MLSC announces 2012 legal services awards

The Maryland Legal Services Corporation announced its 2012 legal services awardees, to be honored at MLSC’s annual awards reception, Celebrating Thirty Years, Monday, Dec. 3, 2012, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.  at the Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore Hotel.

Herbert S. Garten will receive the Robert M. Bell Medal for Access to Justice, named for the chief judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals. Peter A. Holland of the Holland Law Firm will receive the Arthur W. Machen, Jr. Award for his significant contributions in the area of consumer law.  The Benjamin L. Cardin Distinguished Service Award will go to Brenda Bratton Blom, professor at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, and Lisae C. Jordan, acting executive director of Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault. The William L. Marbury Outstanding Advocate Award for a non-attorney who has demonstrated outstanding service representing the rights and legal needs of low-income persons will be presented to John Wheeler, an intake specialist and paralegal at the Maryland Disability Law Center for the past 30 years. The Maryland Office of the Attorney General has been named as this year’s recipient of the Herbert S. Garten Public Citizen Award for its long-standing leadership in access to justice initiatives.

MLSC was established by the Maryland General Assembly in 1982 to receive and distribute funds to nonprofit organizations that provide civil legal assistance to low-income persons. From its inception, MLSC has made grants totaling over $164 million to help provide services in nearly 2 million legal matters for Maryland’s families in areas of family, housing, consumer, employment, health care and other civil legal matters.

MLSC, MSBA releases “Honor Roll” of top banks

The Maryland State Bar Assoc. and Maryland Legal Services Corp. recognize “Honor Roll” financial institutions that pay premium interest rates on Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts, which help fund civil legal services for low-income Marylanders.

• American Bank – Montgomery & Prince George’s counties & Washington, DC

• Baltimore County Savings Bank – Baltimore City, Baltimore, Harford & Howard counties

• BankAnnapolis – Anne Arundel and Queen Anne’s counties

• Carrollton Bank – Baltimore City, Anne Arundel, Baltimore & Harford counties

• Congressional Bank – Montgomery County, Washington, DC & N. Virginia

• First Shore Federal – Wicomico & Worcester counties

• Hamilton Federal Bank – Anne Arundel and Baltimore c0unties

• HSBC Bank USA, N.A. – Montgomery County

• MainStreet Bank – N. Virginia

• Midstate Federal Savings & Loan – Baltimore County

• Premier Bank, Inc. – Montgomery County & Washington, DC

• Sandy Spring Bank – Anne Arundel, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery & Prince George’s counties

• Severn Savings Bank – Anne Arundel County

• Standard Bank – Allegany County

• TD Bank – Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Harford & Prince George’s counties

For a complete list of all financial institutions approved to accept IOLTA deposits, visit www.mlsc.org.

Maryland legal services programs brace for cuts

The Maryland Legal Services Corp. is digging into its reserves and must cut grants to its programs by five percent, the Daily Record reported today.

“Late last month, [MLSC executive director] Susan M. Erlichman told Maryland Legal Services’ existing grantees to submit requests for fiscal 2013 that reflect a 5 percent reduction from the current funding levels,” the article said. “The grantees were also warned the cuts might be deeper in fiscal 2014.”

“’We are hoping that we can keep the cuts between 5 and 10 percent,’ Erlichman said. ‘If we can keep it to five that would be our desire but that really depends on what happens the next six months as far as income.’

“Maryland Legal Services, hit with dwindling revenue sources, is spending $1.6 million of its reserves this year and next, Erlichman said. If the trend continues, it will run out of money in fiscal 2014, she said.

“’This is very, very frightening,’ she said last week.”

Maryland Legal Aid, MLSC’s largest grantee, will be cut more than $500,000.

Maryland Legal Services Corp. announces 2011 legal services awards

M. Natalie McSherry of Kramon and Graham PA and Mitchell Y. Mirviss of Venable LLP lead the list of awardees at this December’s Maryland Legal Services Corp. annual awards reception.

Both will both receive the Arthur W. Machen, Jr. Award, presented annually to an attorney (usually in private practice) who has rendered extraordinary service by providing civil legal services to the poor or by improving the civil legal services delivery system for such persons.

Other awardees: Debra L. Gardner, legal director of the Public Justice Center (Benjamin L. Cardin Distinguished Service Award);  Michelle Swift, paralegal at the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers’ Service (William L. Marbury Outstanding Advocate Award); the People’s Law Library (Herbert S. Garten Public Citizen Award); and Janet Stidman Eveleth, the recently retired communications director at the Maryland State Bar Assoc. (Award of Special Recognition).

MLSC board chairman F. Vernon Boozer and Maryland Court of Appeals Chief Judge Robert M. Bell will present the awards at MLSC’s annual awards reception on Monday, Dec. 5, 2011, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore Hotel. For more information, click here.

Joseph honored by Maryland Legal Services Corp.

Maryland Legal Aid executive director Wilhelm H. Joseph Jr. was awarded the Benjamin Cardin Distinguished Service Award last night at an awards banquet sponsored by the Maryland Legal Services Corp.

The award was presented by Court of Appeals Chief Judge Robert M. Bell, who noted that since arriving at Legal Aid in 1996, Joseph has nearly quadrupled its funding, raise salaries and enabled it to serve more than 50,000 Maryland families each year.

The Cardin Award is presented each year to an outstanding public interest attorney regularly involved in providing, promoting or managing civil legal services to the poor.

In the photo (left to right): MLSC president F. Vernon Boozer, Joseph, MLSC executive director Susan M. Erlichman and Bell.

Legal Aid director Wilhelm Joseph to receive Cardin Award

Legal Aid Executive Director Wilhelm H. Joseph Jr.

Executive Director Wilhelm Joseph will receive the Maryland Legal Services Corporation’s Benjamin L. Cardin Distinguished Service Award, awarded each December to an outstanding public interest law attorney. “Mr. Joseph, who has led the Legal Aid Bureau for 14 years, has advocated for the poor through his long civil rights career, his efforts with the filing fee initiatives in the Maryland General Assembly and many other accomplishments,” MLSC’s press release said. The awards reception is Monday, December 6, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore Hotel.

Sun: Funding fee increases “eminently sensible measure”

Today’s Baltimore Sun features two items on civil legal services: a front-page story (with a picture of Maryland Legal Aid staff attorney Christina Sawyer) about the funding-fee surcharge bills working their way through the General Assembly and the lead editorial endorsing the bills.

“Funding for legal services to the poor has plummeted as a result of the recession” the editorial said. “Unless something is done, thousands of families and individuals will lose their ability to challenge the decisions of mortgage companies, landlords, employers and health care providers in court. . . . Lawmakers should act to keep the gap in justice between haves and have-nots from growing even wider by passing this eminently sensible measure that will allow the [Maryland] Legal Services Corp. to continue to do the job . . .”

Post: “Need is up, but funding plummets for legal aid”

Today’s Washington Post Metro section led with an article about the funding crisis faced by legal aid programs across the country. “At the heart of the problem are historically low interest rates,” the article explained. “Legal aid societies nationwide rely on income generated through an arcane process linked to the federal rate, and ‘what’s been good news for everyone else was a blow to us,’ said Susan Erlichman, executive director of the Maryland Legal Services Corp.

Meanwhile, demand is through the roof.

“The Maryland Legal Aid Bureau opened 17,600 cases in the past year–up 1,100 over the previous 12 months–and also referred more cases elsewhere,” the article continued. “The bureau, the state’s largest provider of free civil aid, is operating with $1 million less in interest proceeds, an 11 percent cut.

“Several times each week, the Baltimore office has a day-long program to screen walk-in cases, and slots are taken within 90 minutes of the doors’ opening, said Wilhelm Joseph Jr., executive director. ‘I’m seeing something I have not seen before: people showing up in ties and white shirts filling our seats.’”

To read the article, click here.

Cardin, Mikulski sponsor bill to nearly double legal services funding

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Benjamin L. Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski (left) have co-sponsored legislation that would expand and improve vital civil legal aid in this country. The bill would increase funding for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), lift many of the restrictions on LSC-funded attorneys and improve corporate governance at LSC. LSC is one of Maryland Legal Aid’s major funders.

“As the former chairman of the Maryland Legal Services Corporation, I am committed to expanding access to legal services,” said Senator Cardin, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “Unfortunately today, many low-income Americans do not have access to justice.  They can’t afford to hire a lawyer or obtain legal assistance for serious problems.  This legislation takes a strong step forward to close this justice gap by eliminating burdensome restrictions on LSC attorneys and by providing adequate funding to LSC.”

“The Legal Services Corporation was created to ensure all Americans have equal access to justice under the law. Because of LSC, poor pregnant women being battered by their husbands have had a lawyer to turn to. Homeowners facing foreclosure have gotten assistance renegotiating their mortgage terms – and staying in their homes. People with disabilities, the elderly, and victims of natural disasters have had a place to turn for legal aid,” Senator Mikulski said.  “With the economic downturn, and increased stress on struggling families, the services LSC provides are needed now more than ever. I am committed to making sure LSC has the funding it needs in the federal checkbook to meet its mission.”

The federal commitment to legal services is not as effective as it needs to be.  In 1974, Congress established the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) – a private, non-profit corporation funded by Congress – to fund civil legal aid.  LSC, however, has not been reauthorized since 1981, and federal funding has been slashed since 1995 – from $415 million to $350 in FY’08, with only a recent increase to $390 million for FY’09.  Congress, moreover, has imposed severe restrictions on the use of both federal as well as non-federal funds – impeding attorneys’ ability to provide the most effective legal assistance.

The Civil Access to Justice Act of 2009 recommits the principle of “Equal Justice Under Law” in five main ways:

·        Increases the authorized funding level for LSC to $750 million, which is approximately the amount appropriated in 1981, adjusted for inflation, which was the high-water mark for LSC funding.  At the time, this level was seen as sufficient to provide a minimum level of access to legal aid in every county.  Adjusted for inflation, this “minimum access” level would need to be about $750 million today.
·        Lifts many of the restrictions currently placed on legal tools that LSC-funded attorneys can use to represent their clients, such as being able to file class action lawsuits and collect attorney’s fees.
·        Lifts most restrictions on the use of non-federal funds.  Lifting these restrictions allows individual states, cities and donors the ability to determine themselves how best to spend non-federal funds to ensure access to the courts.
·        Provides for better governance at LSC.  Recent GAO reports highlighted the need for better corporate governance and oversight.  A central feature of the bill is provisions to improve corporate practices.
·        Authorizes a grant program from the Department of Education to expand law school clinics.  Not only are law students a significant resource for legal services, but clinics are a bridge to careers in legal services and a professional career involving pro bono for young lawyers.
The bill is supported by, among others, the American Bar Association, Brennan Center for Justice, National Legal Aid & Defender Association, National Organization of Legal Service Workers and United Auto Workers.