MedicalLegal Partnership Annual Statewide Conference.
The MedicalLegal Partnership | Boston is sponsoring its second annual Network Conference for Medical Legal Partnership in Massachusetts on Monday, November 1 at the Hogan Campus Center at Holy Cross in Worcester. The allday conference, expected to draw more than one hundred participants, features reports on developments of new and enlarging MLPs around the state, examinations of the roles of lawyers in producing health and medical personnel in improving access to justice, and thoughtful explorations of what may lie ahead for MLPs in the access to justice effort. See www.mlpboston.org.
Brooke Courthouse Information Center
The Trial Court Access to Justice Initiative has opened a public information center at the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse. Open daily from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm, volunteers greet court users and assist them with navigating the courthouse, obtaining basic information and finding legal resources. The volunteers include retired judges, law and college students and lawyers. Credit for the project goes to a Task Force lead by Worcester Housing Court First Justice Diana Horan and Boston Municipal Court General Counsel Cynthia Robinson Markey, and the leadership of the Trial Court’s Special Advisor on Access to Justice Initiatives, Hon. Dina Fein, and the Deputy Advisor Sandy Lundy. Retired District Court Judge Joseph Dever is providing oversight and recruiting volunteers.
Counsel Being Provided to Youths Facing Revocation of a Conditional Grant of Liberty.
After lengthy negotiations involving the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts, the Center for Public Representation, the Department of Youth Services and the Committee for Public Counsel Services, DYScommitted youths facing revocation of their conditional grant of liberty will be provided with stateassigned counsel for their administrative hearing appeals. Three CPCS funded attorneys began taking cases in the Metro region in October and should go statewide within the year. Special credit goes to Barbara Kaban, Josh Dohan and the DYS leadership. The need for counsel in these proceedings was highlighted in an Access to Justice Commission Report in 2007 and developed by the Boston Bar Association’s Task Force on the Civil Right to Counsel.
Commission Writes Bar Leaders in Support of Limited Assistance Representation
On October 1, 2010, the Commission’s cochairs wrote to bar leaders in Massachusetts urging them to help with the implementation of Limited Assistance Representation by educating their members, providing website and written materials, including LAR certification data on bar referral panels and maintaining lists of qualified bar members. The letter notes that LAR is in operation in the Probate and Family Court, for civil cases in the Boston Municipal Court and in the Housing Court November 1.
Cy Pres Awards Boost HardUp Legal Aid, Pro Bono
Several legal aid programs in Massachusetts have received portions of $1.8 million in unclaimed settlement funds distributed to 111 programs in a nationwide class action case in the Circuit Court of Cook County, IL. Another $1.8 million was distributed to legal aid and pro bono programs in Illinois.
In Texas, a similar cy pres award resulted in $2.6 million for legal aid programs serving people with disabilities.
The Indiana Supreme Court has adopted a rule requiring that 25% of unclaimed class action residuals go to pro bono programs along with IOLTA funds.
LSC Update
Action is stalled on several fronts at LSC. In Congress, a “continuing resolution” holds LSC funding for FY 2011 (which began October 1) at 2010 levels. Congress will resume discussion of their differences over many funding bills, including LSC’s, after the midterm elections. At LSC, the Inspector General has issued a draft report on the TIG (Technology Innovation Grants) program, LSC management has responded and the IG is reviewing the response. Meanwhile, grant awards for this year’s TIG grants are on hold, including one being sought by the Massachusetts Justice Project in conjunction with the Trial Court and the Access to Justice Commission.
All eleven members of the LSC Board appointed by President Obama have now been confirmed by the Senate, and they held their first meeting on October 1819. One of the members, Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow, is Vicechair of the Board and chairs the Board’s Governance and Performance Review Committee, which is developing short and longterm research agendas for LSC.