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Access to Justice Newsletter
July 2009 |
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Greetings!
The 2009 ATJ Conference was a great success! Read about the sessions and your colleagues' thoughts on the weekend. And learn about new developments in our efforts to raise private and public dollars for legal aid... You can help!
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Hope & Help in Hard Times By Ada Shen Jaffe
For the past 12 years, I have been a member of the ATJ Conference Planning Committee. Our challenge has always been to balance a complex set of goals and dynamics, including:
- Maintain a clear and consistent focus on the equal justice needs of our state's most disadvantaged and poorest people;
- Build and strengthen the broadest possible base of support for civil equal justice;
- Ensure a conference that is equally relevant and responsive to the needs of clients, those who serve them, and those who support equal justice;
- Inspire and motivate the equal justice movement to carry on in spite of the many hardships and setbacks that we and our clients face.
This year, with outstanding coordination from the Bar Leaders' Conference Planners, we were successful at a level previously unmatched!
Here were some of the comments I overheard from conference attendees:
"Dr. Danielson's keynote address shifted the way I view the justice system's responsibility in dealing with social justice problems of extreme child poverty. I wish every judge could have heard this presentation." - judicial officer
"Dr. Danielson's presentation was so powerful that it struck me with the force of a physical blow. How can we allow this neglect to continue?!" - law student
"The plenary panel provided me more than just nuts and bolts; it gave me the big picture perspective I was lacking to be able to understand why we are in this mess and how it is affecting the everyday person and those who have been exploited." - first time attendee
Thanks to all who attended. Please help us make every succeeding conference better than the last - join the committee. |
Keynote Address
Dr. Benjamin Danielson
The 2009 conference was ignited by the opening night reception keynote speech from Dr. Benjamin Danielson, the medical director of Odessa Brown Children's Clinic in Seattle (pictured above). Dr. Danielson outlined the racial disparities in the U.S. health care system and called upon everyone to challenge our policymakers to prioritize health care and to ensure its availability as a fundamental human right.
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REAP: A collaboration to further farm worker justice efforts in Washington
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| Understanding the Origins & Impacts of the Economic Crisis... and Moving Forward with Justice.
The ATJ Conference plenary session brought global, local, and legal perspectives to an issue that confronts all of us every day: the economic crisis.
Professor john a. powell, the Executive Director for the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity, spoke eloquently on the historical causes of the home foreclosure crisis and its disproportionate impact on communities of color. powell urged lawyers to think and advocate more globally in their work in order to make a lasting difference in the fight for economic justice.
Len Black, SIFE Coordinator from Heritage University focused on local solutions to the crisis. Using examples from his work in the Yakima Valley, Mr. Black delivered a strong message of community involvement in education, financial literacy, and helping families make informed economic decisions.
Bruce Neas, Legislative Coordinator at Columbia Legal Services gave startling statistics from Washington on the drastic increase in the number of families facing foreclosure. Particularly alarming is that in some counties, the numbers of families facing foreclosure is higher than the number of renters facing eviction. Mr. Neas challenged the Alliance to reexamine the types of cases that are prioritized in light of drastically changing client needs.
The myriad of systemic causes to the crisis prompted much discussion among the audience. Several in the audience spoke passionately about their views of the crisis. Others brainstormed on strategies for relief and how the ATJ community should respond. | |
This April the EJC travelled to D.C. and urged our U.S. Senators and Representatives to restore funding and flexibility to the Legal Services Corporation (LSC).
President Obama's FY 2010 budget request, released in May, includes a $45M increase for LSC over last year's $390M. The President also eliminates three restrictions on LSC recipients imposed thirteen years ago: (1) prohibition of collecting attorneys' fees, (2) prohibition of bringing class actions, and (3) required application of federal restrictions on all activities of LSC grantees, even when non-LSC funds are available.
The House budget proposes a $50M increase, but eliminates only the attorneys' fees restriction. The Senate budget allows just a $10M increase, $35M less than the President proposed, but removes all three restrictions.
These two very different budgets will have to be reconciled in conference. The EJC is communicating with staffers in both houses. Be sure you stay in the loop: Join the EJC today and read our spring e-newsletter. |
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Generous contributors continue to respond to the overwhelming need for free legal services for our state's most vulnerable during this time of economic strife. Participation and contribution levels in the Campaign for Equal Justice are up more than 100% from previous record levels of support. Nine volunteer phonathon events in Spokane, Seattle, Tacoma and Bellingham since May are largely responsible for this success. Alliance staff, board members and other volunteers who gathered for phonebanking helped raise nearly $40,000 and attract close to 200 new donors. If you have yet to make your pledge or donation to the Campaign, you can do so securely online. The Campaign also received an enormous boost from the WSBA Board of Governors. In May, the BOG voted unanimously to enter into a formal partnership between WSBA and LAW Fund in order to lend WSBA's "considerable energy, resources and support to substantially upgrade the level of voluntary contributions from its members" to the Campaign for Equal Justice. The new partnership will help solidify our efforts to create an annual tradition in the legal community of helping meet the urgent legal needs of low-income families and individuals with a contribution to the Campaign for Equal Justice. More details to follow! |
ATJ Board Welcomes Three New Members!
Kirsten Barron - Ms. Barron is an attorney and has practiced for over 20 years in the areas of business and employment law. A long-time board member of Whatcom County's pro bono program, LAW Advocates, Ms. Barron has represented clients pro bono throughout her career and understands the importance of volunteer attorneys to the civil legal aid system.
Rep. Patricia Taylor Lantz (ret.) - A native Washingtonian and an attorney, Rep. Lantz recently retired as a state representative. During her tenure and as House Judiciary Committee Chairwoman, Rep. Lantz was a champion for civil legal aid. Rep. Lantz served on the Civil Legal Aid Oversight Committee and the Board for Judicial Administration's Court Funding Task Force.
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Leading in Changing Times: 2009 WSBA Bar Leaders Conference
By Moni T. Law, Bar Leaders Program Manager
WYLD President Jaime Hawk, Naomi Kim, Luz Herrera and Gov. Carla Lee on Challenges Facing Young Lawyers
The Bar Leaders Conference (BLC), held jointly with the ATJ Conference, was a success with one of the largest turnouts in its 14 year history. As WSBA President Mark Johnson remarked during the opening night reception, members of the bar must reach out to those in need, including families in jeopardy of losing their homes to foreclosure.
The BLC started on Saturday morning with the popular "Roundtable" discussion with members of the WSBA Board of Governors and the Washington State Supreme Court Justices discussing the line between authorized and unauthorized activity for WSBA under GR 12. The second session entitled "What the Future Holds: The Practice of Law in the 21st Century" covered the fundamental shifts in our profession including changing demographics and the trends toward outsourcing and downsizing in firms. The BLC ended with a conversation facilitated by young attorneys on the "Challenges Facing Young Lawyers," with pro-active solutions including pro bono work opportunities during this time of high unemployment for new attorneys. | |
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Alliance Announcements
- Judge González, ATJ Board Chair-Elect, was honored by Washington Women Lawyers at their annual Judicial Appreciation Luncheon.
- Nominations now accepted for the 2010 Goldmark Award.
- Upcoming ATJ Board Meetings: 7/17, 9/18, 10/16, 11/13, 12/18
- Seattle University School of Law names Kristi Cruz as first Leadership for Justice Fellow. Ms. Cruz will work with the Northwest Justice Project for one year.
- Save the date for Northwest Immigrant Rights Project's annual fundraising reception - celebrating 25 years of service to the immigrant community! The Silver Jubilee will be held on October 10, 2009 at the Hilton in Seattle.
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