Winter 2017

Legal Delivery

LRIS: From the Chair

By Elisia Frazier, Standing Committee on Lawyer Referral and Information Services

With the new year comes the addition of a new member to the Lawyer Referral community. ABA Staff Counsel Tori Jo Wible joins the LRIS family following in the footsteps of Jane Nosbisch, former Senior Staff Counsel to the Standing Committee on Lawyer Referral Services. Tori Jo not only will serve the LRIS Standing Committee and LRIS programs nationwide, but also will continue to serve as Chief Counsel to the Standing Committee on Group and Prepaid Legal Services and the Indigent Defense Advisory Group.

Legal Delivery

What's New at LRSconnect

By Ken Matejka

For those who may not be aware, LRSconnect.org is an online directory of all nonprofit lawyer referral programs in the United States. It is organized as a 501c3 nonprofit and its mission is to provide legal consumers with high-quality legal information about managing the attorney-client relationship, as well as quick and easy information about lawyer referral services in their community.

Legal Delivery

Implementing a Strategic Plan for Your LRIS

By Carole Conn

For both short term and long term success of your LRIS, developing a road map or strategic plan that blends the vision for your program with timed objectives can be a critically useful tool to define the direction of your LRIS. A strategic plan can help enhance your credibility with your internal constituencies, such as your executive director and governing committee, and allow you to readily communicate why certain activities make sense.

IOLTA

IOLTA: From the Chair

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

As 2017 unfolds, it appears likely that the provision of civil legal services will face greater uncertainty and challenges under the new U.S. presidential administration than our community has seen in quite some time. These circumstances highlight how critical our semiannual gatherings are now, more than ever.

IOLTA

Grantee Spotlight: One Baltimore for Jobs

By Deb Seltzer

Community redevelopment in low-income neighborhoods often means focusing on the specific needs of individual residents and working to improve their educational and employment outcomes. But for those residents with legal issues, job opportunities can be slim. Criminal records, lack of transportation, debt, and other problems pose major barriers to gaining and keeping stable employment.

IOLTA

The Future Is Here

By Hon. Lora Livingston and Linda Rexer

In February 2015, the authors were part of an IOLTA workshop panel on the legal futurism movement. Two others joined us: William Hubbard, Past ABA President who, in 2014, appointed the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Services; and Wayne Robertson, Executive Director of the Law Foundation of British Columbia. Mr. Hubbard talked about the legal profession being at an inflection point, as the way lawyers work is changing fundamentally.

IOLTA

News and Notes

New IOLTA Program Directors in Kentucky and Michigan and South Dakota converts to mandatory IOLTA program with rule amendment

Pro Bono

Pro Bono: From the Chair

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

Recently, friends have sent me scholarly articles on the issue of whether lawyers matter. That is to say, these articles discuss the issue of whether pro bono representation of clients really changes the lives of the clients for the better.

Immigration

Refusing to Leave Child Immigrants to Chance

By Sharon E. Goldsmith, Esq.

So claims one of the Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland’s (PBRC) volunteer lawyers, Denise Ferguson, a solo practitioner and frequent volunteer with PBRC’s Unaccompanied Children Pro Bono Project (UAC Project). She could not be more emphatic about the importance of the UACP work. Yet, the window of opportunity to assist these children to permanently escape the ravages of their home, including gang violence and parental abandonment, abuse, and neglect may be closing.

Pro Bono

Q&A with Heena Musabji

Heena Musabji, Interim co-Executive Director at Pro Bono Network

Pro Bono Network enables attorneys, who are no longer in the traditional legal workplace, to participate in legal aid volunteer work by giving their time and receiving valuable skills, all while creating access to legal assistance for those in need.

Access to Justice

Seeking Nominations for the 2017 Harrison Tweed Award

The ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association are seeking nominations for the 2017 Harrison Tweed Award.