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

Happy Veteran’s Day! We honor those who have served our nation in war and peace.

Here are the week’s headlines:

• Montana’s public defender’s office hires 62 attorneys;
• New York Legal Assistance Group’s pro se clinic opens in Southern District of New York;
• Grant funds to help crime victims in Kentucky more than doubling;
• Judge dismisses suit against Missouri governor over funding public defenders;
• Connecticut public defenders join a union;
• Judge dismisses one of two suits against Utah indigent defense system;
• University of New Mexico School of Law launches new Natural Resources and Environmental Law Clinic;
• Legal Services Corporation announces Technology Initiative Grants;
• Jones Day and ABA to launch VetLex;
• Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants;
• Super Music Bonus!

The summaries:

November 2, 2016 – “To accommodate a budget shortfall of $3.5 million, the State Office of the Public Defender will no longer be contracting cases with local attorneys. Instead, the office will hire a total of 62 attorneys in offices across the state to handle cases previously assigned to outside counsel, OPD Chief Administrator Scott Cruse said Monday. This plan was projected to save the office $2.2 million in fiscal year 2017, according to the OPD’s mitigation plan. On Wednesday, Interim Director of the Billings’ office Doug Day said the office would no longer contract out cases to local lawyers.” “The new attorneys will handle certain cases that were previously assigned to local attorneys because of conflicts of interest or high caseloads. Day says the public defender typically paid contracted attorneys about $62 per hour. The new attorneys will be part-time and will be paid between $37 and $48 hourly. Some contract attorneys worried they may not be able to support their practices without the public defender’s cases. But Public Defender Commission member Mark Parker says the move is the best way to reduce costs while upholding the office’s mission.” (Billings Gazette)(Great Falls Tribune)

November 3, 2016 – “Pro se litigants and the docket of the Southern District will get a boost with the launch of a new clinic in Lower Manhattan that will provide free advice to litigants who can’t afford a lawyer. ‘We are very likely to see a significant impact on our pro se docket,’ Southern District Chief Judge Colleen McMahon said at a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday. ‘So it’s not only good for the litigants, but good for the courts.’ The new clinic is staffed by the nonprofit New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) and is run by Robyn Tarnofsky, a former litigation partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.” “NYLAG’s own legal clinic is used to working in conjunction with the district’s Pro Se Intake Unit and its Office of Pro Se Litigation, but the pro se clinic will operate independently from the court. The district is providing office space for the clinic on the ground floor of the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse, including a conference room, a PACER terminal, a computer for the client and office space for Tarnofsky, a second attorney from NYLAG and a paralegal. That staff will be supplemented by a pool of volunteer law firm associates “who are looking to get some client contact, which can be difficult at large firms,” Tarnofsky said in an interview.” (New York Law Journal)(subscription required)

November 4, 2016 – “Gov. Matt Bevin and Kentucky Justice Secretary John Tilley announced Thursday that grant money to help victims of violent crime is more than doubling this year – all thanks to an aggressive effort to capture federal funding and pair grants with Kentucky organizations. In total, the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet is awarding more than $14 million in grants to programs that aid crime victims, including rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters and child advocacy centers. That’s a 127 percent increase over the $6.2 million given out last year.” (Kentucky New Era)

November 4, 2016 – “A judge tossed out the state public defender agency’s lawsuit over Gov. Jay Nixon’s budgeting authority. The lawsuit challenged the governor’s decision to withhold millions of dollars in funds from the agency that defends poor people. A Cole County judge, in a ruling made public on Friday, sided with Nixon in the lawsuit that the Missouri State Public Defender system and the state’s Public Defender Commission filed in July. The plaintiffs alleged Nixon cut their budget while no general revenue was restricted from Nixon’s own budget. The system’s director, Michael Barrett, called the move political. In August, Barrett appointed Nixon, the state’s former attorney general, to defend one of his agency’s clients in protest of the budget cut. A judge later blocked that move.” (KY3)

November 7, 2016 – “Nearly 200 attorneys who work for the Judicial Branch’s division of Public Defender Services voted to join Council 4 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Rank-and-file public defenders voted 100-18 in favor of unionization and the supervisors’ group voted 15-3. The election took place via mail between Oct. 14 and Oct. 28. ‘We joined Council 4 to strengthen our voice on the job and to protect the vital services we provide to citizens in need of legal representation,’ Assistant Public Defender Jeffrey LaPierre said. ‘Unionizing is our path to a more secure and stable future, for ourselves and our clients.'” (CT News Junkie)

November 8, 2016 – “A federal judge has tossed a proposed class-action lawsuit challenging Washington County’s public defender system. The lawsuit — filed in January against the state of Utah, Washington County and several public officials — claimed the county’s current public defender system is broken, and that the attorneys who handle those contracts are overworked, underpaid and are not given the proper support to defend their clients. The two named plaintiffs, William Cox and Edward Paulus, are two Washington County men who have been assigned public defenders for their pending criminal cases. But in an order dismissing the case filed on Monday, U.S. District Judge Dee Benson ruled that because the plaintiffs’ criminal cases are not resolved, they cannot yet claim they have been harmed or that they have had ineffective counsel. The judge wrote that their claims were ‘sweeping, yet unsupported.'” “The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah filed its own lawsuit against the state in June, asking that a judge find that the current system is not constitutional. The ACLU argues in its lawsuit that the system is inadequate, underfunded and unfair to Utahns accused of crimes who rely on public defenders. That lawsuit is still pending in federal court as the plaintiffs seek class-action status.” (The Salt Lake Tribune)

November 9, 2016 – “The University of New Mexico (UNM) School of Law will open a new Natural Resources and Environmental Law Clinic (NREL) in January 2017. NREL joins the UNM Law School’s 40 year history of providing legal services to New Mexico’s communities.  It will be the fifth section of the UNM Law School’s mandatory Clinic Program, in which law students represent actual clients with supervision by faculty. NREL will provide a wide variety of legal services to underrepresented individuals, community groups, nonprofit organizations, and Indian tribes to protect, preserve, and use lands and natural resources, and improve public health and the environment of communities. The clinic provides an opportunity for law students to work on a mix of litigation, drafting laws and policy, and advising clients.  Clinic students may appear before all levels of tribal, state and federal courts, administrative agencies and the legislature.” (UNM News)

November 9, 2016 – “The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) today announced 34 Technology Initiative Grants (TIG) to 27 legal services organizations in 20 states and one territory. TIG funding supports a variety of initiatives, from building more efficient intake systems for clients seeking legal services to creating automated forms to support legal aid staff, pro bono attorneys, and self-represented litigants. The program was established in 2000. Since that time, LSC has made more than 600 grants totaling more than $57 million to civil legal aid organizations across the country.” See the full list of grantees here. (LSC)

November 10, 2016 – “Jones Day law firm has joined forces with the American Bar Association to launch a national veterans assistance program called VetLex, to match U.S. veterans and military families who need legal help with veteran service organizations and attorneys willing to offer their expertise pro bono. VetLex (VetLex.org), a combination of the words ‘veteran’ and the Latin word for ‘law,’ will be the first national network of its kind devoted to providing veterans with referrals to social service providers and pro bono or ‘low bono’ (low-cost) lawyers qualified and willing to provide those services. The program will start in a handful of pilot cities — including Cleveland — in the spring of 2017, before expanding nationally.” The initial target of the program is low-income veterans. (cleveland.com)

Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants:

Music Bonus!  A special video in honor of Veteran’s Day.

Community Activism Law Alliance (CALA) – Uniting Lawyers and Community Activists to Bring Free Legal Services Back to Underserved Populations…

CALA recently celebrated its two-year anniversary with the “Two Years of Community Impact” event. The organization, located in Chicago, has collaborated with individuals to help their families stay together, fight violence, reunite across borders, and be empowered to help others. Within two-years CALA has impacted over 3500 people directly, and thousands more due to its support of community activism.

The organization’s staff of 10 has worked to unite lawyers and activists in the pursuit for justice. CALA leverages legal services to benefit marginalized individuals and communities. CALA takes a unique approach to legal services by operating within its target communities with partner organizations at free existing neighborhood spaces. CALA attorneys consistently balance individual cases and projects supporting CALA’s partners’ activism work .

Congratulations CALA on an excellent two years and many more to come.

Find out more about CALA’s work.

Check out CALA’s two-year anniversary E-Book.

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

Happy Friday! Thank you for another great NALP/PSJD Public Service Mini-Conference! I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

Here are the week’s headlines:

• Alberta creates 10 new judge positions;
• North Mississippi Rural Legal Services celebrates 50 years;
• Report highlights effect of pro bono legal services in Tennessee;
• New virtual law advice clinic in Connecticut;
• University of Toronto Faculty of Law legal aid clinic expands services;
• New law student program could help ease the crushing bail burden on Ottawa’s jail;
• Report: Indiana fails to provide consistent indigent defense;
• New York State creates public interest fellowship in honor of staffer;
• Newest legal chatbot in UK gives free advice to victims of crime;
• Cornell Law School launches center to help defeat death penalty worldwide;
• Legal Aid Ontario lawyers join Society of Energy Professionals union;
• Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants;
• Super Music Bonus!

The summaries:

October 20, 2016 – “Alberta’s beleaguered justice system got a helping hand on Thursday, with the province announcing it’s creating 10 new judge positions and the federal government filling seven of the existing vacancies. Alberta Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley made the announcement of the 10 new judicial positions in Calgary, saying nine would be at the Court of Queen’s Bench and one at the Court of Appeal. They would be created through amendments to provincial legislation in the fall, she said.” “A recent Supreme Court ruling helped bring matters to a head by imposing hard time limits on how long a person has to wait to have a case heard in court, prompting Alberta’s prosecution service to review an estimated 400 cases for fear that they might be tossed.” “The increase brings the number of justices per capita in Alberta in line with that in other provinces, according to the province. Combined with already existing vacancies, the new positions would mean there were 21 unfilled judicial positions in Alberta, [Alberta Justice Minister Kathleen] Ganley said.” (CBCNews)

October 20, 2016 – “When 86 percent of non-whites lived below the poverty line in Mississippi 50 years ago, a group of University of Mississippi lawyers created the North Mississippi Rural Legal Services to provide legal services to the disadvantaged. This month, the NMRLS celebrated 50 years of legal service. In 2015, NMRLS helped 19,160 residents with adoptions, protective orders, fraud prevention, wills, power of attorney cases, foreclosure prevention, landlord problems, tax assistance and bankruptcy in 39 Mississippi counties. Without the NMRLS, Ben T. Cole, Jr., executive director of NMRLS, said many people would not have their day in court.” “NMRLS, previously known as the Lafayette County Legal Aid, opened its first office in Oxford in 1966.” “Today, NMRLS has 13 staff attorneys in North Mississippi for low-income residents in 39 counties.” (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)

October 21, 2016 – “The Tennessee Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission’s released annual report shows Tennessee attorneys are donating more than 500,000 hours of their time annually worth more than $100 million. For the calendar year 2014, nearly half of all attorneys reported doing some kind of pro bono work. The report shows 7,615 attorneys practicing in Tennessee provided 568,170 hours of pro bono, an average of over 74 hours per reporting attorney.  The value of these services is estimated to be over $113 million.” “Further, the Commission recently adopted its 2016 Strategic Plan for improving access to justice in Tennessee.” “The plan includes implementing a strategy to have 10 new court kiosks across the state, developing a statewide communications plan with legal aid and access to justice programs and growing the Tennessee Faith and Justice Alliance to include representation from a variety of faiths. The Commission also makes recommendations to the Supreme Court of projects and programs necessary for enhancing access to justice, especially for self-represented litigants.” (The Chattanoogan)

October 21, 2016 – “The power of the internet is being harnessed to make it easier for low-income Connecticut residents to access legal advice, and to make it easier for pro bono attorneys to volunteer to help people who can’t afford to pay for attorneys. Statewide Legal Services of Connecticut is one of the legal aid law firms in eight states which are partnering with the American Bar Association on a virtual law advice clinic that allows low-income clients to ask questions about civil law and for attorneys to answer their questions online whenever convenient for them. Instead of dropping into a legal aid clinic to talk to a lawyer in person, clients can type their questions and submit them on a computer. Judge Elliot N. Solomon, deputy chief court administrator and co-chairman of the Connecticut judiciary’s Access to Justice Commission, said this new program is unique because it makes it more convenient for people with low to moderate incomes to access legal advice and more convenient for lawyers to be able to provide pro bono service to people who need it.” (Connecticut Law Tribune)

October 21, 2016 – “Downtown Legal Services (DLS) has expanded its practice to now offer employment law services. DLS is a legal aid clinic operating out of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law that offers free legal assistance to low income communities. Legal services are provided by U of T law student volunteers who are supervised by staff lawyers. Last year, DLS received an increase in its budget which arose from an increase in their annual funding from Legal Aid Ontario and an increase in levies received from the U of T students’ tuition. With the extra funds, DLS has now created an employment law division and has also expanded their housing law division. DLS recently announced that ‘help is now available for working students who have been terminated, discriminated against, or otherwise denied their employment rights.’ With their expanded services, the legal clinic now offers employment services in the following areas: employment standards complaints, employment insurance appeals, human rights applications, and small claims court.” (The Varsity)

October 21, 2016 – “An innovative new program in Kingston that helps women get released on bail while easing pressure on the local jail could offer a potential solution for overcrowding in other provincial detention centres like Ottawa. The bail program being offered by Queen’s Legal Aid in partnership with the Elizabeth Fry Society has law students stepping in to help impoverished offenders who are behind bars, usually because they lack a plan that includes the housing or bail supervision they need to be released. The students meet with the inmates, then help craft a release plan that usually assists them in finding a place to stay, counselling, or addiction treatment that the inmate’s lawyer can present to court to help secure their release. The students have been able to help secure the release of 11 women from the Quinte Detention Centre since launching the program in June, said lawyer Jodie-Lee Primeau, the program’s supervisor. Ten of the women were released on consent of the Crown prosecutor without a bail hearing.” “Primeau hopes Queen’s can secure additional funding and access to the detention centre (currently they only receive access to female inmates due to their partnership with the Elizabeth Fry Society) so they can expand their program to assist male offenders.” (Ottawa Sun)

October 24, 2016 – “Indiana is failing to equally provide constitutionally guaranteed effective counsel to indigent people accused of misdemeanor, felony and juvenile offenses, according to a report released Monday. In some counties, poor people facing criminal charges are encouraged to negotiate directly with prosecutors before being appointed counsel. Those are among the findings of a report on the state of Indiana’s provision of public defenders for the indigent released by the Boston-based Sixth Amendment Center. The report was commissioned by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers as part of its public defense reform program. ‘The state of Indiana fails to consistently ensure that each person facing potential incarceration has the aid of a lawyer with the time, ability, and resources to present an effective defense, as is the state’s constitutional obligation,’ according to the Sixth Amendment Center.” “‘With little to no state oversight, Indiana’s counties do not consistently require indigent defense attorneys to have specific qualifications necessary to handle cases of varying severity or to have the training needed to handle specific types of cases (other than for capital cases),’ the center said in a statement.” (The Indiana Lawyer)

October 24, 2016 – “Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office announced Monday that the state will offer a two-year public service fellowship with the state Department of Labor in honor of Scott Martella, a former Executive Chamber staffer and communications director for Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone who was killed in an August car accident. The Scott Martella Public Service Fellowship will be awarded every two years to a student who will then work for the Department of Labor, where Martella worked for more than a year, and will focus on community outreach. The first fellow will be selected from the 2017-19 class of Excelsior Service Fellows. Cuomo’s office said nominated fellows will be required to submit a personal statement outlining their commitment to community outreach and their desire to exemplify what the administration characterized as ‘Scott Martella’s legacy of serving others.’ The fellow will update the Martella family periodically on his or her work.” (Times Union)

October 26, 2016 – A second legal chatbot has launched in the UK.  “LawBot is an artificial intelligence system designed to help people who need to find out more about their rights and how the justice system can aid them. The LawBot team say it’s the world’s most advanced chatbot lawyer. It launched just two weeks ago, and although it’s still in beta, the team behind LawBot have seen it gather 15,000 interactions. It’s the brainchild of Ludwig Bull, who developed the system after he spent the summer in Japan and after working for a think-tank in Cambridge. He recruited the rest of the team on the Cambridge University Law Society Facebook page. The team is now 10 people strong and say LawBot is a labour of love.” (Cambridge Independent)

October 26, 2016 – “A new center at Cornell Law School aims to help eliminate the death penalty across the globe through research and lawyer training. The school on Tuesday announced the launch of the Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide—an initiative made possible by a $3.2 million grant from the Atlantic Philanthropies, the private foundation of university alum Chuck Feeney, founder of the Duty Free Shoppers Group. The center, led by Cornell professor Sandra Babcock, aspires to help end capital punishment internationally by highlighting the flaws in the application of the death penalty worldwide, and by strengthening the training of defense lawyers who handle such cases. Administrators say it’s the first center of its kind in the United States. A handful of schools have domestic-focused death penalty centers or death penalty clinics, including the University of Texas School of Law; Yale Law School; Harvard Law School; and the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. The new center will elevate the international death penalty research Cornell Law faculty started in 2011.” “The centerpiece of the initiative is a summer institute for capital defense lawyers around the world to convene and share notes on effective defense strategies. The center also will conduct research on the death penalty and maintain a free online database on capital punishment law and practices around the world.” “The center will house law school clinics focused on the international death penalty and human rights.” (New York Law Journal)

October 26, 2016 – “Following their four-year campaign to win collective bargaining rights, Legal Aid Ontario staff lawyers voted to join The Society of Energy Professionals. Voting was open throughout this week for the 358 staff lawyers that make up the newest Society bargaining unit. Of those that cast ballots, 76% voted in favour of being represented by The Society. “I am proud to welcome Legal Aid Ontario lawyers to The Society,” said Society president Scott Travers . ‘Legal Aid lawyers showed great strength in their fight for collective bargaining rights, and I am confident that same strength will continue as we begin working on their first collective agreement. I look forward to working in collaboration with the employer toward a collective agreement that is mutually beneficial to both our members and LAO.’ Travers said that the Legal Aid lawyers’ vote shows that professionals are looking to improve their working lives through collective bargaining.” (Yahoo Finance)

Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants:

Music Bonus!  A VERY SPECIAL MUSIC PICK from the PSJD Fellow Delisa Morris.

We are very pleased to announce the 2016 Pro Bono Publico Award Winner: Gabrielle Lucero.  This year we selected 10 finalists and chose a winner from the largest pool of candidates we’ve had in recent memory.  We’ve also selected two Merit Distinction recipients.  All three will be guest bloggers for the PSJD Blog.

In addition, we will be presenting Gabrielle with her award (and her $1,000) at Duke University School of Law in Durham, NC.  I look forward to meeting her, her family, and all those who helped her advance the work of the Veteran’s Assistance Project and Coalition Against Gendered Violence.

Here is the full announcement, with all the great finalists.  We are so grateful to them for their incredible work!!!

This prestigious award honors one law student nationwide for their pro bono contributions to society, and recognizes the significant contributions that law students make to underserved populations, the public interest community, and legal education through public service work.

WINNER

Gabrielle Lucero

Duke University School of Law

Gabrielle is dedicated to helping her community directly and by creating infrastructures that will continue to serve clients after she graduates. First, recognizing a need to assist veterans and changes Legal Aid was undergoing in its work with veterans, Gabrielle took up the leadership of the Veterans Assistance Project (VAP). Along with a Legal Aid attorney, she established a structure for students to more easily and regularly complete the needed work. She created documents to be used and replicated, quick references for students on each step of the process, and established connections with local practioners to ensure continuity of service. She identified Military Sexual Trauma (MST) cases as a particular need, and developed a network and training materials to handle these cases. Gabrielle did all this, while volunteering herself assisting clients.  Because of her good work, she was hand-picked to take on the first MST case. These cases can present some of the most difficult advocacy issues, both because this area is comparatively new and because of the sensitive subject matter.  Not only was Gabrielle successful on behalf of her client, but she produced research and connections with a physician that specializes in MST care that will enable many more successes. Thinking longer term, Gabrielle created connections with UNC School of Law and NC Central University School of Law to broaden the scope of the project’s impact.

Additionally, Gabrielle took over the recently inactive student group Coalition Against Gendered Violence (CAGV), and focused in on two major components. Gabrielle created a pro bono project with the NC Coalition Against Sexual Assault, volunteering to provide assistance to college campus victims of sexual assault during the university adjudication hearings. The second prong of the Coalition’s work is addressing the needs of victims and survivors who are part of the Duke Law community.  Gabrielle’s hard work and dedication were instrumental in creating pro bono opportunities and community assistance that will long outlast her time at the law school.  As her nominator stated, “[w]ithout her focused efforts to work with Legal Aid and redesign our VAP program or to redesign our CAGV, we would likely have lost both projects.”

Gabrielle summed up her dedication best. “When people ask me why I am so involved in the community and put so much of my time towards service, it is an easy answer: people. While I have a busy schedule of two graduate degrees, Army ROTC, and a number of school and community activities, it never feels overwhelming because of the people.”

MERIT DISTINCTION

Derek Mergele

Texas Tech University School of Law

Derek is committed to solving LGBT issues.  As a 2L, he became president of Lavender Law, and used this platform to create an environment where students, faculty, lecturers and the community come together to discuss and advance the LGBT community.  His most significant contribution began with listening to the needs of this population. Since March, Derek has been working to establish a Gender Marker and Name Change Clinic at the law school. During his 2L year, members of the University’s Gay Straight Alliance approached Derek regarding several transgender student who needed help changing their identification documents. Derek was moved to create a service for his community that would help transgender individuals change their identification documents to match their gender identities. The Gender Marker Clinic was born, and in May had its first successful gender marker change. Derek is not only part of this community, but he is part of creating positive change for those around him.

One of Derek’s recommenders aptly summed him up this way: “In addition to a passion for service, Derek has true courage. He continually speaks out for the voiceless and champions the rights of the vulnerable. He never compromises his principles, but works to ensure that all individuals involved in a situation are heard and respected.”

Lilah Thompson

Temple University Beasley School of Law

The highlight of Lilah’s career at Temple Law was her creation, single-handedly, of a participatory workshop that simulates life as a refugee.  This community education event, called Between Borders: A Refugee Simulation, was held in March. Lilah, who recruited twenty-four volunteers to run the project under her direction, sought to change the narrative about how we view “the other.” Between Borders depicted five stages of the refugee experience: persecution, fleeing to and living in a refugee camp, the resettlement process, life in the Unites States, and becoming a U.S. citizen. Nearly sixty participants placed themselves in “the shoes of a refugee” in order to gain understanding of the refugee experience.  In the discussions afterward, many people were already beginning to talk about creative solutions to the problem of stigmatization, and explore other ways they could provide help to their refugee community.

One of Lilah’s collaborators explained the impact this way: “This exceptionally comprehensive, thorough, and impactful program was a feat of organization. Given the state of public discourse around refugees, it was also a crucial intervention both for participants and for other Philadelphia residents who learned about the simulation from news coverage. Lilah worked tirelessly to ensure that every detail of the simulation was as compelling and accurate as possible, and succeeded at creating a model workshop.”

OTHER FINALISTS

Sahar Moazami, Fordham University School of Law

In just two years devoted more than 1,000 hours to volunteering and creating pro bono opportunities for others.

Nadia Anguiano-Wehde, University of Minnesota Law School

Developed an alternate spring break trip to Texas to the Dilley family detention center.

Sean Brucker, Maurice A. Dean School of Law at Hofstra University 

Served the Korean American community through grassroots organizing, education and advocacy that addresses immigration policies.

John Bruning, University of Minnesota Law School

Created an alternate spring break trip to the Dilley family detention center and launched the Law School’s chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.

Tristen Edwards, New York University School of Law

Worked tirelessly to combat systems of excessive punishments and to seek alternatives.

Michael Ludvik, Texas Tech University School of Law

Worked with veterans, children, and the homeless, and creating and implementing Paul’s Project.

Monica Valencia, University of San Francisco School of Law

Assisted the immigrant community, especially through her volunteer project with Justice Now.

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

Happy Friday! Registration is closing soon for the 2016 NALP/PSJD Public Service Mini-Conference. Register now! And as we will be sharing our news with you in person next week, the Digest will return on November 4th.

Here are the week’s headlines:

• PACER fees face major legal test;
• D.C. Council to consider free legal help for poor residents in housing cases;
• USC Gould launches new public interest law certificate;
• Check in with Washington’s Limited-License Legal Technician program;
• The Utah Indigent Defense Commission hires executive director;
• Florida Access to Civil Justice Commission re-established;
• The U.S. should have a Defender General;
• Fordham University School of Law launches new access to justice initiative;
• Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants;
• Super Music Bonus!

The summaries:

October 14, 2016 – “The paywall that surrounds Pacer (Public Access to Court Electronic Records), an online database of papers filed by litigants in the US federal courts, is facing what may be its most serious test since the service emerged 28 years ago. Judge Ellen Huvelle of the US district court in Washington DC is expected to decide in the coming days whether a lawsuit accusing the government of setting Pacer fees at unlawfully high rates can proceed. The case, which is seeking class-action certification, is being led by three nonprofits: the National Veterans Legal Service Program, the National Consumer Law Center, and the Alliance for Justice. Each group says it has downloaded documents from Pacer and incurred charges alleged to exceed the cost of providing the records. All say the setup violates the E-Government Act of 2002, which authorizes the judiciary to ‘prescribe reasonable fees’—and which the plaintiffs argue should limit the government to charge users ‘only to the extent necessary’ to make the information available.” “The Appropriations Committee has not commented on the lawsuit. Nor has the Administrative Office or the US Department of Justice (DOJ), which is defending the case. But in court papers asking Huvelle to dismiss the lawsuit, the DOJ contends that the policies governing use of Pacer obligate users who think they have been billed in error to first request a refund from Pacer’s service center, an assertion that at least one federal court has rejected. The plaintiffs counter that the lawsuit has nothing to do with billing errors, but rather that the fees themselves are too high.” (Quart)

October 14, 2016 – “The D.C. Council is considering legislation that would provide free legal counsel to low-income tenants in certain housing cases, including evictions, housing code violations and rental subsidy program issues. The bill, written by council member Kenyan R. McDuffie (D-Ward 5), would create a funding stream for the D.C. Bar Foundation, the nonprofit group that provides most legal aid to D.C. residents involved in civil cases. Under McDuffie’s plan, the D.C. Bar Foundation would administer grants for lawyers to represent tenants with incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty line. The council’s Judiciary Committee, chaired by McDuffie, will hold a hearing on the bill Wednesday.” “The legislation is part of McDuffie’s ultimate goal of establishing a ‘right to counsel’ in all civil cases in the District. Just as indigent criminal defendants are entitled to free legal help, low-income residents should be provided no-cost lawyers for a range of legal disputes, McDuffie said.” (Washington Post)

October 17, 2016 – “USC Gould School of Law is offering a new Public Interest Law certificate for students with social justice aspirations and interest in working in the non-profit or government sectors after graduating. Gould students will hone their skills by choosing an organized set of courses exposing them to important areas of nonprofit and government law, taking on an in-depth writing project, and working on real-world problems through clinics, practicum courses or externships.” (PR Newswire)

October 17, 2016 – “Those who cannot afford a lawyer have a new resource in Clallam County in the form of Vanessa Ridgway, the first limited-license legal technician to practice on the North Olympic Peninsula. She is only the 17th such technician in the state. Ridgway was sworn in to the Washington State Bar Association as an LLLT last Wednesday. ‘It is very exciting for me to be a pioneer in this field, and it’s also very rewarding,’ Ridgway said Friday. ‘I have always had a desire to help others find justice.’ Washington is the first state in the country to offer the services of LLLTs — intended as an affordable legal support option to help meet the needs of those unable to afford the services of an attorney, according to the state bar association. The state Supreme Court, with help from the state bar association, created the category of limited-license legal technician in 2015. LLLTs are trained and licensed to advise and assist people going through divorce, child custody and other family law matters in Washington.” (Peninsula Daily News)

October 17, 2016 – “The Utah Indigent Defense Commission announces that Joanna E. Landau has been hired as its Executive Director. Ms. Landau is highly qualified, and brings her experience as a public defender with the Salt Lake Legal Defenders Association, where she worked for several years representing indigent criminal defendants on appeal to the Utah Supreme Court and Utah Court of Appeals. She also assisted many trial court judges while working as an attorney in the Third District Court. Pursuant to legislation sponsored by Utah State Senator Todd Weiler and passed in the 2016 General Session, Ms. Landau will work with the Commission and local governments to assist the state in meeting its obligations to provide assistance of counsel to indigent defendants, consistent with the state and federal Constitutions and the Utah Code. To fulfill that obligation, the legislation tasks the Commission with many duties, including the development of guiding principles to assess and oversee indigent criminal defense services in the state, and using legislatively-appropriated funds to make grants to local governments to assist them in providing constitutional indigent defense services. Creation of the Commission was recommended after a multi-year study of indigent defense services in Utah, conducted by a Task Force of prosecutors, defense lawyers, judges, local government representatives and legislators. The 11 voting members of the Commission were appointed by Governor Herbert and confirmed by the Senate over the summer. With Ms. Landau on board, the Commission can begin its work.” (Utahpolicy.com)

October 17, 2016 – “On Tuesday, Chief Justice Jorge Labarga signed an eight-page administrative order that re-established the Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice as one of the court’s standing committees. Formed in November 2014, the commission expired June 30. Thousands of Floridians struggling to make ends meet, including many residents with moderate incomes, still face barriers when they seek access to civil justice, Labarga said when he signed the order. So the work to bring down those barriers must continue, he added. The permanent commission will ‘study the remaining unmet civil legal needs of disadvantaged, low income and moderate income Floridians,’ the order states. The order directs the commission to examine the issue from all perspectives and consider the viewpoints of all entities involved in civil justice, including staffed legal aid programs, pro bono services, resources provided to help people who choose to — or must — represent themselves, technology solutions and ‘other models and potential innovations.’ Labarga will chair the 23-member commission through mid-2018. West Palm Beach attorney Gregory Coleman, a past president of The Florida Bar, will serve as chair of the commission’s executive committee.” (Daily Record)

October 19, 2016 – Dean Andrea D. Lyon of Valparaiso University Law School makes an excellent case for a Defender General, along the lines of the U.S. Attorney General and Solicitor General. “There has been no voice at the policy table for the accused, incarcerated and paroled. We have an attorney general of the United States. We have a solicitor general of the United States. The only lawyer that is enshrined in the United States Constitution is referenced in the Sixth Amendment: ‘In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to … the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.’ Yet, the defense is not, and has not been a part of policy decisions regarding criminal justice matters. There is currently no office to represent criminal justice interests at the executive level the way that the attorney general does.” (Indiana Lawyer)

October 19, 2016 – “Judges from along the Eastern seaboard convene at Fordham University School of Law Wednesday night for a discussion on the intersection between civil and criminal access to justice and how to better handle the overlapping deficiencies in both systems. The panel marked the launch of the law school’s new access to justice initiative and the relocation of the National Center for Access to Justice—an independent nonprofit that utilizes data to improve the justice system—to Fordham from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. The center had been housed at Cardozo for the past five years.” (New York Law Journal)(subscription required)

Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants:

Foley Hoag LLP pro bono managing attorney Rebecca Cazabon is the recipient of the 2016 MAHA Leadership Award, given by the Massachusetts Association of Hispanic Attorneys (MAHA). Cazabon is being recognized for her longstanding advocacy in promoting social justice for victims of domestic and sexual violence, as well as her dedication and commitment on behalf of the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable. As managing attorney for Foley Hoag’s pro bono program, Cazabon coordinates and oversees all pro bono work for the firm and facilitates pro bono training initiatives. She also represents low-income domestic violence and sexual assault survivors in abuse prevention, immigration, privacy, housing, criminal advocacy and appellate matters. Congratulations! (Foley Hoag News)

Music Bonus!  Music pick from the PSJD Fellow Delisa Morris.