Articles
More Than $35,000 Raised by Marion and Polk County Attorneys to Support Legal Aid Services for the Poor
More Than $35,000 Raised by Marion and Polk County Attorneys to Support Legal Aid Services to the Poor
The annual Marion-Polk Campaign for Equal Justice Luncheon was held at Mission Mill in Salem on October 7, 2004. The 165 attorneys in attendance at the luncheon contributed more than $35,000 to the 2004 Campaign for Equal Justice. Pioneer Trust Bank, Oregon Telecom, Inc., and The Sassy Onion Grill sponsored the luncheon. Ryan Collier, of Clark, Lindauer, Fetherston, Edmonds, Lippold & Collier, introduced the keynote speaker, the Hon. Rives Kistler of the Oregon Supreme Court. Other speakers at the luncheon included Edward Millis of Marion-Polk Legal Aid Service and Thomas Elden of the Oregon Department of Justice.
Congresswoman Darlene Hooley commented in written remarks supporting this year's Campaign: "The Oregon State Bar estimates that less than 20 percent of the legal needs of low-income Oregonians are currently being met. Every day people call my office needing legal assistance but lacking the resources to secure an attorney who will protect their rights and interests. My heart breaks whenever I see a family in need who cannot get the justice they deserve because they cannot afford an attorney--and I see this far too often."
Since 1991, the Campaign for Equal Justice has raised more than $10 million in contributions from attorneys who care about access to justice. The Campaign uses the funds to help deliver critical legal aid services to nearly 20,000 people annually throughout Oregon. The Campaign is necessary because more than half a million Oregonians currently live in poverty, many of whom have compelling legal needs. Legal aid representation is limited to critical legal needs, such as issues that impact access to food, shelter, medical care, income maintenance, and spousal or child abuse. Because of insufficient funding, two out of every three applicants for legal aid services in 2003 were turned away. It is the goal of the Campaign to facilitate sufficient funding for legal aid programs so that eligible applicants for legal aid services will not be denied necessary services.
Michael Keeney, Director of Marion-Polk Legal Aid Service, Inc., reports, "At MPLAS, we attempt to address what I characterize as survival issues: representation for domestic and sexual violence victims, public and subsidized housing rights, and public benefits issues. Yet, we lack the resources and personnel to accept all cases within even this narrow group of critical legal needs." Within the next year, MPLAS is anticipating the loss of a grant that currently constitutes 40 percent of the organization's revenue. MPLAS is struggling to deal with this pending revenue loss, and the Campaign is hoping to be able to fill this funding gap.
Donors wishing to support legal aid services in Marion and Polk counties can make tax-deductible contributions payable to the Campaign for Equal Justice, and send the checks to Marion-Polk Legal Aid Service, 1655 State Street, Salem, Oregon 97301. For questions, please contact Carla Mikkelson at (503) 581-5265.
United Way Donor Designations Up in 2004
One anonymous donor and Western States Bank designated Marion-Polk Legal Aid Service, Inc. for their United Way contributions in 2004. This year's total is $1200, a 25% increase over 2003.
MPLAS cannot thank our anonymous donor personally. However, their generosity is much appreciated. Western States Bank donated over $1000 to MPLAS and their support is gratefully accepted.
The donations can be used in several ways to support legal assistance to low-income individuals and families. It purchases 20 hours of attorney representation. It can purchase 3,750 educational booklets for clients and members of the community. It can help support the web site, which connects the community to other helpful legal information sources. It can buy divorce packets for clients unable to afford them.
Thanks to United Way donors for their continued support.
Legal Aid - Alive and Well
As featured in the April 2001 Marion County Bar Association Bulletin
On any given Monday morning, the reception area of Marion-Polk Legal Aid Service, Inc. (MPLAS) looks like a social services agency, with applications being filled out and people restlessly waiting to be seen. Since its founding in 1967, our office has been as much a community service as it is a law firm. The people who file in are looking for assistance on a variety of civil law issues but the overriding problem they all share is poverty.
During intake hours, everyone at or below poverty level seeking legal help within our service areas will see one of the paralegals or attorneys in our office. Our substantive law areas include domestic violence and general domestic relations, landlord-tenant, publice benefits including health law, and unemployment. In addition, we have a special grant with the Mid-Willamette Senior Services Agency to see seniors, age 60 and above. Our intake hours are Monday and Tuesday mornings from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m., and to meet the demand of the "working poor" we have added Tuesday afternoon intake hours from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m.
On average, about 45 cases come in to our main office each week, although the record in recent memory was 67. We currently have eight attorneys and two paralegals, as well as five support members. We often spend a couple of hours each week sifting through new cases, and are forced to reject many--usually domestic relations--due to our limited resources and personnel. The Marion-Polk counties area is estimated to have at least 50,000 poor eligible for our services.
Most of our staff has been working here for many years. Our director, Michael Keeney, has 25 years of experience in poverty law and legal aid offices. He has been at the helm of MPLAS for almost 12 years. Michael also carries a caseload and handles most of the appellate work for our office. Unlike many legal aid offices, MPLAS was able to retain a core of experienced attorneys after federal cuts dropped the number of staff in the mid-1990's.
Peter James, who specializes in benefits law and commutes daily from Eugene, has been with our office for almost eleven years. Chris Sielicky, who carries a heavy domestic relations caseload, has worked here for about ten years. Jorge Lara, who does landlord-tenant, some employment benefits, and elder law, has been here for almost nine years. Carla Mikkelson, our administrator and last year's recipient of the Stuart Compton Service Award, has been here at MPLAS for over seven years but had several years of employment with other Oregon legal aid offices. It is probably coincidental that they also comprise our most avid group of golfers.
The real award for longevity goes to Leslie Lanning, who has been a domestic relations paralegal with our office since 1977. Liam Deyerle, a paralegal who handles benefits cases and other administrative law cases, also pre-dates the 1996 federal cuts. This kind of dedication is unusual in the field of poverty law, which has a high turnover rate.
With the new financial buttressing of state fees, local and state bar fundraising and miscellaneous grant money, Michael Keeney has been able to slowly rebuild staff numbers back to meet the pre-1996 level. The "newer" crew includes Audrey Hirsch, who is well known for her active role in the local bar, and Angelica Vega, who came here after a stint at the Oregon City LASO office. Ed Millis joined us as a Willamette grad after a thirty-year career in the Navy. Ed shares a part time position with Kelly Noor, who is a graduate of the University of Utah.
Thanks to a recent grant from United Way, we have opened a satellite office in Polk County at 769 N. Main Street in Independence. Since we opened this branch in May 2000, over 139 applicants have been seen, even though we are only open three afternoons a week with a staff of two. Our regular staff takes turns in handling this office, at which we utilize the two support staff and three attorneys we have who are fluent in Spanish.
Many of our newer attorneys have begun a change from specializing in one substantive law area to becoming generalists in all areas. This cross training helps us to give a broad spectrum of assistance to clients and has been facilitated by maintaining the tenure of our attorneys. It is also very important to the kind of assistance we provide.
Part of our daily routine, regardless of the legal concern or the client, is to find out if our client has knowledge of what is available to them and inform them about their options: Have they applied for welfare? Housing assistance? Food stamps? Unemployment? General Assistance or SSI/SSD benefits? Oregon Health Plan? Do they have a list of shelters? Are they a victim of domestic violence? Is Support Enforcement or Services to Children and Families involved? Often, a legal concern in one area is a marker for a series of other legal concerns.
Due to the large numbers of cases that come through our doors, we rely heavily on advice and self-help resources. Many of our clients just need simple advice on the law and information on rights and obligations that they are unaware of in either a court or administrative law setting. We provide informative pamphlets on different areas of civil law, explain procedures, look over notices and documents, and dispense advice on options--legal or practical--that would apply.
We also rely on self-help clinics for uncomplicated domestic relations cases. Leslie Lanning runs most of the pro se custody and divorce workshops that are held every month. She also coordinates the volunteer attorneys for the advice clinic at the Marion County Courthouse, and handles most of the associated administrative paperwork.
Another key resource MPLAS has is one of the most active emeritus lawyer programs in the state, if not the country. Our ELVIS (Emeritus Lawyers Volunteering in Service) program is currently composed of twelve dedicated attorneys who have retired from receiving a paycheck for their services. They run five senior clinics per month and last year were advocates in 223 cases of the 320 pro bono cases that were routed through our offices. Unfortunately, over this last year the numbers of these volunteers have dropped, leaving our office to staff clinics and resulting in turning away many more cases. Anyone who is contemplating retirement after fifteen or more years of practice and who has an interest in pro bono work is encouraged to call Audrey Hirsch or Michael Keeney about the opportunity to join our ELVIS program.
One of the many conditions we regularly deal with is a large proportion of physically and mentally disabled clients. People who receive benefits based on their disability usually subside at well below the poverty level. The primary exceptions are those who have family resources. Peter James notes that most disabled clients we see have been rejected by one of the federal or state social services systems. "Normally, an attorney would expect clients to have a level of sophistication about where resources are and how to try to access them, but many of our clients are not able to communicate well, and are often not cognizant of basic rights."
Often, a disabled client is a repeat client for our office, coming in to deal with legal problems that crop up in a variety of settings. Sometimes our clients are referred by one of the social services agencies or the Courts after it is clear that they are unable to get through the system on their own. We frequently act as quasi-social workers, advising them step-by-step on how to follow through on paperwork.
Due to our limits on resources and personnel, we rely heavily on the graces of pro bono assistance, and we are lucky to have a dedicated private bar. Last year private attorneys handled approximately 97 cases. It is never too often to thank those who give of their time, and to thank the only county bar that graciously raises such large amounts of money for the Campaign for Equal Justice.
Even with the generosity of the bar, we still have a large need for attorneys who will accept pro bono cases. The state bar and the local bar have been updating us on the high unmet legal needs for low-income residents. Year after year, we rely upon the same dedicated attorneys to take individual cases. We have the highest need for domestic relations attorneys but we also frequently get cases in areas such as consumer law, landlord-tenant, elder law, and foreclosures that we are unable to handle.
As you can see by this description, many of the services provided by MPLAS are out of the sphere of the traditional legal community and are providing help at a much more basic level, before anything ever reaches the courthouse steps. Our firm remains dedicated to representing our clients at a variety of levels, whether it requires advice, litigation, administrative representation, gaining access to services, or soliciting pro bono access to the private bar. As it states on our letterhead, we remain committed to strive "Towards justice and dignity for all."
By Kelly Noor
Towards justice and dignity for all.
Por justicia y dignidad para todos.
PLEASE NOTE: Marion-Polk Legal Aid Service, Inc.
cannot give legal advice by telephone, fax or email.
