COMMISSION MEETS TODAY, THURSDAY AT 3:00
The Access to Justice Commission meets at 3:00 today, May 22, at the Social Law Library in the fifth floor conference room of the Adams Court House. All are welcome to attend. Along with brief reports on works in progress such as housing court expansion, court service centers, Trial Court initiatives for access to justice, civil right to counsel pilots, Access to Justice Senior Fellows, “access to justice” being added to the bar exam topics, and the second annual MCLE Legal Services conference on law and poverty, the Commission has two primary subjects to address:
1. The Statement of Strategies, Goals and Objectives for 2014 describes briefly each project that the Commission is conducting or supporting, the leaders of the work and the status of the effort. Commissioners will discuss whether the Statement does a good job of communicating what it does, how it might be used, where it should be placed and whether it should be converted into a planning document. The Statement will be available shortly at www.massa2j.org.
2. Discussion of a Proposal Regarding Judicial Review of Settlements in Cases Involving at least One Self-Representing Litigant. The Commission has held several previous discussions of this important subject. The current Proposal is based on the March discussion and written comments developed by a majority of the Commissioners. It includes the new idea that court-prepared information sheets be distributed to all litigants at the commencement of a litigation so that SLRs begin any settlement discussions with some idea of their procedural rights. The Proposal will be posted shortly at www.massa2j.org
ACCESS TO JUSTICE ON THE HILL
On Wednesday, Associate Justice Ralph D. Gants appeared before the Governor’s Counsel seeking their approval of Governor Patrick’s nomination of him to become Chief Justice of the SJC. Many witnesses, led by Chief Justice Ireland, heaped praise on the nominee. At least two Commissioners, GBLS Executive Director Jacqui Bowman and Housing Court Judge Dina Fein (Special Advisor to the Trial Court’s Access to Justice Initiatives) were witnesses. The hearing was continued to Wednesday, May 28.
The MLAC appropriation is pending in the Senate. MLAC requested $17 million for FY 2015, an increase of $4 million over the current year level of $13 million. The Governor proposed $14 million, the House began at $13 but amended to $15 million, and then the Senate began with its proposal of $13 million. Senator Brownsberger had been circulating a proposal to amend to $15, but moved to $14 million during the day, and that is what passed. The Commission co-chair, David Rosenberg, wrote to House Speaker DeLeo supporting the original request for $17 million.
Meanwhile, the Commission-initiated proposal that the housing court be expanded so that it is available in the entire state has been gathering ever increasing support from municipalities, code enforcement agencies and first responders. But procedural hurdles made action unlikely this year. Then a resolution from the Barnstable Town Council caught the attention of the Senate President, who proposed a redraft of the bill to provide a new housing court for Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket Counties along with one new judge. And that’s what happened. Next step: conference with the House.
“ACCESS TO JUSTICE” ADDED TO TOPICS ON BAR EXAM
The Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court adopted the proposal put forth by a special committee of the Commission, the Mass Bar Association and the Boston Bar Association that “Access to Justice” be included as a topic on the Mass Bar Exam beginning in 2016. The Commission had initiated the idea, which was ultimately supported by the Board of Bar Examiners.
The proposal, the first of its kind in the nation, emphasizes the importance of access to justice in the everyday practice of law today, and hopefully will ensure that future law school graduates are prepared to meet the needs of clients of modest means and clients referred by pro bono programs. In response to news of the Justices’ action, inquiries have been coming in from a number of states interested in following our example.
MASSPROBONO.ORG LAUNCHED BY THE VOLUNTEER LAWYERS PROJECT’
Looking for an interesting case to do pro bono? Trying to place a case with a pro bono lawyer? MassProBono.org is made for you.
This new tool for connecting people in need of services with pro bono lawyers was officially put into service April 30. Approachable from any place in the state, pro bono programs can submit information about cases they are trying to place. The information will be posted on the website, where a potential pro bono lawyer can find it. If a lawyer wants to do the case, the last step is the program putting the lawyer and client together.
The website includes an extensive manual explaining how to find the cases a lawyer is looking for and a variety of helpful mechanisms to help the lawyer meet the client’s needs. Take a look at the site, become familiar with it, and it should serve programs, pro bono lawyers and clients well.
LAW SCHOOLS HIT WITH DECLINING ENROLLMENTS
The challenging times facing lawyers (not enough jobs) and low-income clients (not enough lawyers interested in their cases) have gotten a lot of attention, but the plight of law schools caught in the middle is gradually becoming clearer. A February 17 article by Alicia Albertson based on a study by the National Jurist gives some statistical data. “Cooley, NYLS Have Largest Enrolment Declines 2010-2011.” The article claims:
Average enrollment is down 99 students per school. Cooley Law School, with five campuses in Michigan and Florida, dropped 40.6%, from 3,931 in 2010-2011 to 2,334 students in 2013-2014. Such a huge decline puts great pressure on the school’s budget. New York Law School (not NYU) is down 38.7%, from 1,923 to 1,179.. The article lists the 25 law schools with the largest declines. The list includes four schools in New England:
University of New Hampshire -34.8%
Western New England University -33.3%
Vermont Law School -30.5%
Quinnipiac University -28.9%
NORTHEAST LEGAL AID EMERGES, SEEKS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Merrimack Valley North Shore Legal Services (MVLS) and Neighborhood Legal Services (NLS) have restructured their regional collaboration and emerged as Northeast Legal Aid (NLA). With headquarters in Lawrence, NLA will receive both MLAC and LSC funding. MLAC has approved the arrangement because NLA will have an Limited Liability Corporation funded without any LSC subsidy or support, which will be able to continue to provide the region with services an LSC grantee is unable to offer.
NLA has retained the Management Information Exchange to conduct a search for an Executive Director. Executive Director Ken MacIver has retired after a lifetime as a legal services lawyer and leader, and Executive Director Sheila Casey has resigned to take a new position developing specialty courts for the Massachusetts Trial Courts. Carol Coyne (MVLS) and Michael Raabe (NLS) are acting Executive Directors in the interim.