NH Pro Bono Referral Program

Transcription

1 NH Pro Bono Referral Program Year-End IOLTA Report for FY Grant Award: $137,500 Submitted by: Virginia Martin, Director , Introduction It may seem ironic in some ways but Pro Bono is not free. While client services themselves are provided at no charge, it takes an adequately resourced infrastructure and staff to help assure the power of pro bono is harnessed and targeted to take on basic legal needs and issues impacting low-income people. Enter IOLTA funding. IOLTA is Pro Bono s main source of support, providing those crucial basic operating funds that help the Pro Bono keep dedicated staff on the payroll, the computers running and the lights on. Without this funding, Pro Bono would truly be in danger of shrinking to the point of losing its viability. We could not be more grateful for the strides IOLTA dollars allow Pro Bono to accomplish in making a difference for those living on the economic margins. Pro Bono s Leveraging Power Pro Bono s success stems from its effectiveness in leveraging the donated legal services of the private bar to give the needy and vulnerable access to legal representation. Volunteer attorneys are at the heart of Pro Bono s power power that is activated and engaged by Program staff. Marshalling, supporting, engaging and recognizing attorneys, staff work to galvanize this precious resource into lawyers for the poor. The staff is the link, the catalyst, connecting families and individuals in need of legal services with volunteer attorneys who can help. On the client side, staff members collect client information, review and prepare cases for referral, matching need with resources. Pro Bono case activity last year reached 1,822, benefitting 3,880 adults and children, with another 505 people receiving legal information and/or referral to other legal and/or social services. Volunteer attorneys donated thousands of hours of free legal services valued at close to $2 million annually three to four times our budget--to help the disadvantaged and vulnerable stabilize and improve their lives. The Investment in Pro Bono Pays Off There are hundreds of stories to tell of reclaimed dignity, improved lives, wrongs put right, rights established, economic stability secured and more. Here are a

2 few to illustrate the difference the Pro Bono investment accrues for those in need of help and hope when none seemed possible. A Perfect Storm: Bankruptcy, Foreclosure, Divorce Abandoned by her spouse of 32 years, Ms. P. was left needing a divorce, awash in debt and facing foreclosure on her home. Two Pro Bono attorneys from the same firm divided up the work, one handling the contested divorce with multiple hearings and a motion to reconsider, gaining much-needed alimony for the client. The other attorney took on the bankruptcy, filing an injunction to stop an imminent fore-closure and eventually getting the client s debts discharged through a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing. Ms. P. wrote that she totally did not expect all the help I got and is thrilled that her nightmare is over. Estate Planning and Advance Directives Can you help me? I feel so all alone. Mr. M., a disabled senior citizen contacted Pro Bono after a medical scare forced him to realize that he needed advance directives and a will in place. Faced with a life-threatening illness last winter, he turned to a sibling for help and was refused. Without friends or family support, not even an emergency contact person, he was terrified of being incapacitated with no one to advocate for him or to carry out his wishes should he die. His Pro Bono attorney helped him identify and contact persons to serve as Durable Power-of-Attorney and Healthcare Power-of-Attorney if needed. Other basic estate-planning documents were drawn up and executed, giving Mr. M. some much-needed peace of mind. There s No Place Like Home When her husband died, Ms. H was faced not only with grief at his passing but also the potential loss of her home. Her name was not on the mortgage; the bank would not communicate with her. Without her spouse s income, money was tight for her and her teenage daughter, leaving nothing to hire an attorney. She sought help at one of the Bar s Foreclosure Relief Project Home Retention Clinics where she met with one of the Bar s volunteer attorneys, who agreed to take her case through Pro Bono. The Pro Bono FRP attorney filed a motion to bring forward the estate of Ms. H s late husband and for Appointment of Executrix for Resolution of Debts as well as a Petition for Estate Administration. This enabled Ms. H to be appointed as Executrix of the estate, giving her authority to speak with the lender about the mortgage. As the result of these efforts, Ms. H can now pursue a loan modification and remain in her home with daughter.

3 Eviction A Rent-to-Own Nightmare I assumed having Pro Bono Services would mean I would get limited help, be treated poorly, and get substandard levels of attention and care. Working with you was exactly the opposite. You maintained constant communication, you acted as an educator to make sure I was confident, comfortable and informed the entire way through... I am confident that things will turn around for us, and when they do, the best I can offer you is that I will double my efforts to help others as a tribute to you and what you have done for [my] family. ( written by Pro Bono client to his volunteer attorney) Mr. and Mrs. G. and their children faced eviction from a home in which they had invested a good deal of time and funds, falling prey to a deceptive rent-to-own scheme. The home looked like a worthy investment at first--it sat on a large parcel of land with a barn for their horses and livestock. They entered a lease with an option-to-buy clause or deferred closing. Moving in, the reality of the property s condition soon became apparent. The home s furnace didn t work, the plumbing was woefully outdated and, on top of everything, the former tenant left mounds of garbage. Their lease only obligated them to handle general maintenance, but their landlord ignored their requests. Believing they would soon be the owners, they decided to make the repairs. As their alleged closing date approached, the family s hopes for ownership were dashed--probate issues precluded the landlord from selling. The landlord s attorney told them to stop paying rent while he figured things out. Then, months later, the family received an eviction notice and demand for back rent. They learned the landlord planned to move back into the house now that the property was fixed up. Handling the initial intake, the Legal Advice and Referral Center (LARC) sent the family s case to Pro Bono for possible placement with a volunteer attorney. Pro Bono worked with the client to prepare his case for referral, getting more detailed information and answering some of his basic questions. The client later wrote that the Pro Bono staff s Barbara Heggie s-- humanity and care shone through during what was a truly embarrassing moment in my life. After Barb strategized with an experienced volunteer, she located an attorney to take the case. The Pro Bono volunteer successfully negotiated a settlement eliminating any alleged rent owed and giving the clients time to relocate to other housing. Opening the Doors to Legal Access Direct Legal Services: Pro Bono matches low-income people with volunteer attorneys for advice, preparation of documents, limited

4 (unbundled) legal services, representation in court or before administrative bodies, and appellate advocacy. Our focus is on cases where legal intervention can make a real difference in the daily lives our clients. Case types include debt collection, bankruptcy, divorce, parenting, domestic violence, eviction defense, foreclosure, elder law and more. Legal Information/Other Resources: No one goes away empty-handed. From legal information to referrals to other sources of assistance, staff members point people in the right direction even if full services are not possible. We post legal and project information on the web. Staff perform outreach and training about our services and special topics--tax, domestic violence and foreclosure--for audiences including social service agencies, AmeriCorps volunteers, housing counselors and other groups. Innovative Services: Our program is a leader in developing and implementing new methods to enhance and expand opportunities for our clients to access legal services. Some examples include: o Holding local home retention clinics as part of our Foreclosure Relief Project at which volunteer attorneys provide free guidance and legal advice; o Expanding limited scope or unbundled services clinics for domestic violence victims in collaboration with NHLA and crisis centers; o Expanding our legal reach to unserved needs such as annulments of criminal records to help overcome barriers to employment, military service, and secondary education. o Forging partnerships such as with the Public Defenders Office and NH Vocational Rehabilitation to expand access for harder to reach clients, including veterans and people with criminal arrest records seeking to become contributing members of society. Improvements and Achievements Foreclosure Relief Project: We are in year two (of three) of this successful, innovative project funded by a National Mortgage Foreclosure Settlement Grant. We have designed and implemented a dynamic, full-scale approach to assist homeowners facing foreclosure or its aftermath with partners NHLA and LARC. Our Foreclosure Relief Project is a model for Pro Bono project structure and operations offering both volunteers and clients optimum support and services to maximize effectiveness. Attorneys receive comprehensive training and support mentoring, research assistance, practice updates, access to case decisions the project collects--thanks to the staffing model: two part-time experienced contract

5 attorneys and a project coordinator. Clients can access basic legal information via clinics, referrals to appropriate sources of assistance, unbundled or full represention as the case demands, and financial case support. The collaboration extends to housing counselors, who assist with loan modifications; the Bar s FRP project hosting periodic meetings for all partners to maximize service coordination. Annulment Project: A criminal arrest or conviction record can stand in the way of someone ever getting on their feet financially or moving on with their lives. This particular project, too, shows our progress in growing the range of subject areas it handles as a win-win scenario giving attorneys with non-traditional Pro Bono case expertise the opportunity to help clients with weighty but unserved legal needs. After launching the project and assisting about a dozen clients, we took a hiatus due to a change in the law diminishing the value of annulments. Last year when the legislature reversed itself, returning the law largely to its previous state, we seamlessly resumed the project and partnerships we had originally developed. Unbundled Expansion to Victims of Domestic Violence: This effort builds on several years of experience in the delivery of unbundled legal services for domestic violence victims through the North Country Outreach and Bridges Crisis Center (Nashua) Unbundled Projects. The Pro Bono Program s DOVE/Domestic Violence Projects Coordinator is working to expand this model statewide. There are simply not enough resources, either volunteer or legal services attorneys, to meet the extensive legal needs of domestic violence victims beyond the restraining order stage. Pro Bono s goal is to extend unbundled legal services across the state to domestic violence victims who often have additional legal needs around divorce, child support and parenting plans. Led by Pam Dodge, this expansion is proceeding in collaboration with NHLA so that both NHLA staff attorneys and volunteers are providing assistance. Outreach to Veterans: We are building on our partnership with the Justice Outreach Coordinator at the Veterans Administration in Manchester to help veterans with civil legal issues; thanks to past NH Bar President Larry Vogelman s focus on veterans legal matters. We began with foreclosure clinics and expanded to child support last fiscal year, with plans on tap for 2014/15 to extend help to veterans on other legal matters. Innovative Training/Recruitment of Volunteers: The Pro Bono Program is continually searching for ways to strengthen and improve its attorney training both for recruitment and quality purposes. We once again held our popular Divorce Camp series last fall, a cornerstone of our efforts to keep family law

6 services afloat. The hands-on, comprehensive training formula resonates with attorneys and helps us attract up to a few dozen new attorneys to family law each year. Our Foreclosure Project offers brown bag lunch meetings and webcasts to keep panel members up-to-date, a model for Pro Bono s consideration in other subject areas. New Case/Database Management System: Along with other projects, Pro Bono took on the monumental task of transitioning its client and attorney volunteer database to a new system. Pro Bono staff members Carolann Wooding and Janice Rabchenuk managed this project and continue to invest considerable amounts of time to adapt features to the Program s needs. The best feature of the new system allows for electronic transfer of intakes with the other legal services programs, particularly the import of intakes from LARC, which conducts about one-third of Pro Bono s initial client screening. In addition, working with the software vendor, Pro Bono succeeded in sending out case updates via , eliminating the need and cost for paper and postage. Challenges and Opportunities Funding: We were pleased to receive year two of Mortgage Foreclosure Settlement Funding funds financing our successful Foreclosure Relief Project. On the flip side, this funding is finite three years, although we expect to have carry-over funds to support continuing the project into a fourth year. Given some of this funding pays for part of the salaries of existing staff, we face the challenge of keeping core staff fully employed when the grant expires. Pro Bono also saw the continuation of our LSC sub-grant, reestablished in January 2013, although the amount of this funding is less than 15 years ago. There was, however, a significant downside to Pro Bono s funding picture. NHLA s federal Legal Assistance to Victims (LAV) funds under VAWA was not renewed; as a result Pro Bono lost its sub-grant of these monies, which supported a joint Domestic Violence Advocacy Project. In addition, funder requirements, from United Ways to LSC, are more stringent in terms of reporting and other conditions. More and more staff time is spent on grant applications, reporting and overall grant administration. Despite the vicissitudes of grants and funding, we continue to look for opportunities or sometimes they come to us. We were invited to join the NH Department of Justice to add, with NHLA, a legal component to the department s supervised visitation centers VAWA proposal and should know the results late summer/early fall. Family Law: The story of family law is the same--demand outstrips resources in family law. Pro Bono remains the only program within the legal services network

7 that accepts domestic violence-related and non-domestic violence family cases for full representation. With Divorce Camp and other recruitment efforts, trainings and supports we will continue to handle some family cases. We find that the level of client need and case contentiousness, however, quickly depletes both staff time and attorney resources. Adding in court delays and continued specialization of this area, the pool of attorneys willing to take family cases shrinks even further. While Pro Bono uses its creativity to tackle the edges of the issue, the issue is much large than the Pro Bono Program alone is equipped to address. Case Management Software Transition: The upside is discussed under Achievements. While offering many advantages, the new program is manylayered and did not come with the attorney volunteer piece developed nearly to the extent our work requires. The system requires much more staff time, too, to manage/administer that falls to the Pro Bono Coordinator, cutting into her time for client and attorney work. These are challenges we will be working on in the coming year. Pro Bono s Core Work Pro Bono persevered in FY 2013/14 in its traditional efforts as well, briefly recapped below. Examples of client success stories are found recounted earlier in this report. Bankruptcy and Debt Collection: F. Within the legal services network, Pro Bono continues to be the primary source of Chapter 7 bankruptcy assistance. For fiscal year 2013/14, Pro Bono limited its bankruptcy focus largely to current or previous homeowners, where retention of the home/mortgage debt was a major issue. Job loss and medical bills are still the main reasons people find themselves submerged in debt. We recently opened the door wider to include some nonproperty bankruptcies where other important things are at stake, including a vehicle or another life necessity. Pro Bono also enlisted volunteers to represent clients in court involving debt collection where special case circumstances dictated, such as lien avoidance. (Many clients face multiple lawsuits making it impossible to provide individual legal services.) Eviction Defense: Pro Bono maintained its productive partnership with LARC, the source of almost all of our cases involving tenants seeking to protect their rights/keep their housing. LARC screens the cases and identifies potential defenses as we focus on those with legal merit/compelling facts. We have streamlined the review of these cases at Pro Bono and continue to have a high placement rate with volunteers. The majority of outcomes are successful.

8 Seniors: From divorce to eviction, the legal problems of seniors run the gamut. It is disconcerting that so many elders find themselves confronting foreclosure or bankruptcy even into their 80 s hardly golden years. Within the legal services system, Pro Bono has kept its role in coordinating basic estate planning assistance for seniors. The context often involves one spouse seeking help for planning documents to address the failing competency of his/her partner. Our placement rate, if clients follow through, is virtually 100% for these legal services. IRS Tax Disputes: We have been fortunate to have Attorney Barbara Heggie as Pro Bono s Low-income Taxpayer Project, beginning in The project has thrived under her leadership, with a continuum of client services, from information and outreach education to full representation by volunteer attorneys (with occasional direct service by Ms. Heggie) and as case merit dictates. We expect to have a presence at Tax Court when it sits in Boston, a goal of the project for the upcoming fiscal year. Family: Lastly but certainly not least, family law was still the top area of demand and resource allocation by Pro Bono, both of staff and volunteer attorney time. Please read above for the discussion of family law under challenges and further on for individual stories. Work with Our Legal Services Partners All through this report we discuss collaborative efforts with our legal services partners on cases and projects. This collaboration extends further to the following efforts: NHLA/LARC Substantive Work Groups- Pro Bono participates in quarterly substantive meetings on housing and senior issues, contributing the volunteer delivery perspective. LARC/Pro Bono Work Groups Staff of the two organizations held a number of meetings to address a variety of issues to improve work flow between the programs and to establish more effective communication. Much was accomplished and dialogue is ongoing to keep productive exchanges flowing for the benefit of our mutual clients. NHLA/LARC Strategic Planning Pro Bono accepted the invitation to participate in a couple of the workgroups associated with our partners strategic planning process. These meetings proved an opportunity to share information as well as coordinate activities.

9 People Helped by Pro Bono Program FY All Case Activity by Number of Case Beneficiaries (Information and Referral, Open, Referred, Clinics) By Location Unknown: 66 Out-of-State: 106 Belknap: 237 Carroll: 188 Cheshire: 219 Coos: 184 Grafton: 296 Hills N & S: 1533 Merrimack: 624 Rockingham: 584 Strafford: 430 Sullivan: 173 Total: 4,640