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Legal Hotline Connection
December 2011
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Hotlines may be a key to overcoming fear of Commitment for Pro Bono Volunteers
By David Godfrey
Senior Attorney-ABA Commission on Law and Aging
 Hotlines were cited as a potential tool for overcoming fear of commitment by potential pro bono attorneys at a recent pro bono summit. The ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service convened a National Pro Bono Summit in Washington, DC on October 24 and 25th, 2011. In preparation for the Summit invitees were asked to submit ideas and issues in pro bono development. A key issue that was raised was a fear of committing to taking on a pro bono matter. The discussion raised several fears; key among them was a fear of the potentially open ended time commitment of many traditional pro bono cases. All of us have seen a simple litigation matter morph into a complex case going from just a few hours work to potentially hundreds of hours - and that is a fear identified as keeping many potential pro bono attorneys from committing. Hotlines were recommended as an option to overcome the fear of time commitment. Hotline service has the advantage of being limited in scope. With a hotline it is possible to limit the level of service - with anything beyond that level of service being referred on for additional services. This format allows the volunteer attorney to commit, without fear of being becoming involved in unlimited representation. Read Entire Article>> |
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David Mandel Honored
 | Shoshanna Ehrlich congratulates
David Mandel on
his induction. |
David Mandel, former Supervising Attorney of the California Senior Legal Hotline and a founding member of the National Association of Senior Legal Hotlines, was inducted into the National Association of Legal Services Developers (NALSD) Class of 2011 Elder Rights Advocacy Hall of Fame. The induction took place during NALSD's annual symposium, November 10th in Boston, Massachusetts, in conjunction with the 2011 National Aging and Law Institute. The three other inductees for 2011 are Mary Catherine Rabbitt, Legal Services Developer from Colorado, Mary Louise Wilson, Legal Services Provider from Nebraska, and Paul Greenwood, Assistant District Attorney from San Diego prosecutor's cases of Elder Abuse.
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Please take our Survey!
We need your feedback on another substantive law training! Please take 5 minutes to fill out the survey. There is also a quick question regarding the next CERA webinar regarding intake training. Thank you so much for your help.
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Updates on Model Approaches States
CA
The California Senior Legal Hotline, the state Department of Aging, and the Legal Aid Association of California are partners in the 2009 Model Approaches Project with the goal of meeting the legal needs of more seniors throughout the state. Although the Senior Legal Hotline has since limited statewide services to pension counseling and domestic violence, the work of the partners is actively continuing and the Project has recently completed various studies including "Assessing the Legal Needs of California's Seniors" and "Assessing the Capacity of California's Legal Service System to Meet the Needs of Older Californians." Read Entire Article>> |
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Senior Legal Helpline Opening and Closings
 In the past year a number of senior legal hotlines operating have taken a hit: CA: The Senior Legal Hotline at Legal Services of Northern California, in operation since 1994, suspended statewide operations, except for specially funded projects, in 2010. During the last few months, David Mandel, the longtime supervising attorney, left the program, and statewide operation of the telephone hotline is limited to pension counseling and domestic violence matters. It is unlikely that LSNC will pursue re-opening a statewide senior legal hotline. Read Entire Article>> |
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Senior Legal Helplines Annual Report
 The Senior Legal Helplines Annual Report for 2010 was commissioned by the Administration on Aging as a part of its Model Approaches to Statewide Legal Assistance Project. The report was produced by the Center for Elder Rights Advocacy (CERA), the National Legal Resource Center member responsible for Technical Assistance for Legal Helplines. Beginning in 2009, AoA, in collaboration with CERA, the Center for Social Gerontology (TCSG) and a workgroup of senior helpline managers and Legal Assistance Developers, began a concerted effort to develop reporting guidelines for MA helplines/hotlines. Model Approaches participating hotlines for Project Years 2009 and 2010 were asked to voluntarily report data for their operations in 2010 to the extent possible. At CERA's request to all the senior legal helplines, some MA participating hotlines from other project years as well as one non-MA hotline also submitted data. |
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Past and Upcoming CERA Webinars
September 22, 2011-"Telephone Communication Skills for Legal Hotline Advocates"
October 13, 2011-"How a hotline can help stop harassment by creditors"
November 17, 2011-"Measuring Outcomes and How to Conduct an Outcome Study"
December 8, 2011-"Targeting Minority and Rural Communities"
January 19, 2012 - "Training for Your Front Line Intake Staff" (Tenative)
March 8, 2012 - "Integrating Law Students in to your Legal Hotline: Ethical, Supervisory, and Logistical Considerations" (Tenative)
April 12, 2012 - "Maximizing Technology" (Tenative)
May 10, 2012 - "Grant Writing and How to Write a Good Story for Legal Hotlines" (Tenative)
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This newsletter is produced by the Center for Elder Rights Advocacy, a partner in the National Legal Resource Center. Other partners in this effort to provide support to senior legal programs throughout the nation are National Senior Citizens Law Center, National Consumer Law Center, The Center for Social Gerontology, and American Bar Association-Commission on Law and Aging.
For questions, email CERA.
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