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Access to Justice for the indigent through volunteer participation in 2007
Legal Aid
of NorthWest Texas
Equal Justice
Volunteer Program
2007 BRANCH
OFFICE GOALS
ABILENE
Lupe
Elizondo, Coordinator
Increase Attorney
participation by contacting those attorneys who are not enrolled in our pro bono
or reduced fee programs. This will be accomplished by various methods of
correspondence available (letter, email, fax, Texas Lawyers Care, etc.) This
goal is a carryover from 2006 because it was only partially completed in 2006.
Projected Date to Accomplish: December 2007.
Increase number of
non-family cases accepted by pro bono attorneys by asking for and seeking cases
that are proper for pro bono placement during intake. Again, this is a
carryover goal from 2006. The increase in non-family cases was very minimal in
2006. Projected Accomplish Date: December 2007.
Increase the number of
cases and pro bono hours contributed by our volunteers. This will be
accomplished by requesting that the Managing Attorney assign more cases to the
EJVP for placement. Projected Accomplish Date: December 2007.
The other goal that was
not accomplished in 2006 and will carryover into 2007 goal is to expand CLE
videos. The goal is still to show the videos in Brownwood, however, the goal
now is to hold the videos quarterly instead of monthly. Projected Accomplish
Date: July 2007.
The last goal is to hold a
meeting of the Pro Bono Advisory Board. The Board has been inactive and needs
to meet to determine what direction it will take. Projected Accomplish Date:
July 2007.
AMARILLO
Luisa Vigil,
Coordinator
Implement pro-se divorce
clinics to be held, possibly-quarterly – proposed to be begin by March, 2007.
Continue holding periodic
clinics/workshops in the client community beginning around April/May, 2007.
Implement monthly MCLE
Videotape showings for attorney recruitment beginning January, 2007.
Continue working close
with the bar association in an attempt to recruit new attorneys.
Hold more specialty
clinics in Amarillo and in the rural counties-at least 2-3 i(May and August,
2007.
Re-visit law firms in
hopes of not only recruiting new attorneys and lay advocates, but in hopes they
can begin sponsoring quarterly legal clinics beginning around February, 2007.
DALLAS
Sara Hewitt, Managing Attorney
To further
support and enhance the cooperative and collaborative efforts already in place
with the Dallas Bar Association and its specialty sections and specialty bars.
Ongoing goal.
To further
support and enhance the cooperative and collaborative efforts already in place
with the Housing Crisis Center and other area legal and public service
providers. Ongoing goal.
To continue the
recruitment, training and retention of minority and bi-lingual or multi-lingual
attorneys to assist those minority and ethnic constituencies in the low-income
community. Ongoing goal.
To develop new
program models or components in specialty areas like estate planning,
guardianship and bankruptcy to attract volunteers and support them in the
delivery of civil legal services to the low-income community. To continue
improving and expanding the following projects with respective community
partners: estate planning, guardianship and bankruptcy.
To maintain a
committed and productive volunteer base by providing mentoring support and
recognition opportunities for each and every volunteer working with DVAP in the
pursuit of delivering high quality civil legal services to the low-income
community. Ongoing goal.
To assess the
Hurricane Relief outreach component and begin the process of scaling back this
component commensurate with the funding available.
DENTON
Glenda Hill, Coordinator
Continue development and
implementation of a Pro Se Divorce clinic. Quarterly (This goal
was not accomplished in 2006, but is carried over to
2007;
Conduct outreach in rural
counties to recruit volunteer attorneys. Quarterly
Make quarterly trips to
rural counties and make EJVP presence known with local organizations providing
services to lower income population. Quarterly
Promote Project VCR by
sending invitation letters to attorneys in our service area not already included
on our email referral panel. Beginning January, ongoing thereafter
Continue the evening legal
clinics in rural counties. Ongoing
Recruit volunteer
attorneys, paralegals and lay volunteers to increase client services.
Ongoing
FORT WORTH
Ellena
Simmons, Coordinator
Continue legal clinic program and recruitment of volunteers to serve as a tool
to meet the need of low income communities. Ongoing
Continue to support the Tarrant County Bar Association’s Legalline program by
referring individuals to the Advice only
service via phone and distributing Legalline cards. Ongoing
Continue to work with LANWT Resource Development and Dee Kelly, Jr. Of Kelly,
Hart, & Hallman to involve large
law firms in Tarrant County in fundraising and pro bono effort. February
2007
Continue use of technology
to communicate and interact with the legal community, recruit attorney and lay
volunteers. Also continue to refer cases via email for VCR and Pro Bono
projects. Ongoing
Maintain relationship with Texas Wesleyan Law School as a recruitment tool for
clinic program, partner with pro bono
attorneys, accepting pro bono cases through the law clinic, and securing site
for substantive law seminars. Ongoing,
Seminar March 2007
Schedule Pro Bono Awards event to honor volunteers. Will try to secure large
law firms, businesses and corporations to
co-sponsor or underwrite cost of luncheon. December
Establish Women Advocacy event to honor outstanding women in Tarrant County.
Will secure items from businesses,
private citizens, and corporations for silent auction to raise funds, and make
donations to underwrite costs of event.
Hope to make this an annual event. May 2007
If laptops and portable are secured for FW-EJV, will establish one day Will
clinic in specified locations for low income
senior citizens housed in senior complexes, residential facilities and nearby
community centers. This will give pro bono
attorneys registered for the pro bono challenge an opportunity to fulfill their
commitment for 10 hours of pro bono
service. April 2007
Re-energize commitment of
the Parker County and Palo Pinto County Bar Associations to staff the legal
clinics and accept pro bono and reduced fee cases. Ongoing
To secure funding for a
two day Family Law Seminar to recruit at least 60 private attorneys to accept
120 pro bono family law cases. Funds for Social Security Seminar will be
secured if need for private attorneys to handle Social Security cases arises.
We will track social security cases that come through the EJVP department to
make determination. Family Law Seminar March 2007
Will continue to promote the pro se divorce clinic to eventually establish this
clinic as a tool to assist qualified clients in
the divorce process. Ongoing Process.
LUBBOCK
Nancy Mojica, Coordinator
Beginning January 2007
I will work closely with the following organizations in our cooperation efforts
to provide high quality legal services to low-income eligible people through the
legal clinics:
a) Lubbock County Bar Association
b) Specialty Bar Associations;
c) Law firms; and
d) Social Service agencies
Beginning January 2007
I will start the evening legal clinics in and around our surrounding counties.
Continued the “Wills
Clinic” in conjunction with the Texas Tech University School of Law Clinical
Program. This will be held either in September or October 2007 at
the time the law school starts their fall classes.
Projected date for Minimum Continuing Legal Education videotapes will be
February 2007.
Beginning January 2007,
continue with the Pro Bono Model in Lubbock County and the Reduced Fee
Model in our surrounding counties and I will attempt more pro bono participation
in the rural counties.
McKINNEY
Jan Kearney, Coordinator
Goals to increase the
delivery of effective and cost-efficient legal services for eligible clients
includes continued recruitment of private attorney pro bono services through
mail, email, and phone contacts, collaborative partnerships with the local Bar
Association(s) and other public service providers. This is an ongoing effort
that will be worked on continually through out the year with no specific end
date.
A Family Law MCLE is
scheduled to be presented to the Frisco office of Strasburger & Price in late
2006. The speaker is a board certified family law attorney from Frisco. November
or December, 2006.
MIDLAND
Pete Fierro, Coordinator
The establishment of clinics quarterly for the counties of Glasscock, Martin,
Reagan and Upton Counties. The Managing Attorney and EJVP Coordinator in late
2006 will drive to various proposed locations for clinics. With legal clinics
already established in Howard at the Northside Community Center, clinics will
continue each month starting January 2007. The Midland Branch office
must be streamlined with other LANWT branch offices with number of clinics
offered. A second proposed clinic is being thought of for Howard County at the
old courthouse to offer private attorneys a chance for CLE viewing in one of the
rooms in the old Courthouse. The second clinic to be held at the Howard
County Indigent Office will begin on January 2007.
A Basic Landlord Tenant Clinic to be held in 2007 for the purpose of purpose of
informing the indigent of their rights regarding landlord tenant relations. A
proposed date is March 2007.
A wills clinic to be held in Midland County in 2007. The goal would be to get
private attorneys to draft the wills for clients on sight. The first clinic
will be on April 2007.
With the new bankruptcy law changed in 2005, more information is needed to
inform the public of changes in the law with regard to filing for Chapter 7.
Half day seminar on bankruptcy is also proposed.
On top of the half day devoted to Bankruptcy, the other half day session would
consist of consumer rights/creditor harassment. We intend to combine the two
above mentioned into a day long session in June 2007). There are no evening
clinics in June.
Elder Law seminar for 2007. All day presentation involving both clients and
private attorneys in durable power of attorney, medical power of attorney,
directive to physicians, do not resuscitate orders and the need for wills-brief
discussion for the need for one, the pits falls of intestate succession.
Proposed date is July 2007.
In 2005 and 2006 and EEOC presentation was conducted. Another EEOC clinic for
the general public is the planning stages for 2007. Topics to include employment
discrimination claims, the process to go about reporting them and if the EEOC
does not decide to prosecute what steps clients can take to prosecute. Assuming
we can obtain the services of the EEOC from Dallas, a tentative date is going to
be August 2007).
Continue with working with media outreach, both in radio, print and television.
In order for these clinics or presentations to work, PSA must be done and done
frequent to have turn outs that are well above expectations in the past. This
will be ongoing to allow LANWT-EJVP Program of activities planned for each month
of 2007.
Pro Se Clinics will be held starting in February 2007 and will run the same
length as the evening clinics. (February-October 2007)
NAACP JUSTICE PROJECT
Rosa Turner, Coordinator
To establish 2 new
discrimination legal clinics that will be held in English and Spanish low-income
neighborhoods in an effort to increase client services.
This goal is carry over from 2006. Projected date to complete June 2007.
Continue quarterly Pro
Bono Advisory Board meetings that will be utilized to help promote the Justice
Project and its efforts to provide services to clients with discrimination
problems. March, June, September, and December 2007. This
goal is carry over from 2006. Calendar to be set at first meeting.
Establish a Pro Bono
Volunteer Board for discrimination cases that may have merit. May 2007
Continue to attend the
monthly Minority Leaders & Citizens Council, Black Woman Lawyers Association of
Tarrant County and the Tarrant County Bar Association meetings to recruit
volunteers to staff the legal clinics. Ongoing
Continue existing
discrimination legal clinics at the Diamond Hill Community Center, Shiloh
Missionary Baptist Church, Cobb Park Center, North Tri-Ethnic Community Center,
Eugene McCray Community Center, Martin Luther
King Community Center,
Como Community Center, New Mt. Calvary Baptist Clinic, Hillside Community Clinic
and Lulac District XXI Center. Ongoing
Continue to partnerships
with Tarrant County EEOC and HUD in an effort to promote and expand services to
applicants with discrimination issues. Ongoing
Continue to attend
Mexican-American Bar and recruit Hispanic attorneys for clinic. Ongoing
Recruited 2 Hispanic attorneys
ODESSA
Michelle Galindo, Coordinator
Continue to work with the
existing Pro Bono Advisory Board and recruit new committee members to further
craft the local pro bono effort. (The first meeting is set for November 2006
with meetings to follow every quarterly in 2007 starting January 2007).
Pro Bono Awards have been
scheduled with collaboration of the new Ector County Bar President for
February 8 2007.
Wills-Estate Clinic for
the Odessa Branch office service area. (Advertise in the Odessa American as well
as using the print media to reach the other counties such as Andrews, Crane,
Loving, Ward and Winkler. (This will be held in the June 2007 since
there are no evening clinics planned for June 2007).
Landlord-Tenant Clinic for
the Odessa Branch office area. Again using the media to reach the counties that
fall under the Odessa Branch office. (Andrews, Crane, Loving, Ward and Winkler
counties.) (July –August 2007 in Odessa and then to follow in other counties
as time in 2007 permits).
Hold monthly CLE to
continue in January 2007 for the recruitment of new private attorneys.
Continue to contact with
other service agencies in the Odessa service area to encourage collaboration
between the various agencies. (Ongoing throughout the year. A strong
recruitment to start in late 2006 and carry over to January 2007 to get more non
profit and other business sectors on our pro bono advisory board).
Continue to work with the
local media (newspaper, radio and television) to get the word out about our
office and our services as well as special events. (Ongoing through out the
year. Carry over from 2006, PSA to encourage more clients to apply for our
services and more private attorneys to take pro bono cases. Monitor newspapers
each week to see if PSA’s are being mentioned in the Odessa American Community
Calendar).
Continue to work in the rural communities to recruit more private attorneys in
the rural areas. (DH and PF are working to get subscriptions to local
newspapers for counties that the Odessa LANWT office services. 1.) It allows us
to know what is going on each county 2) Allow to spread the word of how to apply
for LANWT services and for recruitment of pro bono attorneys.
PLAINVIEW
Luisa Vigil,
Coordinator
Continue holding periodic clinics/workshops in the client community at least 2-3
times a year beginning February, 2007.
Hold monthly MCLE
Videotape showings for attorney recruitment to accept pro bono cases and
volunteer at legal clinics beginning January, 2007.
Continue working close
with the bar association in an attempt to recruit new attorneys.
Implement additional
specialty clinics quarterly beginning February or March of 2007.
Re-visit law firms in
hopes of not only recruiting new attorneys and lay advocates, but in hopes they
can begin sponsoring quarterly legal clinics beginning sometime in February or
March of 2007.
Work with Pro Bono
Advisory Board to help identify and implement a fundraising event by holding
quarterly meetings beginning sometime in March, 2007.
Continue contacting more
attorneys on my list who are signed to accept pro bono cases, but have not
accepted a case in the past year.
Continue to attend monthly
local bar meetings (when possible).
SAN ANGELO
Tonnie
Robbins, Coordinator
To keep increasing the
number or private attorneys in our service area, both pro bono and reduced fee
to accept cases. Ongoing
To re-visit existing panel
attorneys who are on either panel, but have not accepted a case in the last 12
months to re-recruit them. January, 2007
To get our advisory board more active with new board members and attempt to get
more participation in our program
by using the board in that area. Quarterly, beginning January, 2007
Attempt to have a fund-raising event involving local attorneys, as well as
attorneys in our outlying service area. March,
2007
Increase private attorney involvement by visiting the offices of new attorneys
who have located to our service area and
revisit existing attorneys who are on our Pro Bono and Reduced Fee panels.
Ongoing beginning January, 2007
Increase the visibility of the Branch EJV Program in the rural communities of
our service area by making personal contact with those attorneys. Beginning January, 2007 and ongoing thereafter.
Recruit more attorneys to participate in Project VCR by sending out invitation
letters to attorneys in our service area not
already included on our panel. Ongoing
Implement an Advice Only
Clinic and a Pro Se Divorce Clinic in San Saba to assist those individuals who
cannot travel to McCulloch where there is a once a month intake in that town.
Visit with attorneys there in November, 2006 and hold the first clinic in March,
2007
Recruit an attorney that
would be willing to sit every other month at the existing Advice Only Clinic
held in McCulloch County in an effort to increase statistical numbers for Advice
Only/Brief Service cases. Beginning January, 2007 and continuing every other
month throughout the year.
WAXAHACHIE
Sharon-Ann Demaske, Coordinator
Ellis County:
Recruit more attorneys to
accept pro bono cases. (ongoing)
Find new location for clinic in Waxahachie and get clinic started again. (end
of first quarter 2007)
Find a location for a pro bono clinic in Ennis, Texas and get a clinic started.
(end of second quarter 2007)
Kaufman County:
Recruit more attorneys to accept pro bono cases. (ongoing)
Continue Pro Se Divorce clinics. (one per month)
WICHITA FALLS
Linda Gomez,
Coordinator
Accept as many
priority cases in all of the 12 counties in the Wichita Falls Service area.
Ongoing
Maintain and
recruit new attorneys to accept pro bono cases and staff legal clinics.
Ongoing goal.
Offer free CLE
credits thru in house monthly video showings Monthly.
Co-sponsor a
domestic violence seminar with the Coalition for Family Violence, First Step,
Inc, and the District Attorneys Office. Live presentations will be offered and
attorneys attending will receive free CLE credits. October
Target outreach
and recruitment efforts in all our twelve (12) county service area.
Quarterly
Attend health
fairs in offering counties. Implement community education activities in all
counties by calling local courthouses, schools, community outreach services,
etc. to speak about LANWT services available. A volunteer attorney will be
present to speak on various subjects, such as wills, probate, or general family
issues. April and November
Maintain two
monthly legal clinics and start a weekly day or evening clinic in Wichita
County. Ongoing goal for established clinics. January for weekly clinic
and ongoing.
Continue to honor
outstanding pro bono attorneys with an award recognition event each year.
April
Continue to work
with all media sources and the local bar association. Ongoing goal.
YOUR FEEDBACK IS IMPORTANT
GREETINGS…
Please take a few minutes to review and comment on Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas
Equal Justice Volunteer Program 2007 Work Plan. We would greatly appreciate
your response by WEDNESDAY-December 6, 2006. Comments received will be reported
at the December 9, 2006 LANWT Board of Directors Meeting.
Feedback received from our volunteer partners and stakeholders will enable us to
further tailor and develop a comprehensive 2007 Pro Bono Plan that addresses
“access to justice for the poor through volunteer participation” in
each of our 14 branch office service areas. Please email, fax, or mail your
response to:
Kathy D. Duncan, Director-Pro Bono & Bar Relations
Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas
2212 Arlington Downs Road, Suite 102
Arlington, Texas 76011-6301
Fax: (817) 649-4759 - EMAIL:
duncank@lanwt.org
1. What did you find
MOST USEFUL in our PAI Plan?
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