot afford an attorney,’ the motion read.” (Hastings Tribune)

April, 29, 2016 – “The Texas Indigent Defense Commission is providing Bexar County with a $600,000 grant to provide attorney services for the homeless and those with mental health issues. The program is designed to identify people often called ‘frequent fliers’ – people who are in and out of the court system for a variety of minor offenses. Instead of going to jail they are offered options, from housing to medical attention and job search guidance. ‘Locking somebody up, just putting them in jail, doesn’t seem to be the answer,’ said Chief Public Defender Michael Young. ‘And I think we’re finally realizing that.’ Young oversees the program funded by the grant.” (KSAT)

April 29, 2016 – “Missouri will get $6.7 million from a settlement with Bank of America, and most of the money would be used for legal help for people facing mortgage foreclosure. The money comes from a 2014 settlement with Bank of America over mortgage issues. Besides help in foreclosure cases, the money can be used for community development. The money will go to the Missouri Lawyer Trust Account Foundation, the settlement monitor announced. The Foundation pools small-dollar escrow accounts from lawyers around the state, and collects interest on the money. About 90 percent of the interest is used to help four legal aid groups serving the poor. Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, based in St. Louis, is one of the four. The group also funds other legal-related programs, such as the Court Appointed Special Advocate program designed to help children in foster care around St. Louis. Denise Brown, the foundation’s executive director, said the group hasn’t decided how the $6.7 million will be distributed. The foundation’s distribution usually ranges from $600,000 to $1.3 million per year.” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

April 29, 2016 – “The School of Law Legal Clinics has partnered with St. Louis Housing Authority (SLHA) for a $100,000 grant to create a youth re-entry program in St. Louis. The grant, from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice, is part of a $1.75 million effort for public housing authorities and nonprofit legal services across the country to provide needed pro bono legal services aimed at youth. The Legal Clinics will work with SLHA to focus on sealing and correcting criminal records for target youth, removing records by participation in diversion programs and reinstating revoked or suspended drivers licenses. The program will also provide information about collateral consequences of criminal involvement and connect target youth with existing supportive service partners to assist with a variety of needs including employment, housing and health. Another partner includes St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment (SLATE) which will provide referrals to the program and connect youth with training and employment opportunities.” (Saint Louis University News)

May 2, 2016 – “Rachel B. Tiven has been hired as the new CEO of Lambda Legal, the nation’s oldest legal organization fighting for equality on behalf of LGBT people and those living with HIV. Tiven is currently executive director of the Immigrant Justice Corps. ‘Rachel’s track record of strengthening and growing mission-driven organizations into national forces for legal, political, and social change made her the clear choice to lead Lambda Legal going forward,’ said Tracey Wallace and Stephen Winters, co-chairs, Lambda Legal Board of Directors. ‘The list of victories yet to be won is long, and requires a leader who can ensure equality and dignity for our community, our families and all our loved ones. We’re confident Rachel is the leader to take us forward.'” (Windy City Times)

May 3, 2016 – “Federal and city officials at a news conference Monday announced a $100,000 grant awarded to the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee and Legal Action of Wisconsin. The money will be used to help provide legal services to people between the ages of 18 and 24 who are current public housing residents, or those who would be living in public housing but can’t because of their criminal records.The grant, awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Justice, will be used to provide services to young adults, including helping to expunge, seal or correct criminal records as allowed by state law; reinstate revoked or suspended driver’s licenses; or provide job counseling and family law services.” (Journal Sentinel)

May 5, 2016 – “This week Williamson County [Tennessee] made headlines when the district’s public defender said her assistants will not be taking on new cases because of their existing case load. The Tennessee District Public Defenders Conference – charged with filling the state’s obligation to provide a lawyer to those who can’t afford one in criminal cases – says the problem exists throughout the state. Paige Edwards, the conference’s assistant executive director, says she hears from many who are overwhelmed with cases. ‘The fact that more courts have been created and you only have limited staff to go to all those courts, it’s stretching the staff thin,’ she explains. Edwards says population growth has added to demand and more state attorney positions haven’t been added since the 2007 budget year. ” (Public News Service)

Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants:

Donna Peel is using sharing-economy principles and woman power to help fill a dire need for legal-aid lawyers. Peel is the founder of Pro Bono Network, an Oak Park, Ill., non-profit organization that provides about 40 volunteer lawyers a month to Chicago-area legal aid agencies. About 90 percent of the 200 attorneys in the network are women and one-third are stay-at-home moms, all of whom do pro bono work when it fits in their schedule — kind of like a part-time Uber driver. The Pro Bono Network’s mission is to be “a force multiplier” for legal aid by making volunteering hyper-easy, Peel says. To do so, it’s harnessing the same broad workplace shift away from traditional 9-to-5 office work and toward more malleable remote and part-time arrangements that its high-tech, for-profit cousins are built on. But rather than offering attorneys a little side income, Pro Bono Network is helping them fill a yawning social need: free legal assistance for low-income people. Legal aid resources are so meager, Peel says, that only about half of Chicagoans who qualify for assistance get help today. (Forbes)

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

Happy Friday!

Here are the week’s headlines:

• Connecticut Senate approves bills providing greater legal access to the poor;
• Saskatchewan seeks public feedback on legal services;
• University of California-Irvine School of Law launches Civil Justice Research Institute;
• San Francisco Mayor grants $1.8 million for legal aid for unaccompanied minors;
• Spotlight on Public Service Servants;
• Super Music Bonus!

The summaries:

April 21, 2016 – “The state Senate on Thursday approved a bill that would study ways to provide legal help to poor people involved in civil cases.” “The measure, which passed by a vote of 23-12, now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration. The Senate also passed a related bill that bolsters funding for Legal Aid offices. The measure, which cleared the chamber on a unanimous vote, adds more than a million dollars of yearly funding to an interest-generating account of legal fees that funds legal aid. Second, the bill for the first time adds delivery of legal services to the poor to the permissible uses of the Superior Court’s Client Security Fund. Together, these two funding streams will provide more than 2 million dollars a year of additional funding to the Legal Aid programs, supporters of the bill said.” (Hartford Courant)

April 21, 2016 – “The Ministry of Justice  and Law Society of Saskatchewan have launched a quick, online survey to find out what people think about the way legal services are provided, and if some changes could help. It’s part of a consultation focused on improving public access by possibly expanding the services that can be provided by legal professionals other than lawyers.” “‘It’s important to have the (public’s) perspective on what their needs really are,’ said senior Crown counsel Mary Ellen Wellsch, the project lead.” “Access to justice is a growing concern across the country as more people try to puzzle out legal conundrums on their own because they can’t find or afford a lawyer or don’t qualify for free legal services. Supreme Court of Canada Justice Thomas Cromwell issued a call to action on the ‘accessibility gap’ while speaking in Regina at the annual Law Day luncheon earlier this month. Wellsch said it’s too early to say what legal services, if any, might be done by non-lawyers. ‘There’s a whole range of possibilities.’ Some ideas being explored include expanding the scope of paralegals working under supervision of lawyers; relaxing restrictions on other professionals who provide similar legal work; and creating a new class of ‘legal service technicians’ who could provide some services with training and assessment.” “All the information gathered will be used to make recommendations. As to how quickly any changes may come, Wellsch said it really depends on the proposals, since some may require legislative change. At present, the Legal Profession Act prohibits people from practising law without a licence.” (Regina Leader-Post)

April 27, 2016 – “The University of California-Irvine School of Law has launched a Civil Justice Research Institute to explore how to make the U.S. civil justice system more accessible. UCI Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky is the founding chair of the institute, which will be governed by a national board of advisers made up of attorneys and chaired by Roman Silberfeld, executive board member of Minneapolis, Minn.-based Robins Kaplan LLP. UCI Law has received approximately $1 million for the institute from donors across the country, led by a $250,000 gift from Richard Bridgford, founding partner of Newport Beach-based Bridgford, Gleason & Artinian.” (Orange County Business Journal)

April 28, 2016 – “In response to the growing number of unaccompanied minors who come to San Francisco seeking asylum, Mayor Ed Lee announced Wednesday that The City will extend funding by an additional $1.8 million for the legal defense of immigrant families and particularly children who enter the country on their own. The money will go to the San Francisco Immigrant Legal Defense Collaborative, a congregation of 13 nonprofit organizations that represent children and families facing deportation in The City’s immigration courts.” (San Francisco Examiner)

Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants:

L. David Shear, one of the founders of Bay Area Legal Services, the Tampa Bay area’s legal aid organization for the poor, died Tuesday morning. He was 79. Throughout his career as a lawyer specializing in corporate and real estate law, Mr. Shear devoted countless volunteer hours to Bay Area Legal Services, an organization he helped found along with several other members of the Hillsborough Bar Association. He became known for championing the interests of children, ultimately lending his name to a center that provides free legal representation for children in Hillsborough County’s foster care system. (Tampa Bay Times)

 Photo: Brenda Gottsabend – CC License

MFY Legal Services, Inc. (MFY) is seeking a staff attorney to further MFY’s efforts to preserve decent and affordable housing for low income tenants, including families and single adults, through eviction defense, HP actions and affirmative litigation. MFY is a non-profit legal services organization that provides a wide range of free civil legal services to low-income New Yorkers.

If this sounds like something for you, check out the full post on PSJD. (Application Deadline: May 6, 2016)

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

Happy Friday! Thank you all for such an amazing Annual Education Conference. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, and are revved up and ready to go for another great year!

Here are the week’s headlines:

• New fellowships help University of California law students launch public interest careers;
• Texas restores grant money to juvenile indigent defense program;
• Federal government to relieve permanently disabled of all federal student loan debt;
• Pro Bono Institute names new President and CEO;
• Microsoft partners with Legal Services Corporation and Pro Bono Net to create access to justice portal;
• Spotlight on Public Service Servants;
• Super Music Bonus!

The summaries:

April 13, 2016 – “The University of California has launched a new, first-of-its-kind systemwide fellowship program to support UC law students and graduates committed to practicing law in service to the public, UC President Janet Napolitano announced today (April 13). The University of California President’s Public Service Law Fellowships will award $4.5 million annually to promising students at UC’s four law schools. The funding will make postgraduate work and summer positions more accessible for students who want to pursue public interest legal careers but might otherwise – out of financial need – seek private sector jobs.” “The fellowship program is an ambitious new effort – it will provide for approximately 425 summer fellowships and 60 postgraduate fellowships for students at the law schools at UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UCLA and UC Irvine. The postgraduate fellowships provide $45,000 for graduates entering public service, plus an additional $2,500 to help defray bar-related costs. The summer fellowships provide each fellow between $4,000 to $4,500 to subsidize summer public interest law jobs. The fellowship funds will be distributed proportionately based on the number of law students enrolled at each law school each year. The law schools will manage the application process and select fellowship recipients. In addition, the fellowship program provides funding to enable UC law students to participate in the UC Washington Program – a vital UC program that gives students real-world public service experience in the nation’s capital. The fellowship program will culminate each year in a national conference on public service law that would rotate among each of the UC law schools. The conference will showcase important legal scholarship and practice and contribute to the national conversation on public interest law.” (University of California Press Room)

April 13, 2016 – “The state has decided to restore several thousands of dollars in grant money. It was withheld from Hidalgo County’s Juvenile Indigent Program. The Texas Indigent Defense Commission announced its decision at a meeting on South Padre Island Wednesday. Last year, the commission withdrew more than $600,000 it awarded the county for 2016. The decision was based on a non-compliance issue. The commission cited an uneven distribution of attorneys appointed to juvenile cases. Hidalgo County Judge Ramon Garcia said he is pleased with the decision. He said the money is needed to help the county meet its legal obligations to pay lawyers to defend indigent defendants.” (KRGV)

April 13, 2016 – “The Obama administration is directing several federal agencies, including the Department of Education and the Social Security Administration, to forgive $7.7 billion of student loans to around 400,000 people with permanent disabilities. Following last year’s White House-announced Student Aid Bill of Rights, designed to reorient how student loans were repaid, President Obama announced on Tuesday a directive to fully forgive the federal student loan debt owed by those with permanent disabilities, or PD. Federal law already offers student loan debt relief to Americans with a severe disability, but since 2012, the administration’s effort at getting more to take advantage of the debt relief opportunity has had lackluster results, according to The Washington Post. ‘Too many eligible borrowers were falling through the cracks, unaware they were eligible for relief,’ Education Under Secretary Ted Mitchell said in a statement. ‘Americans with disabilities have a right to student loan relief. And we need to make it easier, not harder, for them to receive the benefits they are due.'” (RT)

April 15, 2016 – “The Board of Directors of Pro Bono Institute (PBI) is pleased to announce that Eve Runyon, Director of Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO), has been named the organization’s new President and CEO. Runyon succeeds Esther Lardent, who founded PBI and held the roles of President and CEO for 19 years before stepping down for health reasons in 2015. Runyon joined PBI in 2005 to lead CPBO, PBI’s partnership project with the Association of Corporate Counsel. Under Runyon’s leadership, CPBO designed and implemented innovative initiatives to expand the commitment to pro bono across in-house law departments, including the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge^® initiative, the only industry-wide standard for in-house pro bono, which enables legal departments to identify, benchmark, and communicate their support for pro bono service. Currently, there are 145 Corporate Pro Bono Challenge^® signatories.” (CSRwire)

April 19, 2016 – “Microsoft joined with the LSC and Pro Bono Net in announcing the development of a prototype access to justice ‘portal.’ Microsoft will provide funding of at least $1 million and project management expertise to build out this project. Drawing on state-of-the-art cloud and Internet technologies, this portal will enable people to navigate the court system and legal aid resources, learn about their legal rights and prepare and file critical court documents in a way that is accessible, comprehensive and easy to navigate. The ultimate goal is to help people every step of the way toward addressing their legal problem. This first-of-its-kind system will be accessible from any device, standards-compliant and connected to legal aid organizations through open software interfaces. Once the prototype is developed, we will post it in open source form to GitHub, one of the leading sites for open-source software development projects. That way, others can build upon it or build other, comparable systems. Over time, we hope that every state will develop a portal solution to provide a modern, efficient way for everyone to access the court system and legal aid resources. With recent advances in machine learning, we can even imagine that within the not-too-distant future systems such as these could enable people to speak naturally and receive help in a comfortable “chat” format tailored to their specific needs. LSC developed the vision for this portal over the past few years, working with leaders from across the access to justice community. The National Center for State Courts recently began fleshing out the technical requirements for such a portal. Pro Bono Net, a national non-profit organization dedicated to addressing the access-to-justice gap through technology and collaboration, has agreed to help convene local partners and provide service design expertise to execute the pilot. We couldn’t be happier to start working with all three of these organizations to implement LSC’s vision of access to justice for all.” (Microsoft Blog)

Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants:

Hunton & Williams LLP devotes significant time each year in serving the community. During the firm’s last seven fiscal years, 100 percent of the firm’s full-time lawyers in the United States volunteered for pro bono projects. This represents more than 4 percent of the firm’s gross billable hours and commemorates 21 continuous years of meeting or exceeding the Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge of donating at least 3 percent of the firm’s annual billable hours to pro bono service. At the end of the firm’s fiscal year on March 31, the firm had donated more than 40,000 pro bono hours to the community.

Hunton & Williams is proud of its community service and leadership among law firms in the United States, where the firm’s tradition of pro bono service is well recognized. The firm maintains two neighborhood offices — in Richmond and Charlottesville, Virginia — solely dedicated to pro bono services for low-income individuals, and a full-time-staffed Pro Bono Fellows program. (Hunton & Williams News & Events)

 Photo: Brenda Gottsabend – CC License

Still looking for a summer internship or looking to supplement your income while interning in DC? Consider coming to work for us! We have two paid internships available for law and/or graduate students. Check them out below!

NALP/PSJD Publications Coordinator – We are seeking a law or graduate student to work full-time as our PSJD Summer Publications Coordinator, editing and producing our Comprehensive Fellowship Guide during the summer of 2016.  The term of the employment period is approximately 10 weeks.  The position is ideal for a law or graduate student who has editing experience and is interested in public interest law and/or nonprofit administration.  The Publications Coordinator serves as an integral part of the PSJD team.
To learn more, check out the full post on PSJD. (Application Deadline: April 28, 2016)

PSJD Project Assistants – We are seeking four to six summer project assistants to help update and maintain database content on the PSJD website. This is an ideal opportunity for law or graduate students who desire to supplement their income while interning or clerking in Washington, DC in the summer of 2016.
To learn more, check out the full post on PSJD. (Application Deadline: June 1, 2016)

 Photo: Brenda Gottsabend – CC License

Pro Bono Net is seeking a legal intern to provide support for their New York based programs and initiatives with a specific focus on the NYC Pro Bono Center, New York City’s online hub for lawyers, law students and legal professionals engaged in pro bono work. Pro Bono Net is a national non-profit organization dedicated to increasing access to justice for the disadvantaged through innovative technology solutions and collaborative partnerships that transform the way legal help reaches those in need.

If this sounds like something for you, check out the full post on PSJD. (Application Deadline: April 29, 2016)

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

Happy Friday! We are very excited to see everyone at the 2016 Annual Education Conference next week.  Since we will be sharing news with so many of you in person, the Digest will return on April 22nd.

Here are the week’s headlines:

• British Columbia Chief Judge to hold Twitter town hall;
• Iowa inmates facing added time have right to counsel;
• Ontario raising legal aid eligibility threshold by another 6 percent;
• L.A. County reconsiders reliance on flat-fee juvenile defenders;
• New report finds South Carolina indigent defendants routinely denied counsel or not informed of their 6th Amendment rights;
• Georgia Bar’s incubator for new lawyers launches;
• Boston University School of Law alum creates endowment to fund pro bono service trips;
• Spotlight on Public Service Servants;
• Super Music Bonus!

The summaries:

March 31, 2016 – “Members of the public are being invited to participate in a Twitter ‘town hall’ being organized by provincial court Chief Judge Thomas Crabtree. Anyone who has a question for Crabtree can contact him through the hashtag #AskChiefJudge on April 14, B.C. Law Day. Topics being encouraged include access to justice, the future of the justice system and specialty courts, including First Nations court. ‘The Provincial Court wants to engage members of the public in their justice system,’ Crabtree said in a statement. ‘Our recent consultation on online access to criminal court information demonstrated the valuable contribution the public can make to policy decisions. The Twitter Town Hall is another way the Court can engage with the public. I’m looking forward to the conversation on April 14.'” (The Vancouver Sun)

April 1, 2016 – “Iowa inmates have a right to a lawyer when fighting Department of Corrections decisions that can add time to their sentences, a judge has ruled in a case that the state is appealing. If upheld, the ruling would help inmates challenge department rulings about treatment they must complete or disciplinary violations, which can tack on months or years to their incarceration. The outcome could have major implications for the prison system and the state-funded public defender system. The Department of Corrections filed notice Thursday that it would appeal the decision Judge Scott Rosenberg issued last week. The Iowa Supreme Court will decide whether to take the case or send it to an appeals court for review.” “The expense of any change could be significant. State Public Defender Adam Gregg said that spending by his office for lawyers in simple misdemeanor cases has shot up 45 percent, a $352,000 increase, after last year’s court ruling and that he’s asked lawmakers for a supplemental appropriation. Gregg said he was watching the inmate case closely. ‘It could have a major impact on both the right to counsel in Iowa, and on the indigent defense budget,’ Gregg said.” (The Des Moines Register)

April 1, 2016 – “Ontario is giving more people access to affordable legal services by increasing the financial eligibility threshold for Legal Aid Ontario by six per cent, effective immediately. Legal Aid Ontario provides low-income Ontarians with access to legal services in areas such as criminal, family, immigration, mental health and poverty law. Ontario’s 2014 budget committed to increasing the eligibility threshold by six per cent each year over three years, and today’s increase is the third. This year’s investment amounts to over $48.8 million and as a result of these three combined threshold increases, nearly 400,000 more people will have access to legal aid services. Enhancing legal aid for Ontario’s most vulnerable is part of Ontario’s plan to create a justice system that is modern and responsive to the needs of the people it serves. A simpler, faster and more accessible justice system helps to create a fair society, encourages investment in our communities, and makes life easier by lowering costs and improving convenience and choice.” (Ontario Newsroom)

April 3, 2016 – “In the wake of a new report, Los Angeles County juvenile justice advocates and policymakers are calling for oversight of juvenile defense attorneys to address disparities in legal counsel provided to youth in the juvenile-justice system. Earlier this month, the county received a long-awaited report from the Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy at University of California, Berkeley School of Law that analyzed representation for juvenile defendants in the county’s Superior Courts whose families are not able to afford private attorneys. The ‘Los Angeles County Juvenile Indigent Defense System’ report highlighted several areas of concern about the use of county-contracted panel attorneys, who are paid a flat fee to represent youth.” “Indigent youth are most often represented by the county’s Public Defender’s Office, but when there is a conflict of interest, the county must use an alternative option. However, Los Angeles County is the only county in the state to use a flat-fee system, a process that many believe discourages panel attorneys from spending suitable time and effort on a youth’s case.” “‘Los Angeles is the only county with no centralized mechanism for quality control and oversight over those panel attorneys, and the results [of the Warren report] show disparate treatment and outcomes,’ said Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas at the Board of Supervisors meeting last week.” “As the Board of Supervisors considers a way to change the system, many advocates point to the use of the county’s Alternate Public Defender’s Office as the best way to move on from panel attorneys.” “On Tuesday, the board will consider a motion presented by Supervisors Ridley-Thomas and Sheila Kuehl that will propose oversight of panel representation and explore the cost of alternatives, including an expansion of Alternate Public Defender’s Office.”  (The Chronicle of Social Change)

April 4, 2016 – “In South Carolina’s lower courts—called magistrate, municipal, or summary courts—low-income defendants are routinely denied access to an attorney or not informed of their Sixth Amendment rights, according to a new report published Monday by the ACLU and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. ‘When you go to a summary court in South Carolina, you find yourself in a judicial netherworld where the police officer who made the arrest acts as the prosecutor, the judge may not have a law degree, and there are no lawyers in sight,’ said Susan Dunn, legal director of the ACLU of South Carolina, in a statement.” (takepart)

April 5, 2016 – “The State Bar of Georgia’s new incubator program for young lawyers has recruited its first class of participants and hired a pro bono director. Seven lawyers started work Monday at the incubator, called Lawyers for Equal Justice. Sarah Babcock, the pro bono director, has joined from Alston & Bird, where she was an associate for six years in the environmental practice. Lawyers for Equal Justice’s aim is to help young lawyers get their legal careers started, while also providing legal services to people of moderate to low means. The inaugural class members are: Greg Clement and JoAnna Smith, both Emory University graduates, Alicia Mack and Candice Sneed, both Georgia State University graduates, Charles Wardlaw, an Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School graduate, Tamorra Buchanan-Boyd, a Mercer University graduate, and Chris Bruce, a University of Georgia graduate.” “Lawyers for Equal Justice participants receive training and office space for 18 months and are paired with a solo practitioner who serves as a mentor. The incubator is sharing a floor at Peachtree Center with the Atlanta Bar Association. There is no fee to participate for the first six months, then it’s $500 a month for six months, and $750 a month for the final six. Part of the deal is that participants put in 40 hours a month of pro bono service for six months and then 30 hours a month for the following year.” (Daily Report)(subscription required)

April 7, 2016 – “Boston University School of Law graduate Thomas Smith created an endowment to further fund the School of Law’s Spring Break Pro Bono Service Trips, according to a Monday release. Inspired by the spirit of the program, Smith and his wife Sharon established the Thomas Royall Smith and Sharon L. Smith Crisis Advocacy Fund in order to allow School of Law students to ‘help communities in crises,’ the release stated. ‘We were moved by the idea of creating a crisis advocacy fund,’ Smith, a 1970 alum, stated in the release. ‘In this way, we can support BU Law students helping to respond to crisis situations, the most recent being the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.’ The support and vision of the Smiths’ fund will provide future School of Law students the opportunity to respond to nationwide crises situations, such as providing a ‘much-needed legal assistance,’ the release stated.” (The Daily Free Press)

Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants:

It is with great sadness that we convey the news that Esther Lardent, founder and former President of the Pro Bono Institute, has died.  She was a force of nature, and the driving force behind pro bono in large law firms and corporate legal departments. It may seem commonplace today, but in the late 90’s, it just wasn’t on many people’s radar. The National Law Journal has a very nice article about Esther and her amazing dedication to serving.  The loss to our community is profound!

 Photo: Brenda Gottsabend – CC License

Disability Rights California (DRC) is seeking an Associate Managing Attorney to join their organization. DRC is dedicated to advancing the rights of Californians with disabilities and works to achieve fairness and justice for people with disabilities through quality representation, advocacy, investigations of abuse and neglect, peer/self advocacy services, community partnerships, legislative and regulatory advocacy work, education and outreach.

If this sounds like something for you, check out the full post on PSJD. (Application Deadline: April 28, 2016).

Find your region below to learn more about job opportunities and public interest events happening in your area this month. (Click image to enlarge map)

Here are April’s Regional Highlights:

West/Rocky Mountain: Summer Intern (Honolulu, HI); Legal and Policy Director (Anchorage, AK); Equal Justice Works AmeriCorpsJD Program (Seattle, WA); Assistant City Attorney (Seattle, WA); Reproductive Health Staff Attorney (Los Angeles, CA); Assistant General Counsel (Corvallis, OR); Deputy City Attorney (Portland, OR); Law Clerk (Salem, OR); Summer Law Clerk (Las Vegas, Nevada); Legal Director (Phoenix, AZ); Staff Attorney (Tuba City, AZ);  Staff Attorney – Migrant Farm Worker Division (Denver, CO); Family Stability Programs Attorney/Social Worker (Denver, CO); Pro Bono Coordinating Attorney (Los Angeles, CA); Deputy City Attorney – Police Litigation Unit (Los Angeles, CA); Staff Attorney/Clinical Supervisor Housing Program (Berkeley, CA); Staff Attorney/Clinical Supervisor: Community Economic Justice (Berkeley, CA); Summer 2016 Americorps JD Program (Watsonville, CA); Deputy Director (Los Angeles, CA); 2016 Compassion & Choices Legal Internship (Los Angeles, CA); Direct Representation Attorney – Central Valley (Merced, CA); Summer 2016 Legal Affairs Intern (Sacramento, CA); BayLegal Law Clerk Program (Oakland, CA); Staff Attorney, Clean Energy (San Francisco, CA); Staff Attorney: International Law and Operations (Los Angeles, CA); Staff Attorney: Legislative Affairs (Los Angeles, CA); Staff Attorney: Administrative Law (Los Angeles, CA);

Mid-west: Public Defender (Eagle Butte, SD); Assistant State’s Attorney II (Bismarck, ND); Litigation Attorney (St. Paul, MN); Attorney – Antitrust (St. Paul, MN); Staff Attorney (Racine, WI); Staff Attorney (Oshkosh, WI); Assistant Director – Career Services (Iowa City, IA); Staff Attorney (St. Louis, MO); Assistant City Attorney – Tort Litigation Division (Kansas City, MO); Assistant City Attorney – Domestic Violence Unit (Kansas City, MO); Senior JD Advisor – Center for Career Development (St. Louis, MO); Staff Attorney (Peoria, IL); Staff Attorney (Chicago, IL); VISTA Attorney Mobilization Volunteer – Summer (Chicago, IL); VISTA Attorney Mobilization Volunteer – Academic year (Chicago, IL); Legislation and Policy Clinical Teaching Fellow (Chicago, IL); CCLA Volunteer and Pro Bono Program Director (Chicago, IL); Chicago Regional Chief Counsel’s Office 2016 Summer Internship (Chicago, IL); Law Clerk Summer 2016 (Columbus, OH); Bilingual Outreach Workers (Toledo, OH); Bilingual Outreach Worker (Dayton, OH); Attorney (Cleveland, OH); Managing Attorney (Cleveland, OH):

Southeast: EJW AmeriCorps JD Summer Corps (Miami, FL); Assistant U.S. Attorneys – Civil Division (Orlando and Jacksonville, FL); Summer Immigration Internships (Miami and Miramar, FL); Human Rights Attorney (Sarasota, FL); Supervisory Equal Opportunity Specialist (Atlanta, GA); Supervisory General Attorney – Civil Rights (Atlanta, GA); Legal Director (Atlanta, GA); Attorney-Advisor (Glynco, GA); Trial Attorney (Birmingham, AL); Bilingual Managing Attorney (Various locations, LA); Bilingual Immigration Staff Attorney (New Orleans, LA); Investigator Fellow (New Orleans, LA); Assistant Legal and Governance Director (New Orleans, LA); Summer Law Clerk (New Orleans, LA); Americorps JD Internship (Houston, TX); Public Policy Intern (Austin, TX); Texans Legal Hotline Internship (Austin, TX); Summer 2016 Attorney General’s Antitrust Section Law Clerk (Various Locations, TX); Director, Center for Health Care Policy (Austin, TX); Litigation Law Clerk (Austin, TX); Policy Intern (Austin, TX); 2016 Summer Policy Associate (Austin, TX); Attorney/Fellow – Randall O Sorrells Legal Clinics (Houston, TX); Assistant Attorney General – Office of Civil Rights (Oklahoma City, OK); Criminal Justice Policy Advocate (Various Locations, TN); Policy Counsel/Associate (Durham, NC); Leslie J. Winner Public Interest and Civil Rights Fellowship (Raleigh, NC); Attorney (Charlotte, NC)

Mid-Atlantic: Justice Robert H. Jackson Legal Fellowship (Philadelphia, PA); Staff Attorney (Philadelphia, PA); Staff Attorney (Harrisburg, PA); Staff Attorney, Clean Energy (Philadelphia, PA); Attorney – Civil Division (Pittsburgh, PA); Legal Intern (Philadelphia, PA); Staff Attorney (Philadelphia, PA); Immigration Legal Intern (Silver Spring, MD); Assistant Attorney General – Maryland Technology Development Corp (Baltimore, MD); Senior Director of Criminal Justice Programs (Baltimore, MD); Deputy General Counsel (Baltimore, MD); Policy Research Intern (Silver Spring, MD); Justice Americorps Fellow (Baltimore, MD); Assistant Attorney General (Baltimore, MD); Fall Class 2016: Assistant Public Defender (Baltimore, Upper Marlboro and Rockville, MD); Pro Bono Coordinating Attorney (Baltimore, MD); Public Interest Legal Fellowship (Richmond, VA); Attorney (Arlington, VA); Two Full-time JustChildren Attorney Positions (Charlottesville, VA); Legal Fellow (Arlington, VA); Senior Civil Rights Investigator (Richmond, VA); EAS Deputy Director and Senior Civil Rights Investigator (Richmond, VA); Pro Bono Manager Attorney (Harrisonburg, VA); Summer Legal Intern (Herndon, VA); 2016 Legal Intern (Arlington, VA); Staff Attorney, Clean Energy (Washington, DC) Litigation Associate (Washington, DC); Director of Pro Bono Recruitment and Training (Washington, DC); Attorney (Washington, DC); Trial Attorney – Public Integrity Section (Washington, DC); 2017-18 George N. Lindsay Fellowship (Washington, DC); 2017-19 Skadden Fellowship (Washington, DC); Trial Attorney (Washington, DC); Senior Attorney (Washington, DC); Attorney Advisor (Washington, DC); Trial Attorney (Washington, DC); Attorney – Oversight and Review Division (Washington, DC); Judiciary Committee Law Clerkships (Washington, DC); Fall 2016 Legal Intern (Washington, DC); SEIU Law Student Program Interns and Externs (Washington, DC); The Benach Collopy Asylum Summer Fellowship (Washington, DC); Ethics Fellowship Program (Washington, DC); DOL Volunteer Service Program (Washington, DC); Attorney (Washington, DC); Legal Associate – General (Washington, DC); Managing Attorney – Immigration Legal Program (Washington, DC); Senior Attorney -Health Care Legislative Branch (Washington, DC); General Attorney (Washington, DC); Supervisory Trial Attorney (Washington, DC); General Attorney – International (Washington, DC); Attorney – Civil Rights Division (Washington, DC)

Northeast: Farm and Food Legal Fellow (Providence, RI); Supervisory Equal Opportunity Specialist (Boston, MA); Assistant Federal Public Defender (Boston, MA); Assistant Federal Public Defender – Appeals Unit (Boston, MA); Senior Associate Director/Clinical Instructor (Cambridge, MA); Staff Attorney (Lawrence, MA); Citizenship Program Manager (Boston, MA); Summer Legal Internship (Boston, MA); Senior Attorney – Project on Predatory Student Lending (Jamaica Plain, MA); Family Law Staff Attorney (Worcester, MA); Public Benefits Staff Attorney (Springfield, MA);  Peter B. Cooper Legal Fellow (New Haven, CT); Executive Director (Hartford, CT); Environmental Law and Policy Intern (New Haven, CT); Internship (Trenton, NJ); Staff Attorney (Trenton, NJ); Summer Intern (Newark, NJ); Part-Time Staff Attorney (Monmouth County, NJ); Part-Time Staff Attorney (Mercer County, NJ); Staff Attorney – Legal Assistance to Medical Patients Project (Edison, NJ); Staff Attorney – FT/Temp (Camden, NJ); Staff Attorney – PT/Temp (Camden, NJ); Staff Attorney, Clean Energy (New York, NY); Director of Legal Services (New York, NY); Summer 2016 Policy Internship (New York, NY); Assistant Corporation Counsel, Affirmative Litigation Division (New York, NY); Legal Officer (New York, NY); Deputy General Counsel (New York, NY); Summer 2016 Legal Intern (Long Island City, NY); Pro Bono Coordinating Attorney (New York, NY); Civil Defense Practice Poverty Justice Solutions Fellow (New York, NY); Summer Internship (Various Locations, NY); Summer Position – Law & Justice Institute Coordinator (New York, NY); Staff Attorney – Part Time (Brooklyn, NY); Associate Research Scholar (New York, NY); Summer 2016 Law Internship (New York, NY); Staff Attorney (Staten Island, NY); Summer Intern – Capital Markets Division (New York, NY); Summer Legal Intern Program (New York, NY); 2016 Schulte Roth & Zabel Academic Year Fellowship (New York, NY); Staff Attorney (Syracuse, NY); Immigration Intern (Hempstead, NY); Law Fellow (New York, NY); Staff Attorney (Hempstead, NY); Staff Attorney (Hempstead, NY); Supervising Attorney (New York, NY); Staff Attorney (New York, NY); Staff Attorney (New York, NY); Staff Attorney (New York, NY); Supervising Attorney (New York, NY); Managing Attorney (New York, NY); LegalHealth – Staff Attorney (New York, NY); Staff Attorney (Brooklyn, NY); Managing Attorney (New York, NY)

Canada: Social Justice Articling Positions (Ottawa, ON); Articling Opportunity 2017-18 (Yukon); Articling Student 2017-18 (Windsor, ON)

Check out the following message from So Cal Pro Bono Managers:

So Cal Pro Bono Managers announces Post-graduate Fellowships 2.0, a free one-hour web-based training for law students, to be held Monday, April 11, 2016 at 12 noon PST (3 PM EST).

Since it’s web-based, law students can watch the training and participate from any location.

This is a free training opportunity for law students who plan to apply for post-graduate fellowships in their 3L year, offering tips and strategies for locating a fellowship that matches the student’s interests, developing a fellowship project, identifying a host organization and completing a successful application.

The training will be facilitated by OneJustice in a webinar format, which, again, enables students to access the training live on their laptops from remote locations and to ask their questions.

To register, go to https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2576196798813595906.

Training panelists are David Daniels of Public Counsel, Rachel Kronick Rothbart of USC Gould School of Law and Pamela Marx of Mental Health Advocacy Services, Inc. They hope to offer multiple perspectives on the fellowship application process. Coordinating Committee members are Mental Health Advocacy Services, Inc., OneJustice, Public Counsel, Southwestern Law School and USC Gould School of Law.