County Bar Legal Assistance Project
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Historically, Vermont Legal Aid, Legal
Services Law Line of Vermont, and the Vermont Law School Legal Clinics have received IOLTA funds to further the many programs they offer to low-income Vermonters
in need of civil legal services. A wide variety
of other grantees has received funding as
well, including, for example, “Have Justice
Will Travel,” “Disability Rights Vermont,”
“Vermont Immigration and Asylum Advocates,” “Women Safe,” the “St. Johnsbury
Community Justice Center,” and the “Vermont Ethics Network.” Each grantee submits a detailed application, which includes
a grant narrative, timeline, grant goals and
objectives, population to be served, staff
resources, client eligibility, financial resources, and a proposed budget. The VBF
Grants Committee thoroughly reviews each
application, typically asks follow-up questions of applicants, and spends many hours
discussing and ranking the different applications for submission to the Vermont Bar
Foundation Board for funding approval.
All approved grantees are then required
to submit both an interim six-month report
describing and quantifying the services or
programs made possible by grant expenditures during the six-month period, and
a year-end final report, which includes a
program narrative and financial statement
summarizing the expenditure of the IOLTA
funds throughout the year.
So, in 2007 the Pro Bono Committee
saw an opportunity to address the need
for lawyer representation for low-income
Vermonters in the categories of civil cases
where the need was most critical. The Rutland County Bar Association, in conjunction
with the Vermont Bar Association, agreed
to submit an application to the Vermont Bar
Foundation for funding to establish the Rutland Pilot Project. The project envisioned a
delivery system that trained private attorneys, matched them with low income clients who were parties in the categories of
cases identified above, and paid the attorneys a reduced fee ($60.00 per hour) to represent the clients in their cases. Caps were
established in each of the categories of
cases¾five hours per case in landlord/tenant, foreclosure, and collection cases, and
three hours per case in involuntary guardianship and child support contempt cases.
Participating attorneys would also have the
option of donating all or a portion of their
time with the cases, pro bono.
The VBA Pro Bono Committee also recognized the need for central coordination
of lawyers’ legal assistance efforts throughout the state, and applied for a Vermont
Bar Foundation grant to fund a Pro Bono
Coordinator position. Attorney Mary Ashcroft was selected, and part of her responsibilities included serving as administrator of
the project, connecting litigants with particTHE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • WINTER 2016
ipating attorneys, and processing the documentation associated with the project.
Another key component of the project
was the critical involvement of Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Law Line of Vermont. Unable because of funding reductions to typically provide in-court representation to litigants in the categories of cases
covered by the project, the two service providers play an integral role in the process
by allowing use of their toll free Vermont
Law Help phone line (1-800-889-2047) for
income/asset screening. Eligibility is determined by the same criteria used by Vermont Legal Aid, based upon the current
poverty guidelines. Vermont Law Help then
provides intake processing, and Legal Services Law Line of Vermont provides over the
phone advice to clients awaiting placement
with project attorneys.
The grant application was successful in
2007 and training and publicity efforts began in earnest. Free training was provided
by volunteer lawyers versed in the categories of cases, usually over the lunch hour
at brown bag CLE sessions that were then
videotaped for future training use. A participating attorney received free CLE credits, and his or her name was placed on the
list for the category of cases covered. Flyers describing the project were made available at the court counters, and given to the
many litigants who oftentimes requested
legal assistance with their cases but lamented that they were not able to afford an attorney. Court staff were delighted to offer
them a free resource for lawyer representation. As Court Operations Manager Sharon McNeil voiced in recent support of the
project:
We have many low income pro se litigants who are at a loss as to how to
best represent themselves in