The Legal Aid Society’s Post

Last week, OneJustice’s Jocelyn Ortiz and Miguel Martinez traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in #ABADay2024. After their time on the hill, both Jocelyn and Miguel mentioned some key takeaways: > There is bipartisan agreement that civil legal aid funding is important to members of congress as many of their constituents utilize services. > Congresspeople commented on the amazing work Legal Services Corporation grantees such as Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, Inland Counties Legal Services, Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County, California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc., and Bay Area Legal Aid do everyday—their work makes a difference in local economies, communities, and for families. > It is abundantly clear that legal outcomes are better for small businesses, veterans, seniors, survivors of abuse, children, and tenants when they have access to civil legal aid, which is why robust funding for legal aid is critical. Miguel and Jocelyn met with members of congress and their staff, including Congresswoman Judy Chu (pictured), to discuss the critical importance of prioritizing funding for LSC. #DefendJustice #legalaid

In this op-ed, I share why it is so important for Colorado to catch up to other Western states when it comes to investing in civil legal aid to advance the founding principle of “and justice for all.”    Every day at Colorado Legal Services and organizations like us, attorneys and mission staff help some of the most vulnerable Coloradans escape domestic violence, receive veterans’ benefits, keep their homes, fight the mistreatment of older Coloradans, stop unfair treatment in their workplace, and much more. And we do it on a shoestring.   #legalaid #colorado https://lnkd.in/gCVbUEaS

April is Volunteer Appreciation Month, and we want to highlight some ways that our projects make a difference! Tupelo Attorneys Sarah Phillips and Kristin Belvin have participated in multiple free legal clinics in the First Judicial District over the past year sponsored by the Mississippi Access to Justice. They attended the clinics held on February 13, 2023 in Lee County; April 5, 2023 in Itawamba County; September 18, 2023 in Lee County; and February 22, 2024 in Lee County. The Mississippi Access to Justice Commission seeks to improve access to justice in civil legal proceedings for the poor in Mississippi. More information about the Mississippi Access to Justice Commission can be found in the following link: Legal Resources | MSATJC #YWCares #VolunteerAppreciationMonth

On April 30th, MassLive.com published a piece by CLA Fair Housing Testing Coordinator Nuri Sherif. In the piece, Sherif, who has both a Bachelor's and Master's in History, writes about the historical legacy of housing inequality in Massachusetts as well as the resources available to those experiencing housing discrimination. Sherif wrote: The Fair Housing Project’s testing program is another affirmative tool meant to evaluate housing providers’ compliance with fair housing laws. Where there is evidence of discrimination, there are options for holding landlords accountable while advocating that their policy and practices align with anti-discrimination laws. CLA’s Fair Housing Project helps clients with a variety of fair housing issues, including racial harassment, refusal to rent due to family status, refusal to remove lead paint, and discrimination based on disability. In addition to litigation, the Fair Housing Project conducts educational workshops on fair housing laws for tenant groups, social service providers, landlords, and other community members. The Project also trains civil rights investigators to “test” whether housing providers are unlawfully discriminating against tenants and applicants for housing. Read more on our website: https://lnkd.in/eFTSUCiR

When tenants have access to legal representation, they are far less likely to fall into homelessness. A shocking 99% of tenants who go to eviction court without representation are displaced. And while nearly all LA landlords have an attorney by their side, the vast majority of tenants are forced to navigate the legal process on their own. This week, the City of Los Angeles took a major step toward ensuring that all Angelenos have equal access to justice. A new law, set to be finalized next year, creates a permanent eviction defense program for low-income tenants who can’t afford an attorney. Learn more in The Real Deal: https://lnkd.in/g_ePkssp Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles is a leading partner in the effort to prevent homelessness by protecting low-income tenants from unfair evictions. You don't have to go through eviction alone: Learn your rights, apply for free legal assistance, and connect with community organizations through Stay Housed L.A. Visit www.stayhousedla.org or call (888) 694-0040 as soon as you receive an eviction notice.

Funds from the Massachusetts IOLTA Committee make a significant difference in the lives of real people and in our communities by supporting legal help for people across the Commonwealth who cannot afford an attorney. In partnership with the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation, the Massachusetts Bar Foundation and the Boston Bar Foundation of the Boston Bar Association, IOLTA grants increase the capacity of legal aid organizations to offer critical assistance to those who have few resources to address civil legal issues, including domestic violence, housing, immigration status, child advocacy, family law, discrimination, and health care. Learn more about the IOLTA program and where that money goes: http://ow.ly/Trtq50Jzpg5 #LegalAidChangesLives #JusticeForAll

The February issue of the A2J Dispatch is now available. Check your inbox and make sure you are signed up for the A2J Dispatch! In this month's issue, we highlight MSBA and A2JC partnering to advocate for civil legal aid funding during MSBA Day, A2JC joining Governor Wes Moore to support civil legal aid funding, and A2JC Commissioners and the broader civil legal aid community's participation in the United Way's 30/30 experience. We also showcase a new report from the Maryland Judiciary highlighting resources for the self-represented, The Housing and Affordability Act, the Renters' Rights and Stabilization Act, and the Federal Eviction Prevention Act of 2023, the history and successes of NLIHC's Erase Project, and a Human Rights report recommending legal representation for people who are unhoused or facing eviction. You can find all this and more in this month’s issue. https://lnkd.in/e6W_9GVS

Circle Green supports the "Save Community Legal Centres: End the Funding Crisis" campaign. Access to Justice is an important part of protecting core principles of our democracy. However, for an increasing number of people, access to justice is not affordable leading to unfair and unjust outcomes. Community Legal Centres play a critical role in supporting access to justice however funding is insufficient with over 1,000 people turned away from centres each day. Last year Circle Green experienced a significant increase in demand across all our legal support services, and recorded 9,517 turnaways across our humanitarian, tenancy and workplace law areas. The crisis will only worsen until the sector secures a guarantee of ongoing funding. Read more and add your endorsement here: https://ow.ly/XMCU50T2GnT #SaveCommunityLegalCentres #FundFrontlineServices #CommunityLaw

Natalie Anne Knowlton says it all about the article she's reposting when she mentions that it busts "the ludicrous assumption that only lawyers are cognitively capable of providing legal advice." (The article itself is, perhaps ironically, a bit of a hard read for laypeople -- it's academic and pretty legal jargon heavy). But the point it makes is so important. In many fields, we assume that the experts -- lawyers, scientists, researchers-- have to write the content on our website. But this doesn't make any sense-- these technical experts are exactly the people who are typically bad at writing plain language information for a public audience. They're too close to the information. They of course need to review the content, but there's no reason for them to be responsible for it. The article is about having domestic violence survivors provide direct legal aid to others, but for those of us with websites, the most logical way to go is to hire a journalist or technical writer who makes a living translating tricky concepts for normal people. Plus, a writer is much cheaper than a technical expert, especially a lawyer, often $50-$100/hr. There's a lot of journalists looking for work, and they know how to get up to speed fast. Those in the legal field may be saying, what about UUL, "unlicensed use of law"? (Yes, that's as insane as it sounds --there's actually a law that makes it difficult to provide "legal advice" on a website). There's many ways around that -- instead of "you should do X", say "many people do X" or "it is typically a good idea to do X". And a professional writer will be very helpful in making sure everything is written appropriately.