Helping People Help Themselves: Pro Se Assistance Initiatives

1. Helping People Help Themselves: Pro Se Assistance Initiatives • Al Schwartz • Executive Director - CARPLS • aschwartz@carpls.org

2. About CARPLS

3. Overview of CARPLS • Legal aid hotline • 50,000 client services in FY09 • Primarily telephone-based service • Advice desks operated at 4 locations in the City • Thirty attorneys on staff, many part-time

4. CARPLS Advice Desks • Domestic Relations Advice Desk • Collection Advice Desk • Municipal Court Advice Desk • Administrative Hearings Advice Desk

5. Software support • Recent redesign of our case management software to support volunteer attorneys • Provides detailed canned answers to specific legal questions • Written specifically from the point of view of a hotline attorney • Incorporates CARPLS’ philosophy and policies

6. Domestic Relations Advice Desk

7. Domestic Relations Desk: Overview • In operation for 7 years • Monday through Friday from 9:00AM -1:00PM • 30th Floor, Daley Center • 3 Staff Attorneys, 1 Intake Coordinator & 1 Paralegal • 5,500 client services in FY 09

8. Domestic Relations Desk: Intake • First-Come-First Served, No appointments • Quick Screen Performed by Intake Coordinator on CLASS case management software • Check for conflicts of interest • Confirm eligibility for service (up to 200% of the Poverty Level)

9. Domestic Relations Desk: Consultations • Consultations conducted by experienced family law staff attorneys • Average Consultation: 45 Minutes • Services include: • Legal Advice (52%) • Drafting of Legal Documents/Self-Help Packets (38%) • Legal Aid Referrals (10%)

10. Domestic Relations Desk: Self-Help • Targets simple, uncontested family law matters (pre and post-decree) • Petitions for Dissolutions = 80% of all self-help drafting • Divorce by Agreement • Divorce by Publication • “No Issues” Divorce • Joint Simplified Divorce

11. Domestic Relations Desk: Outcomes • Draft 80 Self-Help Divorce Packets Per Month/1,000 Self-Help Divorce Packets Per Year • 88% Clients follow through with Self-Help Divorce by filing their Petition for Dissolution • 97% Clients who file their Petition for Dissolution obtained a divorce • Average Court Case: 7 weeks

12. Collect Advice Desk

13. Collection Desk: Overview • In operation for 3 years • Monday through Friday from 9:00AM -12:30PM • Courtroom 1401, Daley Center • 2 Staff Attorneys, 1-2 Law Student/Attorney Volunteers & 1 Intake Coordinator • 3,200 client services in FY 09

14. Collection Desk: Consultations • Consultations conducted by staff attorneys and law student & private attorney volunteers • Average Consultation: 15 Minutes • Services include: • Legal Advice (85%) • Legal Aid Referrals (15%)

15. Collection Desk: Outcomes • Main Outcome: Educate clients about their rights and responsibilities • Bank Freeze Exemption Granted: 88% of Desk cases • Wage Garnishment Exemption/Reduction Granted: 43% of Desk cases • Citation to Discovery Assets Dismissed: 95% of Desk cases

16. Municipal Court Advice Desk

17. Municipal Court Desk: Overview • In operation since 1987. Formerly run by Chicago-Kent Law School. CARPLS took over management in March 2008 • Monday through Friday from 8:30AM -4:30PM • Room 602, Daley Center • 3 Staff Attorneys, 1-2 Law Student/Attorney Volunteers & 1 Intake Coordinator • 7,200 client services in FY 09

18. Municipal Court Desk: Intake • First-Come-First Served, No appointments • Quick Screen Performed by Intake Coordinator on CLASS case management software • Check for conflicts of interest • Confirm eligibility for service (up to 300% of the Poverty Level)

19. Municipal Court Desk: Consultations • Consultations conducted by staff attorneys and law student & private attorney volunteers • Average Consultation: 45 Minutes • Services include: • Legal Advice (85%) • Legal Drafting/Self-Help Packets • Legal Aid Referrals (15%)

20. Go Bono: Benefit to CARPLS • Develop relationship with firms • High payoff - 20 volunteers at once per firm • Low-impact on overhead - volunteering done from their office not ours

21. Go Bono: Challenges during pilot I • Conflicts of interest • Business concerns • Getting high-level leaders at firm to support and drive project • Much more on-site supervision required than we initially thought

22. Go Bono: Challenges during Pilot II • Getting individual attorneys to comply with our training requirements • Loss of interest after initial burst • Identifying leaders within the volunteer base

23. Other volunteers

24. ‘Random volunteers’ • Individuals who fill a specialized need • Foreign-licensed lawyer who provides supervised assistance to Spanish speaking clients • Paralegal volunteer to assist with some intake work

25. Challenges with individual volunteers • Difficult to manage • Supervision required on a

26. Lessons learned: Volunteer programs • Go Bono will biggest impact to our program in terms of serving greatest number of clients at lowest cost • Go Bono also requires much more work on the front end to get it going • Individual volunteers outside of Nightline and Go Bono are rarely worth the time commitment required by staff

27. Lessons Learned: Go Bono • Takes much more on-site staff time than we initially thought • Biggest issue for firm leadership is conflicts of interest • Biggest issue for CARPLS is getting firm leadership to commit a sufficient number of volunteer attorneys on a regular basis