Law in the Public Interest: Challenges & Strategies

1. Law in the Public Interest: Challenges & Strategies Public Interest Law Seminar: 20 June 2008 Morrison Hotel, Dublin 1 Michele Storms, Executive Director Gates Public Service Law Program University of Washington School of Law, Seattle, WA

2. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” Martin Luther King, Jr., 1963 from Birmingham jail, Alabama

3. Public Interest Law Advocacy • Identify the problems facing people, society • Root out the barriers • Identify your allies • Develop resources • Coordinate & collaborate every step of the way • Utilize multi-forum advocacy

4. 3 out of 4low income people face at least one critical civil legal problem each year. 2003 Civil Legal Needs Study in Washington State

5. 2008 US Federal Poverty Guidelines

6. Poverty by the Numbers • About a Million people are living in poverty in Washington (125% FPL). • About 600,000 low income people do not receive legal help when they need it.

7. Imagine Living on this Budget Income: $24,000 Annual income of a family of 4 living in poverty Expenses:Balance • Housing $5,756 $18,244 • Utilities $2,656 $15,588 • Transportation $5,330 $10,258 • Food $4,064 $6,194 • Health Care $2,329 $3,865 • Child Care $2,600 $1,265 www.povertyusa.org

8. You have $105 left over per month… School Supplies Clothes & Shoes Toiletries Cleaning Supplies Travel (visiting family) Birthdays & Gifts Life Insurance Entertainment Savings Education What do you leave out?

9. Now Imagine… • You’re unlawfully evicted from your home. • Your employer has not paid you in two months. • Your food stamps are terminated with no explanation. • Your spouse is violent. You fear for your safety and that of your children.

10. Unresolved Legal Issues =Devastating Consequences • Homelessness • Unemployment • Hunger • Broken Families • Physical Abuse • Lack of Medical Care • Despair

11. Public Interest Law Advocacy represents the difference Between: Homelessness and Shelter Abuse and Safety Hunger and Food on the Table Poverty and Economic Stability

12. Public Interest Law Advocacy might be in the form of: • Individual Case Representation • Class Action Litigation • Legislative Advocacy and Reform • Community Outreach and Community Legal Education • Collaboration between public interest lawyers and private practitioners

13. What is Washington State Doing to Close the Justice Gap? Alliance for Equal Justice The State Plan Public-Private Partnership

14. The Alliance for Equal Justice The Alliance for Equal Justice of Washington state is a network of organizations providing civil legal aid to those with nowhere else to turn. Formed to coordinate and foster collaboration, the Alliance provides critically needed services-information, advice and representation-to those in need.

15. Alliance Members & Supporters For Clients: • Legal education, advice, and representation to those who otherwise could not afford legal counsel • Legislative Advocacy For Public Interest Organizations: • Financial Support & Accountability • Strategic Planning • Technological Improvements • Effective Communications

16. The Coordination Challenge:The State Plan A Blueprint for Delivery of Civil Legal Aid to Low-Income People in Washington Goals: • Ensure availability of equal services for all low income people in need. • Invest scarce resources equitably & effectively. • Coordinate activities toward common goals. • Support the needs of programs serving clients.

17. The Hallmarks of an Effective State-wide Civil Legal Services Delivery System Poverty should not be an impediment to Justice. The mission of the statewide legal services delivery system is to offer low income individuals and groups both direct representation and other legal assistance that enables them to: • Protect and enforcetheir rights; • Use the civil justice system to oppose laws, regulations, policies and practices that operate unfairly against them; • Develop and implement laws, regulations, polices and practices that improve their quality of life; and • Effectively advocate their legal rights and interests on their own behalf.

18. The Hallmarks of an Effective State-wide Civil Legal Services Delivery System • The system's effectiveness is dependent upon its commitment to assessing and responding to the most critical needs of clients as identified by low income clients and potential clients. • Those in poverty have an equal right to justice regardless of who they are, where they live, or the language they speak. • The justice system must be barrier free.

19. The Hallmarks of an Effective State-wide Civil Legal Services Delivery System • A legal services delivery system is effective only to the degree that positive results are achieved for clients, particularly in areas of high priority client need. • The right to justice must remain constant regardless of changing social, political, economic or other conditions in the country, state and communities where low income people live.

20. The Funding Challenge:Public-Private Support • IOLTA(InterestonLawyersTrustAccounts) • Private Support(Campaign for Equal Justice) • Federal(Legal Services Corporation) • State(OfficeofCivilLegalAid)

21. Justice Gap The Justice Gap Estimated Graph

22. Getting the Work Done: Partnerships for Advocacy & Education • Alliance Partners • Public Interest Advocates & Private Practitioners • Coordination with Social Service Agencies and Law Schools

23. Examples of Advocacy Partnerships Education Equity project: The Washington State Constitution requires that the state provide an adequate education to every Washington child regardless of color, caste, race or gender. The Education Equity project is focusing on: 1) remediation services and other issues relating to ELL (English language learner) students; 2) rulemaking around alternatives to the WASL, remediation services for ELL students and the appeals process for the WASL; and 3) outreach to affected communities in the Yakima Valley. Participants: Columbia Legal Services, Team Child, ACLU-WA, Northwest Justice Project, law professors & student interns

24. Working with Law Schools • Providing Public Interest-Focused Curriculum • Coordinating with Law School Clinical programs • Integrating Law Students into Public Interest Practice Venues • Helping to make public interest careers affordable for law graduates

25. The Relevance of Public Interest Law in Society Today This is the duty of our generation as we enter the twenty-first century -- solidarity with the weak, the persecuted, the lonely, the sick, and those in despair. It is expressed by the desire to give a noble and humanizing meaning to a community in which all members will define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others. Elie Wiesel, writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate & Holocaust survivor

26. Some National (US) Resources Alliance for Justice http://www.afj.org/about-afj/ American Bar Association: Center for Pro Bono & Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/probono/ http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/sclaid/ Equal Justice Works http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/ Legal Services Corporation www.lsc.org Management Information Exchange www.m-i-e.org National Legal Aid & Defender Organization www.nlada.org Pro Bono Net http://www.probono.net/ The Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law http://www.povertylaw.org/

27. Washington State Resources Advocate Resource Center www.advocateresourcecenter.org Alliance for Equal Justice http://allianceforequaljustice.org/ Equal Justice Coalition http://www.ejc.org/ Washington LawHelp www.washingtonlawhelp.org (for clients) Washington State Bar Association, Access to Justice www.wsba.org/atj