Legal Aid Service Best Practice Guide

Legal Aid Services   Congregations and faith-based nonprofits active in urban communities may increasingly find themselves confronted with program participants who face legal challenges: disputes with landlords, difficulties obtaining immigration/citizenship documents, hassles with insurance companies, or bureaucratic bottlenecks in procuring government assistance (Social Security benefits, Food Stamps, etc.) In an effort to not only “love mercy” but also to “do justice,” some FBOs are launching new legal aid programs. This best practice checklist offers some introductory principles to help guide such start-ups.   (1) STAFFING   Obviously some trained attorneys are needed for the running of an effective legal aid program. But there are important staff and volunteer roles non-lawyers can assume:    

• To maximize the efficient use of its resources the provider should explore the use of paralegals, tribal and lay advocates, law students and other legal assistants in the representation of clients. 
• Representation of clients by non-attorney practitioners should be undertaken only as specifically authorized by state, federal or tribal law and appropriate ethical restrictions. The activities of such individuals should be supervised by an attorney who is responsible for the work performed.

  Paralegals and other legal assistants may be appropriate practitioners when the following conditions exist:

• Representation by non-lawyers is authorized by state, federal or tribal law. Federal entitlement programs, such as welfare and food stamps, specifically authorize non-attorney practitioners. Many states permit non-attorney practitioners in unemployment compensation hearings. Agency rules permit non-lawyers to represent clients in certain immigration matters, and non-attorney tribal advocates are traditionally used in many tribal courts to handle a wide variety of cases.
• The law and procedure relative to the substantive legal work can be learned without a formal legal education.
• The problem does not involve ancillary legal issues that would require formal legal training to identify issues.
•  Neither the provider nor the non-attorney practitioners implicitly or explicitly hold the non-attorney practitioners out to be lawyers.

  SOURCE: From Standards for Providers of Civil Legal Services to the Poor http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/downloads/sclaid/civilstandards.pdf   The program should have in place adequate capacity and resources to carry out its work, insofar as its resources permit. Adequate capacity and resources include but are not limited to:

•        Diverse case handlers and support staff who are qualified to do the work assigned, have necessary expertise in the legal areas in which the program works, have the commitment, cultural competency, language capacity, skill and preparation necessary to carry out their responsibilities.

  SOURCE: Revised Performance Criteria Legal Services Corporation http://www.lri.lsc.gov/abstracts/abstract.asp?level1=Management&level2=Standards&abstractid=060018&ImageId=3   (2) CLIENT ACCESS   

• A legal services provider should locate and operate its service facilities, extend the assistance of private practitioners, and structure its outreach and publicity efforts in a manner that facilitates access for clients.

 

• The provider faces a number of operational decisions in which particular attention should be given to the impact on client access. This is especially true for decisions about office location, design of facilities, use of staff and private attorneys, office hours and procedures, and outreach and publicity.

 

• Select accessible locations for service offices. Be sure to consider the availability of inexpensive public transportation and free or low-cost parking for clients.

 

• Intake and office hours should be established for the convenience of clients. This will likely mean holding clinic hours in the evenings and weekends.

 

• Legal service providers should take affirmative steps to inform eligible persons of their services in a manner that encourages them to seek assistance.

  SOURCE: Standards for Providers of Civil Legal Services to the Poor http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/downloads/sclaid/civilstandards.pdf  

• Program offices, office hours, intake and telephone procedures, language capabilities of staff, procedures for communicating with non-English speaking people, and other facilities and procedures are all reasonably calculated to achieve the broadest possible access and utilization by clients, including populations with traditional access difficulties, and make reasonable accommodation for their special needs.

  SOURCE: Revised Performance Criteria Legal Services Corporation http://www.lri.lsc.gov/abstracts/abstract.asp?level1=Management&level2=Standards&abstractid=060018&ImageId=3   Legal Clinics studied by FASTEN researchers have located their intake offices at “multi-service centers,” that is, at locations that provide an array of social services. These include such setting as free or low-cost medical clinics, homeless shelters, and nonprofit community centers. Placing clinics at public schools was not an effective practice, given the significant periods of time (summer, holidays) the schools were closed.   (3) SERVICES  

• The amount of specialization in a provider’s delivery structure should be guided by the provider’s priorities, and its feasibility given the resources and nature of the service area. The choice between specialization and a generalist practice is not absolute. The provider may adopt a mixed approach and may change the extent of specialization from time to time. 

 

• In any event the approach should be periodically reviewed and adjusted to reflect changing client needs and staff capabilities. Specialization presupposes a staff of sufficient size for it to be practical. A small funding base, or geographic factors, such as a very large rural service area, may dictate small offices, which will not permit specialization.

  SOURCE: Standards for Providers of Civil Legal Services to the Poor http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/downloads/sclaid/civilstandards.pdf   FASTEN researchers have identified legal aid clinics that, in addition to legal representation, offer “law education” programs as well. These seminars—on such topics as immigration, understanding Social Security, bankruptcy, and landlord-tenant relations—can equip low-income clients with information they need to avoid getting into legal difficulties.   (4) GENERAL TIPS FROM EXISTING CLINICS  

• Utilize a client letter at the opening of each case. The letter will summarize the client’s issue and the Clinic’s plan of representation.
• Follow-up with volunteer attorneys within 90 days of the opening of the case to check on progress. If the attorney has not heard further from the client or the client had failed to provide necessary information, send a letter to the client stating that the Clinic assumes its representation is no longer needed if it does not hear from the clinic within two weeks of receiving the letter.
• Track demographic data for all clients. This can be helpful when preparing grant proposals.