Pro Bono Week in Anne Arundel celebrates Legal Aid’s 100th

Anne Arundel County celebrated Pro Bono Week and the 100th Birthday of Maryland Legal Aid last week  by offering free, limited legal advice on civil matters in the law library.

“For National Pro Bono Week, we helped to expand the program to provide assistance all afternoon, all week,” said Maryland Legal Aid supervising attorney Lisa Sarro.  “We helped to organize the event and recruit volunteers, staffed some of the attorney time slots, and had staff available to provide assistance throughout the event in case any of the private volunteer attorneys had questions.  It was a great success!”

Fifteen Anne Arundel County volunteer attorneys provided 20 hours of free legal advice to 44 people.  Each attorney was available for at least one hour slot (in addition to the regularly scheduled Wednesday program).  Many of the attorneys stayed to help beyond their promised one hour in order to help.

Issues for which the attorneys were consulted included trusts, wills, torts, landlord\tenant, employment, foreclosure, real property, deeds, accident cases and family law.  Now that the Family Self Help Center is located in the law library, many of the family issues could be easily referred to the center.

The volunteers who volunteered: Jeff Bowman, Mary Jordan, Susan Mays, Carolyn Krohn, Kathleen McLaughlin, Darren Burns, Doug Hollman, Dana Paul, Alan Legum, Anita Bailey, John Greene, Lisa Sarro, Garland Hall, Elena Boisvert, Bob Waldman and Kunle Adeyemo.

Managing Partners Breakfast kicks off Equal Justice Council fall campaign

Managing partners from leading Baltimore law firms met Thursday morning for the Equal Justice Council’s annual fundraising kick-off, held at the offices of Rosenberg│Martin│Greenberg.

EJC co-chairs John Wolf of  Ober│Kaler and Ben Rosenberg urged the 25 senior attorneys at the breakfast meeting to support Maryland Legal Aid. “In 2010, Legal Aid had 62,000 cases, representing people who had reached the end of their string—out of work and desperate,” Rosenberg said. “We’re asking you to remember that we all hold a privilege, a license to practice law that carries an obligation.  If we don’t help people who can’t access the justice system, we’ll have even worse problems.”

Added Chief Judge Robert M. Bell: “I urge you to assist Legal Aid, which will improve the legal system and help the courts, which are seeing a surge in unrepresented litigants. I thank the members of the Equal Justice Council for their good work to help ensure adequate representation in the courts.”

In the photo (left to right): Alan Garten of Fedder & Garten, Martin Fletcher of Whiteford Taylor & Preston  and Jon Laria of Ballard Spahr.

Baltimore Pro Bono Day at Legal Aid

Discuss your civil legal problems one-on-one with volunteer attorneys at a free legal clinic. Types of issues include:
•    Divorce, custody & child support
•    Landlord-tenant
•    Wills & advance directives
•    Bankruptcy
•    Record expungements
•    Government benefits
•    Consumer issues
•    Foreclosure
•    Community & Nonprofit Organizations

Saturday, October 29, 2011
10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Location:

Legal Aid
500 East Lexington Street
Baltimore, MD 21202

Sponsored by:
Bar Association of Baltimore City

In partnership with:
Maryland Legal Aid, Legal Services for the Elderly, Maryland State Bar Association Young Lawyers Section, Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service, Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland, Inc., and Young Lawyers’ Division of the Bar Association of Baltimore City

Bring any relevant documents with you.  This event is free and no registration is required.  For more information, call 410-539-5936 ext. 102 or email info@baltimorebar.org.

If you are interested in a free foreclosure legal consultation at the event, contact the Pro Bono Resource Center at 1-800-396-1274 to pre-register and learn how to prepare for the legal consult.

Towson Pro Bono Day helps nearly 100 people

Saturday’s Pro Bono Day in Towson, sponsored by the Baltimore Co. Bar Association, helped nearly 100 people with their civil legal problems. It was the first such event sponsored by the bar association.

“It went unbelievably well,” said Stanford Gann Jr., of Levin & Gann P.A., a vice-chair of the committee that put the event together. “People were lining up at 9 a.m. to get in. We saw everyone who came and got incredible feedback from them.”

Thirteen private attorneys volunteered (out of 17 total, including lawyers from Maryland Legal Aid). “Without fail, everyone said it was extremely rewarding and worth giving up a Saturday,” Gann said. “We got a real sense that we were helping people. Everyone got a detailed appraisal of their situation, advice on what to do or what to file. There were no glazed eyes.”

Some comments from participants:

• “Given options. I started with crying and ended with a laugh. Thank you.”

• “Eased my worries made things a lot clearer, so I know what I’m entitled to. Load off my mind. Thanks.”

• “The lawyer explained legal terms that were complicated to me. This positively helps people living paycheck to paycheck.”

• “Very informative, pleasant to talk with the person. Didn’t feel rushed. Nice one‐on-one conversation.”

Gann said that while it was the first Pro Bono Day for Baltimore County, it won’t be the last. “We’ll be doing this annually, at least to start,” he said.

The pro bono lawyers: Mark Scurti, Hassan Barnes, Stephen Nolan, Lee Baylin, Sean Elavia, Jasmine Elavia, Jim Nolan, Laurie Ruth, Ann Lembo, Don Zarumba, Kim Magee, Jerry Payton,  Stanford Gann, Jr., and Josie Yuzuik.

In addition, Doris Barnes of the BCBA, Yoanna Moisides of Legal Aid, Lawrence Burton of the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service,  Yvette Foreman of the Baltimore Co. Office of Community Conservation, and Scott Stevens of the Baltimore Co. Law Library were on hand to make the event run smoothly.

Clients are up, funding is down for free legal aid

From Marylandreporter.com: “As the economy has slowed, the demand for free civil legal services has risen, but funding for those services has not increased.
‘The situation is dire,’ said Sharon Goldsmith, executive director of the Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland. ‘The programs are feeling stretched beyond their limits. The funding is not there.’”

“At Maryland Legal Aid, the jump in clients is apparent ‘in our lobby any morning,’ said Wilhelm Joseph, executive director. ‘We used to add chairs as the room got full,’ Joseph said. ‘Now, we don’t have enough chairs for all the people looking for help.’”

To read the report, click here.

Legal Aid-staffed self-help center expands

A legal self-help clinic based in the Glen Burnie District Court–and staffed by Maryland Legal Aid–has expanded beyond Anne Arundel, The Baltimore Sun reported today.

By utilizing the Internet and a call-in service, people with civil legal needs throughout Maryland can now access basic legal information by “chatting” online with one of four Legal Aid lawyers.

The lawyers also can provide web links with useful information. “Some, typically those with complex issues, will bring in their paperwork, said Sarah Frush, who supervises the center,” the article reported.

To read the article, click here (note: must be an online subscriber).

Free consumer legal rights workshop on Eastern Shore

Maryland Legal Aid and Mid-Shore Pro Bono, Inc. will host a free pro bono workshop on consumer issues Monday, Oct. 24, from 5 p.m. to 7  p.m. at Talbot County Senior Center, 400 Brookletts Avenue, Easton, MD 21601.

The workshop will  include information on consumer issues including: bankruptcy basics, debt collection rights and how to stop harassing debt collection calls, loan co-signers responsibilities, pay day loans, and identity theft. Volunteer pro bono attorneys and consumer advocates will speak for approximately 45 minutes on these topics and answer questions.

This workshop is being jointly provided by Legal Aid in celebration of its 100th anniversary and by Mid-Shore Pro Bono, Inc. in celebration of National Pro Bono Week. The event is free and open to the public. Registration is not required. For more information, call Mid-Shore Pro Bono at 410-690-8128.

Bar Association of Baltimore City hosts 5th annual Pro Bono Day

The Bar Association of Baltimore City (BABC) will host its fifth Pro Bono Day on Saturday, Oct.  29, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Maryland Legal Aid’s downtown Baltimore office, 500 East Lexington St.  About 170 Maryland residents with civil legal problems attended the clinic last spring for one-on-one consultations with volunteer lawyers.

Organizers of this event, which also include Legal Aid, Legal Services for the Elderly, Maryland State Bar Association Young Lawyers Section, Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service, Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland, Inc., and Young Lawyers’ Division of the Bar Association of Baltimore City expect more people to take advantage of the free legal help.

Participants with specific legal problems can discuss their options one-on-one with volunteer lawyers on a wide range of subjects including divorce, child support, and custody; housing and landlord/tenant issues; wills and advance directives; and consumer debt and bankruptcy.

The event is free and open to the public. Registration is not required. For more information, call the BABC at 410-539-5936 ext. 102.

District Court launches live-chat and telephone options for self-help service

The District Court of Maryland has launched free, online live-chat and phone-in self-help services for people across Maryland who need assistance with civil legal issues before any of the District Court’s 35 locations.

The new services are an extension of the District Court’s walk-in self-help center in Glen Burnie, which helps people who are representing themselves in small claims, landlord-tenant and other civil matters in District Court. Through a contract with Maryland Legal Aid, four full-time attorneys, a paralegal and an administrative assistant provide basic information, legal assistance and help in finding and completing court forms. As their cases proceed, users can ask for further help in preparing for a court proceeding or get additional assistance. If people need more help, the staff may refer them to mediation, other legal organizations or the private bar. The District Court’s self-help services are free.

“Few people who come to the District Court are represented by an attorney, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need help,” said Chief Judge Ben C. Clyburn of the District Court of Maryland. “Our challenge is to serve the needs of the many self-represented court users who may appear at any District Court location throughout the state, and provide that service in a fiscally responsible way. Budget and space limitations make it difficult to create walk-in centers in all our locations at this time, so we decided to create a ‘virtual self-help center’ by providing online and phone access to the resources that are already available at our walk-in center in Glen Burnie.”

OnlineUsers of the online self-help service can chat live with a program attorney or contact an attorney with questions by phone, 410-260-1392. The main website address is www.mdcourts.gov/district/selfhelpcenter/home.html. The District Court’s online self-help service is available Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-noon and 12:30-4:30 p.m., during regular court hours.

The Maryland Access to Justice Commission estimates that each year nearly 350,000 people appear in District and Circuit court proceedings involving basic human needs cases. These Marylanders, mostly individuals and families with low incomes, come to court without the benefit of counsel and usually without help from the existing voluntary legal services system.

Glen Burnie’s walk-in center has helped more than 10,000 self-represented litigants since it opened less than two years ago, and in August alone helped a record 626 walk-in visitors. The online self-help service is also proving to be popular. It was launched without fanfare in the middle of September, and has already responded to more than 660 requests from clients seeking help.

“Although many people do not realize it, the right to be represented by a lawyer in court applies primarily to criminal cases and does not apply in most civil matters,” said Wilhelm H. Joseph, Jr., Esq., executive director of Maryland Legal Aid. “Our partnership with the District Court helps close the immense justice gap that exists for low-income Marylanders seeking resolution with their critical civil legal problems.”

In the near future, District Court Self-Help Services also plans to add email access, as well as Skype for live, Web-enabled video conferencing.

Maryland District Court Self-Help Services:

Online, live-chat and phone:
Phone 410-260-1392
www.mdcourts.gov/district/selfhelpcenter/home.html
Hours: 8:30 a.m.-noon, 12:30-4:30 p.m.

Walk-in:
Glen Burnie District Court
7500 Ritchie Highway, Room 206
Glen Burnie, MD 21061
Hours: 8:30 a.m.-noon, 12:30-4:30 p.m.

Robo-signing article quotes Legal Aid expert

Lindsay Warnes, a staff attorney in Maryland Legal Aid’s Midwestern Maryland office (Frederick) was quoted in a Baltimore Sun article about robo-signing (“Consumer advocates want affidavits pulled in Md. debt-collection cases,” Oct. 3). The issue is tied to old consumer debts bought by companies who then sue to collect after filing affidavits swearing they have personal knowledge of the debts–and usually don’t.

“They’re trying to get more creative in the way they write them,” Warnes told The Sun. “But there’s still no personal knowledge whatsoever.” To read the article, click here.