Spring 2016

Pro Bono

Pro Bono: From the Chair

By Mary K. Ryan, Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service

Each year since 1984, the Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service has presented awards to individuals or organizations in the legal profession that have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to volunteer legal services for the poor and disadvantaged.

Pro Bono

Virtual Clinics for Online Pro Bono Help: Hurdling Barriers to Pro Bono

By Monica A. Fennell

The online free legal help website created by the Indiana Pro Bono Commission, Indiana Legal Answers, holds much promise for leveraging attorney resources in urban centers to help the rural poor. It was designed not only to eliminate barriers to accessing pro bono, but also barriers to doing pro bono. But that promise remained largely unfulfilled until recently.

IOLTA

IOLTA: From the Chair

By Hon. James S. Hill, Commission on Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts

On April 30, members of the Commission on IOLTA gathered in Salt Lake City, Utah for its regular business meeting and to discuss the latest developments in access to justice.

IOLTA

Grantee Spotlight | Client Empowerment through Access to Justice

By Milo Mumgaard and Annette Farnan

Getting a good job and supporting a family can be hard. It is even harder if you are saddled with legal barriers holding you back. Too many people face these problems needing legal help, but lack the financial resources to hire an attorney. These people can then find themselves stuck in the cyclical rut of poverty-related legal issues, preventing them from getting back on their feet.

IOLTA

Lessons Learned (So Far) from Establishing a Nonprofit Technology Center: The Florida Experience

By Joyce Raby

I wanted to take this opportunity to share with the IOLTA community our early lessons learned in starting a tech center. I hope if you are considering such an endeavor, you find this article useful.

IOLTA

News and Notes

New IOLTA Program Directors in South Carolina and Wyoming, NAIP Leadership Summit, and 2016 Summer IOLTA Workshops

Legal Delivery

LRIS: From the Chair

By C. Elisia Frazier, Standing Committee on Lawyer Referral and Information Service

This summer at the ABA’s annual meeting in August, the ABA Standing Committee on Lawyer Referral and Information Service will bring forward a resolution to protect the hundreds of thousands of conversations that take place over the telephone and web portals of LRS programs across the nation.

Legal Delivery

The Indispensible Asset of Building Strong Relationships

By Dana Rindahl

With the onslaught of legal services available online and information that is easily accessible for computer savvy legal customers, LRIS programs across the country are being challenged. What distinguishes an LRIS from the rest of the online directories and cheap, quick-answer services? Quite simply, the answer is relationships.

Legal Delivery

The Motivation Game

By Roseann S. Hiebert

As we all know, trying to maintain one’s sanity while working in a call center can be a challenge, even on the best of days. The following are a few suggestions to alleviate the stress and the frustrations of the work we do.