Fall 2017

Legal Delivery

LRIS: From the Chair

By Stephen Steinberg, Standing Committee on Lawyer Referral and Information Services

It was great seeing everyone at our annual workshop earlier this month, and I was pleased to present the initial results of our first ever comprehensive data study on the collective impact of lawyer referral services nationwide.

Legal Delivery

You Don’t Have to Struggle Alone! Two Programs That Help: The ABA’s Program of Assistance and Review and the ABA Lawyer Referral National Workshop

By Sheldon Warren and Carole Conn

If your program is facing challenges, the ABA offers two programs dedicated to helping you meet those challenges and build the most effective LRIS program possible. Even if your service is not struggling or facing major challenges, you can still avail yourself of these programs to take your service to the next level by learning about recommended "best practices" for working internally with your bar association leadership or externally with your panel attorneys and the public.

Legal Delivery

Learnings from the LRIS Annual Workshops

By Laurin' C. Roberts Thomas

I have been manager of the State Bar of Michigan Lawyer Referral Service for just over three years. As a first-time attendee of the ABA's Annual LRIS Workshop, I'd like to share with you my takeaways from the workshop.

Pro Bono

Pro Bono: From the Chair

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

It's Thanksgiving in America. In Austin, Texas, a mother of twins, we'll call her Hannah, juggles kindergarten homework while reviewing the questions and answers asked on ABA Free Legal Answers in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. She is thankful that the Texas Supreme Court allowed licensed lawyers from all over the country to perform pro bono work in Texas and marvels at the outpouring of support from lawyers throughout the United States.

Pro Bono

Medical-Legal Partnerships: Treating Legal Needs to Improve Health

By Joanna Theiss, J.D., LL.M. and Joel Teitelbaum, J.D., LL.M.

Ten years ago, the ABA passed a resolution in support of medical-legal partnerships (MLP), a nationwide movement to provide legal remedies for social conditions that negatively affect individual and population health. The ABA's encouragement of the MLP approach is consistent with its historic interest in access to justice for the most vulnerable individuals, and in line with research about the detrimental effects that social and environmental factors can have on a person's health.

Pro Bono

Everyone Counts: Taking a Snapshot of Self-Represented Litigants in Miami-Dade

Nancy Kinnally and Jessica Brown

Last spring, The Florida Bar Foundation found a creative way to engage lawyers in some very meaningful pro bono work when it undertook an initiative to take a snapshot of self-represented litigants in Miami-Dade County. The project, called Everyone Counts, invited volunteer attorneys to observe proceedings in multiple courthouses on a single day throughout the county to assess the experience of litigants appearing in court without a lawyer.

Pro Bono

Telling Their Stories: Pro Bono Heroes Are More Than Their Awards

By Steven B. Scudder, Committee Counsel, ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service

With the National Celebration of Pro Bono having just ended, I find myself thinking back to some of the pro bono heroes I've met recently: the recipients of the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono's 2017 ABA Pro Bono Publico Awards. As we see during each year's Celebration of Pro Bono, and throughout the year, there are a plethora of awards and recognitions offered at the national, statewide, local, and programmatic levels.

IOLTA

IOLTA: From the Chair

By Carolyn Witherspoon, Commission on Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts

As I begin my term as Chair of the Commission on IOLTA, I am honored to follow in the footsteps of Judge Jim Hill, with whom I had the great pleasure of working as a member of the commission for the past year. Under Jim's leadership, the commission continued its successful collaboration with the National Association of IOLTA Programs (NAIP) to provide critical training, technical assistance, and resources to state IOLTA programs.

IOLTA

Grantee Spotlight | Our Commitment to Survivors: Partners Overcoming Domestic Violence

By Susan A. Fontaine

The Partners Overcoming Domestic Violence (PODV) is an ongoing collaborative project providing direct representation by volunteer attorney/mentor/advocate teams who are committed to long-term legal solutions and safety nets that lead to stable lives for survivors of domestic violence.

IOLTA

From Current State to Future State: Business Process Analysis as a Tool for Funders

By Bridget Gernander, John Tull, and Ginny Agresti

IOLTA (Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts) funders are in a unique position to see the statewide civil legal aid delivery across programs. It can be daunting to know how to best use that information and influence to improve the access to justice system. This article provides one example of how business process analysis can be a tool for the big picture changes IOLTA program directors may be part of leading through their funding priorities and other initiatives.

IOLTA

News and Notes

Welcoming new commission members