Summer 2016

IOLTA

IOLTA: From the Chair

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

In early August, I joined my fellow members of the ABA Commission on IOLTA for several productive days in San Francisco, where the Commission’s summer business meeting was held, in conjunction with the Summer 2016 IOLTA Workshops and ABA Annual Meeting.

IOLTA

Grantee Spotlight | Texas Legal Services Center’s Parenting Order Legal Line

By Kimberly Schmitt

In Texas, an estimated 1.6 million children are being raised by a single mom or dad. Like many states, the Office of Attorney General (OAG) is charged with collecting child support to secure the economic security of children who rely on this support. But the OAG is prohibited from enforcing custody or visitation rights and answering the many questions that accompany this process.

IOLTA

News and Notes

New Cy Pres Rules/Statutes for Legal Aid and Proposed Amendments to Virgin Islands IOLTA Rule

Legal Delivery

LRIS: From the Chair

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

Our lives are dominated by technology. It seems as if every action we take involves technology of some kind. As a high school and college student, I never imagined that my life—personally and professionally—would be driven by technology.

Legal Delivery

Growing a Small LRS Program: A Case Study of the New Haven LRS

By Kiernan Michau

When I joined the New Haven County Bar Association and took charge of its Lawyer Referral Service a few years ago, I had very little experience with the legal field. My background focused on communications and nonprofit management, so I was immediately intrigued by the unique challenge that all LRS staff face in operating a successful program: as a fee-generating program operating on a nonprofit budget, how does LRS effectively serve both clients and attorneys, then communicate that service to the wider community?

Legal Delivery

LRS Branding in a Noisy Marketplace

By Seth Chavez

For as long as the marketplace for goods and services has existed, branding has been a factor. Things started moving briskly for mass communication and branding with the printing press. Now—about 600 years later—like our predecessors in the marketplace, lawyer referral services need to discover effective communication and branding solutions in an especially noisy marketplace for legal services.

Pro Bono

Pro Bono: From the Chair

By George (Buck) T. Lewis, Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service

Pro bono lawyers are my heroes. It always warms my heart to listen to them talk about why they derive joy from doing pro bono work. These are my favorite reasons.

Pro Bono

Doing Better Work by Working Better Together: Law Firms and Legal Services Surveyed on Successes and Challenges of the Pro Bono Relationship

By Brenna DeVaney, Jennifer Colyer, and Annie Pineda

On a mission to do more pro bono in the most effective way, we set out to survey and analyze what works and what doesn’t when legal services, nonprofit, and public defender organizations collaborate with law firms on pro bono. We set our sights high and tried to investigate and uncover both basic, day-to-day issues and systemic challenges.

Pro Bono

Transforming Lives Through Pro Bono

By Monika Kalra Varma

The District of Columbia has one of the highest poverty rates in the United States, with one of every three children living in poverty and unemployment rates as high as 14% in some neighborhoods. The D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center serves our community by providing pro bono legal services to individuals, nonprofits, and small businesses.

Access to Justice

2016 Harrison Tweed Award Winner

The District of Columbia Bar was presented with the 2016 Harrison Tweed Award during the ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco for the long-term excellence of its Pro Bono Center. This award, created in 1956, recognizes the extraordinary achievements of state and local bar associations that develop or significantly expand projects or programs to increase access to civil legal services for those living in poverty or criminal defense services for indigents.