Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Client focus informs current practice
Year of service as a deferred associate deepens appreciation of need for relationships
By: Jared Welsh, Associate, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton
When I was offered the opportunity to spend a year working in the public interest prior to
starting as a first-year associate at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, I jumped at the chance.
Like many people, I had become a lawyer in part because it would give me a unique ability to contribute to my community, and a year spent doing public interest work would give me a rare opportunity to focus exclusively on doing just that. At the same time, I hoped it would give me real, practical experience rarely available to first-year attorneys. My time at the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation more than delivered on these hopes and expectations; over a year working directly with clients to solve their most pressing issues, I developed skills and experience that have proven invaluable in private practice.
At AVLF, I focused on assisting low-income clients with housing-related issues. Almost immediately, I began working directly with potential clients, identifying legal issues in which we could provide effective assistance. And thanks to AVLF's tremendous expertise and willingness to invest time and resources in a new attorney, I soon was able to guide clients through the process of making a claim or answering an eviction notice with confidence. Before long, I was negotiating with opposing counsel, making court appearances and representing clients in mediations. I constantly was learning not just the law, but the practice of law—skills such as identifying the critical facts in a dispute, convincing opposing parties that compromise made the most sense for them, too, navigating unsympathetic bureaucracies and managing a client's expectations when the ideal solution was truly out of reach. Each day was challenging and exciting, and we always provided attentive, insightful, professional advice and assistance—something that I soon learned was incredibly valuable to our clients, even when we couldn't reach the result they hoped for.
My work at AVLF included many vivid, memorable cases. There was a couple who faced imminent eviction because of a simple clerical error at the eviction court and a woman who couldn't afford to replace all of her children's clothing and other belongings after moving into a bedbug-infested apartment. There were too many clients who had paid rent for months to absentee landlords, only to discover upon receiving an eviction notice that their homes had long since gone into foreclosure. With AVLF's help, many of these people were able to save their homes or obtain the recovery they needed to start over.
In one particularly moving case, I helped AVLF staff and a volunteer attorney enforce a court order to recover a client's property from his landlord, who had evaded service and refused to cooperate with counsel after an illegal eviction. We arrived at the apartment with marshals and a locksmith, gained entry to the property and recovered most of the client's belongings—and, when the landlord arrived to protest, we finally were able to serve him personally.
AVLF routinely achieves such extraordinary results for its clients, and it was a great privilege and a true learning experience to spend a year participating in its great work. But in some ways it was not these special cases that meant the most to me, but rather the day-to-day client relationships I developed, some of which continue even now. Working with clients over time, helping them confront ongoing legal issues and giving them advice based on the insight into their circumstances that only a sustained relationship can provide is at the core of a lawyer's service, whether his clients are low-income individuals or major corporations. Of all the legal skills AVLF gave me the opportunity to develop, this constant engagement with and focus on my clients' circumstances and needs has most deeply informed my private practice. This aspect of my experience as a public interest lawyer has given me a deep appreciation for this most basic part of our profession, which will continue to serve me well in private practice. And the knowledge of what a difference insightful, professional advice can make for anyone will help ensure that I continue to do pro bono work throughout my career.
By: Jared Welsh, Associate, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton
When I was offered the opportunity to spend a year working in the public interest prior to
starting as a first-year associate at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, I jumped at the chance.Like many people, I had become a lawyer in part because it would give me a unique ability to contribute to my community, and a year spent doing public interest work would give me a rare opportunity to focus exclusively on doing just that. At the same time, I hoped it would give me real, practical experience rarely available to first-year attorneys. My time at the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation more than delivered on these hopes and expectations; over a year working directly with clients to solve their most pressing issues, I developed skills and experience that have proven invaluable in private practice.
At AVLF, I focused on assisting low-income clients with housing-related issues. Almost immediately, I began working directly with potential clients, identifying legal issues in which we could provide effective assistance. And thanks to AVLF's tremendous expertise and willingness to invest time and resources in a new attorney, I soon was able to guide clients through the process of making a claim or answering an eviction notice with confidence. Before long, I was negotiating with opposing counsel, making court appearances and representing clients in mediations. I constantly was learning not just the law, but the practice of law—skills such as identifying the critical facts in a dispute, convincing opposing parties that compromise made the most sense for them, too, navigating unsympathetic bureaucracies and managing a client's expectations when the ideal solution was truly out of reach. Each day was challenging and exciting, and we always provided attentive, insightful, professional advice and assistance—something that I soon learned was incredibly valuable to our clients, even when we couldn't reach the result they hoped for.
My work at AVLF included many vivid, memorable cases. There was a couple who faced imminent eviction because of a simple clerical error at the eviction court and a woman who couldn't afford to replace all of her children's clothing and other belongings after moving into a bedbug-infested apartment. There were too many clients who had paid rent for months to absentee landlords, only to discover upon receiving an eviction notice that their homes had long since gone into foreclosure. With AVLF's help, many of these people were able to save their homes or obtain the recovery they needed to start over.
In one particularly moving case, I helped AVLF staff and a volunteer attorney enforce a court order to recover a client's property from his landlord, who had evaded service and refused to cooperate with counsel after an illegal eviction. We arrived at the apartment with marshals and a locksmith, gained entry to the property and recovered most of the client's belongings—and, when the landlord arrived to protest, we finally were able to serve him personally.
AVLF routinely achieves such extraordinary results for its clients, and it was a great privilege and a true learning experience to spend a year participating in its great work. But in some ways it was not these special cases that meant the most to me, but rather the day-to-day client relationships I developed, some of which continue even now. Working with clients over time, helping them confront ongoing legal issues and giving them advice based on the insight into their circumstances that only a sustained relationship can provide is at the core of a lawyer's service, whether his clients are low-income individuals or major corporations. Of all the legal skills AVLF gave me the opportunity to develop, this constant engagement with and focus on my clients' circumstances and needs has most deeply informed my private practice. This aspect of my experience as a public interest lawyer has given me a deep appreciation for this most basic part of our profession, which will continue to serve me well in private practice. And the knowledge of what a difference insightful, professional advice can make for anyone will help ensure that I continue to do pro bono work throughout my career.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
First weeks on job were 'a crash course in juvenile law'
Deferred health care associate gains quick appreciation for responsibility
By: Diana Cohen, Associate, Arnall Golden Gregory
My very first client as a newly minted attorney was a four year old boy named Jamie,[1] and our initial meeting took place seated on his foster mother’s living room floor while he polished off a plate of chicken nuggets. At the time, I was working as a deferred law firm associate with the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Association’s (AVLF) Once Child, One Lawyer Program. My law firm, Arnall Golden Gregory (AGG), has a strong partnership with AVLF and I have always been interested in juvenile law, so the One Child, One Lawyer Program was a perfect fit during my deferral period from the firm.
My first few weeks at AVLF were a crash course in juvenile law. I worked directly with Lila Bradley, the Director of the One Child, One Lawyer Program, assisting her with the docket of child deprivation cases that she handles through Fulton County Juvenile Court’s Family Drug Court program. On a typical day, I would attend hearings with Lila, try to keep pace during impromptu hallway meetings with various social workers and attorneys, and use any spare moments to catch-up on the complicated histories behind each case. One case involved nine children who were divided up and placed in several foster homes. Another case involved a teen boy who had to live in a therapeutic residential facility because severe emotional-behavioral issues had caused him to lash out physically against her foster mother. All the cases involved mothers with drug problems who were attempting to get back on track, with varying degrees of success.
By the time my first solo client meeting occurred, I’d shadowed Lila on countless other child meetings and interviews, but the task still felt daunting. My client, Jamie, had been living in a stable foster placement for as long as he could remember, with a grandmotherly figure who took great pride in his care. The initial case plan was for him to return to his mother’s custody after she completed drug treatment, but things had changed by the time I became involved. Jamie’s mother had dropped out of her treatment facility, stopped attending visits with Jamie and his siblings, and failed to return phone calls from her social worker. The new case plan was to terminate the mother’s parental rights, so Jamie and his siblings could move to permanent adoptive placements. That first meeting was just one of many where I would gradually try to ascertain Jamie’s feelings and preferences related to these difficult issues.
For the first five minutes of our meeting, Jamie stared intently at the chicken nugget crumbs on his plate, occasionally shrugging as I asked him about school. His trust would not be won easily. As I got to know Jamie better during subsequent meetings, I learned that he enjoyed visits with his six siblings (who were living in different foster homes), and felt especially attached to his three year old sister. From time to time, I would ask Jamie about his mother. He would look over at his foster mother, thinking perhaps I meant her. Jamie’s foster mother would gently remind him that his mother is the lady he sometimes sees on Saturday when he visits with his siblings. “Oh, their mother,” Jamie would reply, thinking he’d solved the riddle.
When I transferred from AVLF to my position at AGG as a healthcare associate, the firm adopted Jamie’s case on a pro bono basis so I could continue to work on it. During my first year at AGG, I represented Jamie and his three year old sister in the termination of their mother’s parental rights. Although termination of parental rights (TPR) is considered a last resort, Jamie’s case had been pending for years and, after initially working very hard in her drug treatment program, his mother had gone into a downward spiral involving drugs and prison, followed by close to a year of no contact with her younger children. The TPR hearing, which I handled on Jamie and his sister’s behalf, was expected to be relatively simple given the compelling facts in favor of termination.
I’ll never forget the pit in my stomach when Jamie’s mother appeared for the hearing. Despite her prolonged absence, she now wanted to make one last effort to maintain her legal status as Jamie’s mother. It would be my job to cross-examine her when she testified in the case – to ask questions that highlighted her track record of failing to care for her children. In the end, Jamie’s mother testified that she did not feel comfortable taking care of him and his younger sister; rather, she hoped to preserve her relationship with her older teenage children who were represented by another attorney. I was spared from having to ask many difficult questions, but it was a very close brush with one of the hardest tasks that any child advocate will have to face.
Months after the TPR was final, Jamie was transferred from his foster mother’s house – the only home he’d ever known – to a new adoptive home 60 miles away. Jamie’s foster mother felt that she was getting too old to care for him long-term and therefore felt that she could not offer herself as an adoptive placement. Although Jamie’s adoptive parents are completely dedicated, the transition was rough. Jamie began acting up in school and bedwetting. His adoptive parents are continuing to work with him, his teachers, and a therapist to help him adjust to the huge change in his life.
Although Jamie’s case closed when the adoption became final, I have continued to handle other pro bono One Child, Once Lawyer cases during my last two years at AGG. Certain critical legal skills are common to both my healthcare and juvenile law practices. In both areas, I have to listen closely to my clients, try to put myself in their shoes, and understand both the immediate issues and the bigger picture. The best regulatory advice comes from an attorney who understands a healthcare client’s business, just as the best child representation comes from an attorney who understands the child’s broader family relationships, educational concerns, and psychological issues. My One Child, One Lawyer cases have taught me that lawyers have a great deal of power, and that power needs to be handled with the utmost care and sense of responsibility. Life-changing decisions are made every day in Juvenile Court – when families are split apart, or new families are created. In my healthcare regulatory practice, our clients rely heavily on the counsel that we provide, and I take that responsibility very seriously.
AVLF and its programs embody a commitment to public service and a belief in the ability of committed attorneys to do great things for their community. I try to emulate these ideals in my current practice and believe they have given me an excellent foundation for a meaningful legal career.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Former AVLF Deferred Associate Recounts First Experiences in Court
Crucial law lessons learned from AVLF domestic violence work after receiving firm's deferral
By: Franklin Trapp, Associate, DLA Piper LLP (USA)
I entered my 3L year, 2008 – 2009, happy to have an offer from a law firm – DLA Piper. Then came the economic downturn, forcing many law firms to defer their future associates. When I
initially learned that I too would be deferred from my original start date, naturally I was nervous about my future. However, DLA Piper handled the situation beautifully, helping me to find and obtain a fellowship position with AVLF’s Domestic Violence Project – a project to which my firm has dedicated many hours representing victims of intimate partner violence. As a Deferred Fellow at AVLF, my job was to work the DV Project’s intake center and represent clients in court. That is, instead of being out of work, DLA provided me with a generous stipend and I had the opportunity to both practice law and to help those in need.
One of my first clients, Susan, had been brutally beaten by her husband. One night, a few weeks after leaving her husband, Susan received an anonymous phone call. The voice on the other end of the line told her that something was wrong with her car. Susan went out to the parking lot to check it out. Her husband was waiting in the shadows and attacked Susan with a syringe, screaming that he was going to infect her.
I represented Susan in her attempt to get a 12-month protective order. The chilling facts of the case, combined with a history of violence, made the court’s decision open and shut. Afterward, thanks to AVLF’s comprehensive service to victims of intimate partner violence, I was able to represent Susan in her divorce. This was uncharted waters for me – the first divorce I ever handled. The process was contentious, to put it mildly. It was typical to leave status conferences with the husband screaming at me and my client. The husband also was able to delay the case significantly, so that it dragged on and on with little progress. However, we finally obtained the divorce, and on terms favorable to Susan. A year later, I checked in to see how she was doing. AVLF, she said, helped to give her life back to her. Now Susan is pursuing a degree in education and feels she is truly free from her husband’s abuse.
On another case, I faced an opposing counsel who, to put it mildly, had a great deal of difficulty behaving in a civil manner. This case forced me to develop a thick skin, and to do that quickly, too, while learning how to advocate for my client in the face of a truly awful opposing counsel. The opposing lawyer’s primary tactic to obtain favorable terms for her client was to bully me at every opportunity: yelling, filing false conflict letters and bogus “emergency motions,” barraging me with insults, even calling me names. I have to chuckle now, remembering the emails I received from this lawyer – whenever my name appeared in the text of the email, she actually would insert a devil-face emoticon next to it. Once in the lobby outside the courtroom, this lawyer was so loud and threatening that the court staff felt compelled to call in the Sheriff’s department to calm her down. To deal with this lawyer’s behavior, I found myself preparing more diligently and thoroughly than I ever had before. I wanted to cover every possibility and make sure that everything I presented to the court was airtight. The negative example and behavior of this opposing counsel taught me a great deal about procedure, ethics and civility. All along the way, my mentors at AVLF guided me and taught me how a real lawyer should act and how to truly and honestly represent my client, all the while playing by the rules and maintaining a poker face. The case was ultimately resolved in my client’s favor. Later, she obtained a divorce, thanks to the help of another AVLF volunteer lawyer. I haven’t seen that opposing counsel since our last court date, but her behavior during this case has made her the stuff of legend with the court staff.
Now, I am a second-year associate with DLA Piper, working mainly in construction law. I am constantly aware of how much there is to learn about this area of law, and about practicing law, period. But learning the ropes in a court of law, with real live clients whose safety may be at stake, and in an often intense courtroom setting, forced me to understand how to respond swiftly and how to think outside of the box. I truly believe those experiences are easing my path from naïve, wide-eyed associate to useful lawyer. I have a long way to go in this career, but I am very grateful to my firm and to AVLF for allowing me to start my practice with this experience. Serving as a Deferred Fellow turned out to be both incredibly useful and a great luxury: it gave me confidence, and it gave me the time and the support to learn skills I will always be able to use throughout my career.
I entered my 3L year, 2008 – 2009, happy to have an offer from a law firm – DLA Piper. Then came the economic downturn, forcing many law firms to defer their future associates. When I
initially learned that I too would be deferred from my original start date, naturally I was nervous about my future. However, DLA Piper handled the situation beautifully, helping me to find and obtain a fellowship position with AVLF’s Domestic Violence Project – a project to which my firm has dedicated many hours representing victims of intimate partner violence. As a Deferred Fellow at AVLF, my job was to work the DV Project’s intake center and represent clients in court. That is, instead of being out of work, DLA provided me with a generous stipend and I had the opportunity to both practice law and to help those in need.One of my first clients, Susan, had been brutally beaten by her husband. One night, a few weeks after leaving her husband, Susan received an anonymous phone call. The voice on the other end of the line told her that something was wrong with her car. Susan went out to the parking lot to check it out. Her husband was waiting in the shadows and attacked Susan with a syringe, screaming that he was going to infect her.
I represented Susan in her attempt to get a 12-month protective order. The chilling facts of the case, combined with a history of violence, made the court’s decision open and shut. Afterward, thanks to AVLF’s comprehensive service to victims of intimate partner violence, I was able to represent Susan in her divorce. This was uncharted waters for me – the first divorce I ever handled. The process was contentious, to put it mildly. It was typical to leave status conferences with the husband screaming at me and my client. The husband also was able to delay the case significantly, so that it dragged on and on with little progress. However, we finally obtained the divorce, and on terms favorable to Susan. A year later, I checked in to see how she was doing. AVLF, she said, helped to give her life back to her. Now Susan is pursuing a degree in education and feels she is truly free from her husband’s abuse.
On another case, I faced an opposing counsel who, to put it mildly, had a great deal of difficulty behaving in a civil manner. This case forced me to develop a thick skin, and to do that quickly, too, while learning how to advocate for my client in the face of a truly awful opposing counsel. The opposing lawyer’s primary tactic to obtain favorable terms for her client was to bully me at every opportunity: yelling, filing false conflict letters and bogus “emergency motions,” barraging me with insults, even calling me names. I have to chuckle now, remembering the emails I received from this lawyer – whenever my name appeared in the text of the email, she actually would insert a devil-face emoticon next to it. Once in the lobby outside the courtroom, this lawyer was so loud and threatening that the court staff felt compelled to call in the Sheriff’s department to calm her down. To deal with this lawyer’s behavior, I found myself preparing more diligently and thoroughly than I ever had before. I wanted to cover every possibility and make sure that everything I presented to the court was airtight. The negative example and behavior of this opposing counsel taught me a great deal about procedure, ethics and civility. All along the way, my mentors at AVLF guided me and taught me how a real lawyer should act and how to truly and honestly represent my client, all the while playing by the rules and maintaining a poker face. The case was ultimately resolved in my client’s favor. Later, she obtained a divorce, thanks to the help of another AVLF volunteer lawyer. I haven’t seen that opposing counsel since our last court date, but her behavior during this case has made her the stuff of legend with the court staff.
Now, I am a second-year associate with DLA Piper, working mainly in construction law. I am constantly aware of how much there is to learn about this area of law, and about practicing law, period. But learning the ropes in a court of law, with real live clients whose safety may be at stake, and in an often intense courtroom setting, forced me to understand how to respond swiftly and how to think outside of the box. I truly believe those experiences are easing my path from naïve, wide-eyed associate to useful lawyer. I have a long way to go in this career, but I am very grateful to my firm and to AVLF for allowing me to start my practice with this experience. Serving as a Deferred Fellow turned out to be both incredibly useful and a great luxury: it gave me confidence, and it gave me the time and the support to learn skills I will always be able to use throughout my career.
Monday, December 5, 2011
They Were Always There When I Called
By: Michael Lucas, Director of Housing and Consumer Law Programs, Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation
Ms. B arrived for her appointment at the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation’s (AVLF) Saturday Lawyers Program desperate for help in getting her, her daughter, and her four 
year-old granddaughter out of the deplorable living conditions they had been subjected to – and felt trapped in – for several months. After hearing of the severe structural, mold and mildew conditions leading to the counters collapsing and Ms. B literally falling through a wall left brittle by moisture, the insect infestation resulting in spider bites on the four year-old, and damage to personal belongings, David Zacks, Kilpatrick Townsend Partner and seasoned litigator, Hillary Rightler, first-year associate in Atlanta’s Complex Business Litigation group, and Nick Stanislo, the Firm’s Manager of Civil Investigations and recent recipient of AVLF’s annual “Making a Difference” award, jumped on board.
This team got to work immediately. Nick focused on unraveling a complicated ownership and management picture, and within a few days I was pulling into Ms. B’s apartment complex with David, Hillary, and Nick. The situation was worse than we expected: a several building, several-hundred unit, sprawling complex that – save maybe a half-dozen occupied units – looked like a ghost town with whole buildings roped off, boarded up, and likely full of squatters. The management office looked deserted, although the landlord still managed to collect Ms. B’s rent and threaten eviction. We quickly attracted the attention of the hapless “maintenance man” – apparently acting in that role in name only – who questioned our presence as Nick gathered photographic evidence for the case.
It was what happened inside, however, and the quick outcome that followed, that I will carry with me as an example of the Saturday Lawyer Program, Kilpatrick Townsend, and the Atlanta Bar at its very finest. The remarkable professionalism and skill with which David and Hillary gathered pertinent information, assessed the situation, and formulated a litigation plan was, for me, rivaled only by the level of respect they showed for Ms. B’s dignity and intelligence. Rarely do attorneys get both so right. Within a couple of weeks, Ms. B was able to move her family into a new apartment, thanks not only to the $2,500 cash settlement and lease rescission David, Hillary, and Nick secured, but equally to the confidence, support, and sense of empowerment their representation gave her. What looked effortless to – and came just in time for – Ms. B was actually the result of expert investigation, efficient research, and skillful negotiation. Having David Zacks taking the lead didn’t hurt either.
Last week, Hillary received a call from Ms. B. Ms. B wanted everyone to know that she was all settled into her new place in Decatur and that it was safe, quiet and clean. What left an impression was that Hillary reported hearing a significant change in Ms. B’s voice and mood, just from their short phone conversation. She seemed upbeat and ready to start over. While my position at AVLF exposes me to far too many dire situations like Ms. B’s, it also allows me to witness – and be moved by – the better angels of our nature reaching out to help. Our profound thanks to David, Hillary and Nick and to Kilpatrick Townsend for always saying yes.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
New Housing Resource and Advocacy Center Creates Solutions
By: Tamara Serwer Caldas, Deputy Director, AVLF
Exactly four years ago, AVLF staff began meeting with the State Court Administrator and Chief Clerk of the State Court of Fulton County to discuss the possibility of opening a “Self-Help Center” in Fulton County to address the needs of the thousands of individuals who come to the courthouse each year without counsel. Such Centers have developed in courthouses throughout the country and have a strong record of increasing both the public’s access to and understanding of the legal system, promoting fairness and decreasing court costs. In March 2011, the Fulton County State Court opened the doors of its Self-Help Center in TG-300 of the Fulton County Courthouse. In May 2011, AVLF hired Jennifer Hubbard to provide legal advice to tenants on a walk-in basis at the Center. By the end of this year, AVLF will have given assistance to more than 300 tenant families through this clinic. Below Jennifer describes her experience in this challenging position, where she works with people who face the imminent lost of their families’ shelter or other legal situations wherein the safety or economic stability of the household is at risk.
by: Jennifer Hubbard, Housing Clinic Attorney, AVLF
We all have problems. Whatever my problems may be, I’m not worried about returning home to find my life out on the street. My personal belongings, pictures, food, furniture, clothes – they
will not have been carelessly thrown on the curb and picked over by God knows who, as if I, or they, don’t matter. When I place my key in the lock, it will turn. I’m not worried about an illegal eviction.
I have a right to stay in the home I have been leasing for the last two years. I won’t be surprised to hear that the landlord with whom I signed my lease, no longer owns the property. I won’t wonder whether the rental payments I have been making faithfully have been going towards the mortgage. I won’t worry about my family having to vacate our home, because it’s been sold at foreclosure and no one bothered to say a word to me. I know my rights under the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act enacted by President Obama.
Tomorrow morning, I will not be pleading with a stranger, who happens to be an attorney, to do something so that I can stay in my roach infested home, where the water doesn’t work, the toilet doesn’t flush, there’s mold growing on the wall, and the electricity is twice my rent; but I have no one and nothing and nowhere else to go. When I stop paying my rent, because the repairs the landlord promised me she would make for the last three months still aren’t done, I will not be facing an eviction warrant. I will not have seven days to figure out a way and a time to come to court to file my answer. I will not worry that the way I file my answer, if I file it at all, may mean the difference between me keeping my home and having to get out within two weeks. It may make the difference in whether the Judge even sees me and I get my day in court. But, I’m not worried about that because I know the law. I know my rights. I know I have to put things in writing. And I know that if the landlord tells me I don’t have to come to court, I need to show up anyway. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the clients sitting across from me every day in my office.
The Housing Advocacy and Resource Center was created in part to provide legal advice and counsel for tenants facing eviction. When I agreed to join the team at Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, I envisioned clients arriving with a clear legal issue, for which there would be a clear legal answer, and they would leave with a succinct and direct resolution. I should have known better, from experience, that the role would be much more encompassing. As an attorney, I cannot fix peoples’ problems and I cannot tell them what to do. My responsibility is to provide them with the tools to help them reach their ideal result, given their circumstances. While I can often advise clients as to how a lease provision might be interpreted under the law, or whether they can file a motion, and what the potential outcome(s) will be, or defining a term such as writ of possession; providing them with additional resources, helping them to think practically and strategically, is just as much part of my role. It is easy to take for granted that terms such as mediation, mediator, consent order, are not common knowledge and/or self-explanatory. I cannot assume that someone knows appropriate attire for court, how to address the Judge, or whether they have to agree with opposing counsel if they are proceeding pro se. Counseling clients at HARC has pushed me to think outside the box, while providing me with as much education as I hope to impart to my clients. It is true, we all have problems. Some problems are greater than others. It is also true, that we can choose to be a part of the problem or the solution. I hope the continued efforts of HARC will play a significant role in creating solutions.
Exactly four years ago, AVLF staff began meeting with the State Court Administrator and Chief Clerk of the State Court of Fulton County to discuss the possibility of opening a “Self-Help Center” in Fulton County to address the needs of the thousands of individuals who come to the courthouse each year without counsel. Such Centers have developed in courthouses throughout the country and have a strong record of increasing both the public’s access to and understanding of the legal system, promoting fairness and decreasing court costs. In March 2011, the Fulton County State Court opened the doors of its Self-Help Center in TG-300 of the Fulton County Courthouse. In May 2011, AVLF hired Jennifer Hubbard to provide legal advice to tenants on a walk-in basis at the Center. By the end of this year, AVLF will have given assistance to more than 300 tenant families through this clinic. Below Jennifer describes her experience in this challenging position, where she works with people who face the imminent lost of their families’ shelter or other legal situations wherein the safety or economic stability of the household is at risk.
by: Jennifer Hubbard, Housing Clinic Attorney, AVLF
We all have problems. Whatever my problems may be, I’m not worried about returning home to find my life out on the street. My personal belongings, pictures, food, furniture, clothes – they
will not have been carelessly thrown on the curb and picked over by God knows who, as if I, or they, don’t matter. When I place my key in the lock, it will turn. I’m not worried about an illegal eviction.I have a right to stay in the home I have been leasing for the last two years. I won’t be surprised to hear that the landlord with whom I signed my lease, no longer owns the property. I won’t wonder whether the rental payments I have been making faithfully have been going towards the mortgage. I won’t worry about my family having to vacate our home, because it’s been sold at foreclosure and no one bothered to say a word to me. I know my rights under the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act enacted by President Obama.
Tomorrow morning, I will not be pleading with a stranger, who happens to be an attorney, to do something so that I can stay in my roach infested home, where the water doesn’t work, the toilet doesn’t flush, there’s mold growing on the wall, and the electricity is twice my rent; but I have no one and nothing and nowhere else to go. When I stop paying my rent, because the repairs the landlord promised me she would make for the last three months still aren’t done, I will not be facing an eviction warrant. I will not have seven days to figure out a way and a time to come to court to file my answer. I will not worry that the way I file my answer, if I file it at all, may mean the difference between me keeping my home and having to get out within two weeks. It may make the difference in whether the Judge even sees me and I get my day in court. But, I’m not worried about that because I know the law. I know my rights. I know I have to put things in writing. And I know that if the landlord tells me I don’t have to come to court, I need to show up anyway. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the clients sitting across from me every day in my office.
The Housing Advocacy and Resource Center was created in part to provide legal advice and counsel for tenants facing eviction. When I agreed to join the team at Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, I envisioned clients arriving with a clear legal issue, for which there would be a clear legal answer, and they would leave with a succinct and direct resolution. I should have known better, from experience, that the role would be much more encompassing. As an attorney, I cannot fix peoples’ problems and I cannot tell them what to do. My responsibility is to provide them with the tools to help them reach their ideal result, given their circumstances. While I can often advise clients as to how a lease provision might be interpreted under the law, or whether they can file a motion, and what the potential outcome(s) will be, or defining a term such as writ of possession; providing them with additional resources, helping them to think practically and strategically, is just as much part of my role. It is easy to take for granted that terms such as mediation, mediator, consent order, are not common knowledge and/or self-explanatory. I cannot assume that someone knows appropriate attire for court, how to address the Judge, or whether they have to agree with opposing counsel if they are proceeding pro se. Counseling clients at HARC has pushed me to think outside the box, while providing me with as much education as I hope to impart to my clients. It is true, we all have problems. Some problems are greater than others. It is also true, that we can choose to be a part of the problem or the solution. I hope the continued efforts of HARC will play a significant role in creating solutions.
Monday, October 17, 2011
The Difference Volunteer Attorneys Make in the Courtroom
By: Liz Whipple, Staff Attorney, Director of AVLF Safe Families Office
Each year, the Violence Policy Center in D.C. releases a study “When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2009 Homicide Data.” Georgia is ranked sixth in the nation for its rate of women killed by men. Sixth!
I was recently told you can’t control the actions of others, you can only control your own actions. As an attorney, never mind an attorney who does domestic violence work, this is not something I like to hear. I don’t want to join a drum circle, I don’t want to meditate, and I don’t want to let things just be.
Controlling things is precisely what I want. I want an abuser to stop hurting a loved one. I want a client to leave her abuser and never look back. I want a grown person to love their elderly parent, not terrorize them in their own home. I want my clients’ young children to emerge emotionally unscathed from a home filled with strife. I want the judge to grant every protective order I bring in front of her. Bottomline – I want to win.
Sometimes, some of these things happen. Occasionally, I take the credit. Much of the time, however, I am brought back to that much-resisted reality: I can only do as much as I can do. Realistically, sometimes that’s enough, sometimes it isn’t. Even when it is “enough”, the small part I’ve played in someone’s life is exactly that – a small part. I have to be happy with that, and let them deal with the entirely, hopefully equipped with a tool that can make dealing with that entirely a bit easier.
Losing a protective order case is a hard thing to accept when you believe your client needs an order to stay safe. There’s simply no getting around it. But volunteer attorneys provide so much to their clients, even if the petition itself is denied. The simple presence of someone there to advocate for you can strengthen a victim’s resolution to stay safe from their abuser. While it’s always incredible to have a person share in your victory, suffering a loss with someone is an entirely different experience, and is far more likely to strengthen one’s resolve to stay safe.
I am in Protective Order Court every Monday and Friday. I see the difference attorneys make in that courtroom, and it affirms my belief that we need to provide representation now more than ever. Attorneys don’t win every case. Each case they don’t win is more of a reason their presence is so important. Pro se clients are alone and facing an intimidating process, and attorneys can make a world of difference to a case. Coming to court alone can often be a barrier to a client pursuing a protective order – who wouldn’t be afraid of facing their abuser alone, in a setting as intimidating as a courtroom, with the prospect of telling intimate details of your life to a room full of people. Things we take for granted are often beyond the abilities of a pro se client – negotiating consent orders, presenting any evidence, even telling a coherent story.
The harsher the numbers get, the tougher an order becomes to obtain, the greater our obligation is to make sure victims have voices in our courts. Attorneys, especially volunteer attorneys, simply have to be there. I may vent, I may (occasionally) cry, but I am going to be there. Thanks to those of you who are there with me.
Each year, the Violence Policy Center in D.C. releases a study “When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2009 Homicide Data.” Georgia is ranked sixth in the nation for its rate of women killed by men. Sixth!
I was recently told you can’t control the actions of others, you can only control your own actions. As an attorney, never mind an attorney who does domestic violence work, this is not something I like to hear. I don’t want to join a drum circle, I don’t want to meditate, and I don’t want to let things just be.
Controlling things is precisely what I want. I want an abuser to stop hurting a loved one. I want a client to leave her abuser and never look back. I want a grown person to love their elderly parent, not terrorize them in their own home. I want my clients’ young children to emerge emotionally unscathed from a home filled with strife. I want the judge to grant every protective order I bring in front of her. Bottomline – I want to win.
Sometimes, some of these things happen. Occasionally, I take the credit. Much of the time, however, I am brought back to that much-resisted reality: I can only do as much as I can do. Realistically, sometimes that’s enough, sometimes it isn’t. Even when it is “enough”, the small part I’ve played in someone’s life is exactly that – a small part. I have to be happy with that, and let them deal with the entirely, hopefully equipped with a tool that can make dealing with that entirely a bit easier.
Losing a protective order case is a hard thing to accept when you believe your client needs an order to stay safe. There’s simply no getting around it. But volunteer attorneys provide so much to their clients, even if the petition itself is denied. The simple presence of someone there to advocate for you can strengthen a victim’s resolution to stay safe from their abuser. While it’s always incredible to have a person share in your victory, suffering a loss with someone is an entirely different experience, and is far more likely to strengthen one’s resolve to stay safe.
I am in Protective Order Court every Monday and Friday. I see the difference attorneys make in that courtroom, and it affirms my belief that we need to provide representation now more than ever. Attorneys don’t win every case. Each case they don’t win is more of a reason their presence is so important. Pro se clients are alone and facing an intimidating process, and attorneys can make a world of difference to a case. Coming to court alone can often be a barrier to a client pursuing a protective order – who wouldn’t be afraid of facing their abuser alone, in a setting as intimidating as a courtroom, with the prospect of telling intimate details of your life to a room full of people. Things we take for granted are often beyond the abilities of a pro se client – negotiating consent orders, presenting any evidence, even telling a coherent story.
The harsher the numbers get, the tougher an order becomes to obtain, the greater our obligation is to make sure victims have voices in our courts. Attorneys, especially volunteer attorneys, simply have to be there. I may vent, I may (occasionally) cry, but I am going to be there. Thanks to those of you who are there with me.
The Value of Volunteering
By: Steven Cayton, Esq.
I graduated law school in 2009 and went to work for an attorney I had interned with both summers of law school. I quickly discovered that there is still so very much I needed to learn and more I wanted to do. I enjoyed the consumer defense work I was doing, who doesn’t enjoy suing abusive debt collectors, but I wanted to do additional work to help those in need. In my endeavor to branch out I started taking numerous CLEs, including those outside of my practice area and that was how I found out about AVLF. I started with the Guardian ad Litem program in the fall of 2010 and learned how rewarding these cases can be. Its a wonderful feeling knowing that you can be a neutral participant whose only there to represent the best interest of the children in the case. I was lucky to get a case that was fairly straightforward and where both parents were reasonable to deal with.
After working the GAL program I knew I wanted to do more and did the training for the domestic violence program at AVLF. These cases are about getting the protection of the courts for the victims of domestic violence through obtaining a Temporary Protective Order. My first case quickly taught me the importance of having trained attorneys to help these victims. Since taking that first case I have averaged one or two TPO cases a month and they are incredibly rewarding, but can also have an element of frustration. I have spoken with a number of domestic violence clients who exhibit the classic signs of this crime including rationalizing the behavior of their abuser. Many tell me how the person is really good at their heart, was just having a rough time, only gets this way when they are intoxicated, etc. It is a bit heartbreaking when the client on the other end of the phone is trying to tell you why they don’t need your service because they have worked things out with their abuser. In one case I flat out told the client based on her facts that I was sure she would end up dead. Cases that severe aren’t that common and are easily outweighed by the rewards of a client who does follow through and the look on your case when you are successful in getting a TPO.
They say you learn the most from failure. In one particular case of mine I found the adage true but also that it was the most rewarding case. To put the case in perspective you have to keep in mind that the lifespan of most of these cases, from assignment to hearing, is 1-3 weeks. This particular “favorite” TPO case of mine took three months. The short version is that the respondent was actively avoiding service. Have any of you ever called a party’s attorney and have the lawyer on the other end of the phone tell you he isn’t my client? Needless to say this went on for a bit. Finally the respondent started a new job and we found out when and where and his second day on the job he was served with the ex parte 30 day temporary protective order for domestic violence. We ended up being unsuccessful in court, largely because of the delay from the last time of abuse until we were finally able to get the hearing. Why then do I call this one of my favorite cases? The main reason is because my client was so happy to have gotten a day in court in which the one who hurt and harassed my client. My client’s story was told, and my client felt vindicated by that. The second reason I consider this one of my favorite cases is because it was simply such a tremendous learning experience. TPO hearings are like mini trials. You give a brief opening and closing, direct and cross examine witness, enter evidence, and get a ruling that is essentially like a verdict. The best part is that it happens usually within 30-60 minutes. That’s a lot of experience for a new lawyer to gain in an hour.
Volunteering with AVLF has many benefits. From the learning experience to the emotional rewards of helping those in need through one of AVLF’s many programs it really is food for the soul. The staff members at AVLF - Liz, Toni, Amanda, Lila and others - keep telling me thank you for the volunteering that I have done. In reality it is I who should be thanking them, and not just for all the times they answer my numerous questions. They and AVLF have provided me with experiences that I value more than money, and that is why I do my pro bono work through AVLF.
I graduated law school in 2009 and went to work for an attorney I had interned with both summers of law school. I quickly discovered that there is still so very much I needed to learn and more I wanted to do. I enjoyed the consumer defense work I was doing, who doesn’t enjoy suing abusive debt collectors, but I wanted to do additional work to help those in need. In my endeavor to branch out I started taking numerous CLEs, including those outside of my practice area and that was how I found out about AVLF. I started with the Guardian ad Litem program in the fall of 2010 and learned how rewarding these cases can be. Its a wonderful feeling knowing that you can be a neutral participant whose only there to represent the best interest of the children in the case. I was lucky to get a case that was fairly straightforward and where both parents were reasonable to deal with.
After working the GAL program I knew I wanted to do more and did the training for the domestic violence program at AVLF. These cases are about getting the protection of the courts for the victims of domestic violence through obtaining a Temporary Protective Order. My first case quickly taught me the importance of having trained attorneys to help these victims. Since taking that first case I have averaged one or two TPO cases a month and they are incredibly rewarding, but can also have an element of frustration. I have spoken with a number of domestic violence clients who exhibit the classic signs of this crime including rationalizing the behavior of their abuser. Many tell me how the person is really good at their heart, was just having a rough time, only gets this way when they are intoxicated, etc. It is a bit heartbreaking when the client on the other end of the phone is trying to tell you why they don’t need your service because they have worked things out with their abuser. In one case I flat out told the client based on her facts that I was sure she would end up dead. Cases that severe aren’t that common and are easily outweighed by the rewards of a client who does follow through and the look on your case when you are successful in getting a TPO.
They say you learn the most from failure. In one particular case of mine I found the adage true but also that it was the most rewarding case. To put the case in perspective you have to keep in mind that the lifespan of most of these cases, from assignment to hearing, is 1-3 weeks. This particular “favorite” TPO case of mine took three months. The short version is that the respondent was actively avoiding service. Have any of you ever called a party’s attorney and have the lawyer on the other end of the phone tell you he isn’t my client? Needless to say this went on for a bit. Finally the respondent started a new job and we found out when and where and his second day on the job he was served with the ex parte 30 day temporary protective order for domestic violence. We ended up being unsuccessful in court, largely because of the delay from the last time of abuse until we were finally able to get the hearing. Why then do I call this one of my favorite cases? The main reason is because my client was so happy to have gotten a day in court in which the one who hurt and harassed my client. My client’s story was told, and my client felt vindicated by that. The second reason I consider this one of my favorite cases is because it was simply such a tremendous learning experience. TPO hearings are like mini trials. You give a brief opening and closing, direct and cross examine witness, enter evidence, and get a ruling that is essentially like a verdict. The best part is that it happens usually within 30-60 minutes. That’s a lot of experience for a new lawyer to gain in an hour.
Volunteering with AVLF has many benefits. From the learning experience to the emotional rewards of helping those in need through one of AVLF’s many programs it really is food for the soul. The staff members at AVLF - Liz, Toni, Amanda, Lila and others - keep telling me thank you for the volunteering that I have done. In reality it is I who should be thanking them, and not just for all the times they answer my numerous questions. They and AVLF have provided me with experiences that I value more than money, and that is why I do my pro bono work through AVLF.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
AVLF Welcomes Skadden Fellow, Lindsey Siegel
By: Lindsey Siegel, Staff Attorney, Skadden Fellow, AVLF Domestic Violence Project
Two summers ago, when I was a law student intern with the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation’s Safe Families Office, I worked with Silvia, a Spanish-speaking woman who came to the office for a protection order. Silvia’s husband had broken her arm the night before and she didn’t feel safe staying at her house. Nor did she have any family or friends with whom she could stay. With the help of the courthouse interpreter, I helped her fill out the petition and secure a coveted space at a local domestic violence shelter. After the judge signed the protection order, though, Silvia wanted to go home to get some clothes and personal items. I told her I was afraid for her safety, but she insisted, so I waited for her to return so we could drive to the shelter’s drop-off point. When she didn’t return after several hours, I figured she lost her chance at leaving, and I couldn’t stop worrying about her. Then, two weeks later I was attending the 12-month protection order hearings and I spotted Silvia in the courtroom. She wasn’t alone, though—she had with her not only an advocate, but also a pro bono attorney. After her hearing (where she did obtain her 12-month protection order), I went up to her in the hallway to find out how she was doing. As it turns out, she had found space at a different shelter soon after she came to our office, and the advocates there had connected her with the attorney for her case. I couldn’t believe how resourceful Silvia had been all along her journey escape her abusive husband—all the while being new to the area and having a language barrier. I was so impressed, and the experience reminded me why I enjoy working with such strong women.
When I heard a few months later about how recent law graduates can obtain Skadden fellowships to design new public interest projects, I immediately thought of AVLF and the Safe Families Office. I knew that it was the goal of the office to expand and provide more holistic legal services to survivors, and a fellowship seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so. In creating a project to address some of the most pressing needs, we looked to a study AVLF conducted in 2009 with domestic violence service providers in Atlanta. There, housing and employment arose as two of the areas with biggest gaps in legal services.
Unfortunately, many women are not as lucky as Silvia, and instead must choose between staying with abusers or homelessness. Many times, survivors of abuse find it difficult to maintain their housing and their employment while they try to escape the violence. It is no surprise then that domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness in the U.S. In Atlanta in particular, between 22% and 57% of homeless women have reported that domestic violence was the direct cause of their homelessness. For low-income women, most of whom rent, the problem is exacerbated by the fact that housing managers and landlords will sometimes evict the entire family after an abuser is violent or will impose high penalties if a survivor wants to terminate her lease early to seek safety. An employer with an abused employee can also create barriers to a survivor maintaining the economic self-sufficiency needed to escape the abuse. Employees facing violence at home often need to miss days of work to hide the signs of abuse, placate abusers, or attend court hearings, and many lose their jobs as a result. Further, a survivor’s job may be in jeopardy when her partner or husband shows up or calls her office repeatedly.
To address some of these barriers, the fellowship project we’ve created will provide housing- and employment-based legal services to survivors of domestic violence. Through the project, I aim to enforce the rights that survivors have, and if necessary, create new precedent where gaps in the law exist. It seems only apt, then, that we launch the fellowship project during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, a time where advocates bring this all-too-pervasive problem to light and discuss solutions to eradicating it. Two years after that summer internship, I’m thrilled to be a new member of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation staff and I’m eager to take AVLF’s work in new directions with this fellowship project. I hope to reach clients who are facing barriers, but who otherwise may not have found people to advocate for their rights. Most of all, I’m excited to rejoin this movement and put my newfound legal education to work for those escaping abuse.
Two summers ago, when I was a law student intern with the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation’s Safe Families Office, I worked with Silvia, a Spanish-speaking woman who came to the office for a protection order. Silvia’s husband had broken her arm the night before and she didn’t feel safe staying at her house. Nor did she have any family or friends with whom she could stay. With the help of the courthouse interpreter, I helped her fill out the petition and secure a coveted space at a local domestic violence shelter. After the judge signed the protection order, though, Silvia wanted to go home to get some clothes and personal items. I told her I was afraid for her safety, but she insisted, so I waited for her to return so we could drive to the shelter’s drop-off point. When she didn’t return after several hours, I figured she lost her chance at leaving, and I couldn’t stop worrying about her. Then, two weeks later I was attending the 12-month protection order hearings and I spotted Silvia in the courtroom. She wasn’t alone, though—she had with her not only an advocate, but also a pro bono attorney. After her hearing (where she did obtain her 12-month protection order), I went up to her in the hallway to find out how she was doing. As it turns out, she had found space at a different shelter soon after she came to our office, and the advocates there had connected her with the attorney for her case. I couldn’t believe how resourceful Silvia had been all along her journey escape her abusive husband—all the while being new to the area and having a language barrier. I was so impressed, and the experience reminded me why I enjoy working with such strong women.
When I heard a few months later about how recent law graduates can obtain Skadden fellowships to design new public interest projects, I immediately thought of AVLF and the Safe Families Office. I knew that it was the goal of the office to expand and provide more holistic legal services to survivors, and a fellowship seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so. In creating a project to address some of the most pressing needs, we looked to a study AVLF conducted in 2009 with domestic violence service providers in Atlanta. There, housing and employment arose as two of the areas with biggest gaps in legal services.
Unfortunately, many women are not as lucky as Silvia, and instead must choose between staying with abusers or homelessness. Many times, survivors of abuse find it difficult to maintain their housing and their employment while they try to escape the violence. It is no surprise then that domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness in the U.S. In Atlanta in particular, between 22% and 57% of homeless women have reported that domestic violence was the direct cause of their homelessness. For low-income women, most of whom rent, the problem is exacerbated by the fact that housing managers and landlords will sometimes evict the entire family after an abuser is violent or will impose high penalties if a survivor wants to terminate her lease early to seek safety. An employer with an abused employee can also create barriers to a survivor maintaining the economic self-sufficiency needed to escape the abuse. Employees facing violence at home often need to miss days of work to hide the signs of abuse, placate abusers, or attend court hearings, and many lose their jobs as a result. Further, a survivor’s job may be in jeopardy when her partner or husband shows up or calls her office repeatedly.
To address some of these barriers, the fellowship project we’ve created will provide housing- and employment-based legal services to survivors of domestic violence. Through the project, I aim to enforce the rights that survivors have, and if necessary, create new precedent where gaps in the law exist. It seems only apt, then, that we launch the fellowship project during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, a time where advocates bring this all-too-pervasive problem to light and discuss solutions to eradicating it. Two years after that summer internship, I’m thrilled to be a new member of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation staff and I’m eager to take AVLF’s work in new directions with this fellowship project. I hope to reach clients who are facing barriers, but who otherwise may not have found people to advocate for their rights. Most of all, I’m excited to rejoin this movement and put my newfound legal education to work for those escaping abuse.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
A Look at AVLF’s Eviction Defense Program
By: Dionne Hines Morse, Paralegal, AVLF Saturday Lawyer Program Coordinator
Like so many tenants who contact AVLF, he expressed hopelessness and frustration with his living situation. Mr. Carlton had originally called our office for relief from the deplorable conditions in which he lived. He explained that he, his fiancée, and his two children began renting an apartment unit in January 2011. Since move-in, the client noticed the unit would flood each time it would rain, excessive mold and mildew throughout the apartment, and a large hole behind the stove, which enabled rats to enter the unit. To make matters worse, the children began experiencing respiratory problems that their pediatrician attributed to the mold spores in the unit.
Mr. Carlton had complained to his landlord about the unlivable conditions on numerous occasions to no avail. Like many of our low-income clients, Mr. Carlton expressed that he felt stuck, with no positive outcome in sight. As the apartment is in close proximity to his job and his children’s school, he was willing to remain in the property, if the landlord would be willing to make the needed repairs. However, he could not afford to continue to put his family’s health at risk, and give money to a landlord who had made no effort to make amends, other than to lean a tin baking sheet against the hole in the wall in an attempt to contain the rodent infestation. Like many of our clients, Mr. Carlton was faced with a difficult decision.
After several months of not getting a response to his repair requests, Mr. Carlton decided to make preparations to relocate his family. The landlord was given notification of Mr. Carlton’s intent to move and started the eviction proceedings out of retaliation. Once Mr. Carlton received the dispossessory warrant, he called our office again to discuss how best to respond to a Proceeding Against Tenant Holding Over. With my help, Mr. Carlton filed an Answer and Counterclaim regarding the lack of repair that had diminished the value of the unit. Armed with photos of rodents that had entered the unit, and mold and property damage caused by reoccurring leaks, Mr. Carlton said that for the first time he felt confident in his ability to stand up to his landlord with the help of an attorney by his side.
Fortunately for Mr. Carlton and all our clients who have a small window in which to file an answer and stand trial (an Answer must be filed within seven days of being served an eviction warrant, and that trial must be held not more than 14 days after filing of an answer), volunteer attorneys from the law firms of Troutman Sanders, King & Spalding, Carlton Fields, and Seyfarth Shaw have all committed to taking eviction defense cases on a regular basis. With support from AVLF staff attorneys, including training, and the provision of recommended actions and relevant case law, our volunteers secure a favorable outcome for our clients nearly 100% of the time. More often than not, these cases settle in mediation, without ever going before a judge. As for Mr. Carlton, the volunteer attorney was able to get the landlord to agree to let Mr. Carlton out of his lease without any further rent payments, and a neutral reference moving forward, as negative credit remarks that could impede their ability to rent in the future are also a common concern of our client population.
Because we witness the often unfavorable outcome of unrepresented tenants in landlord tenant court, it is without a doubt that we recognize the invaluable impact made through the efforts of our Eviction Defense volunteers. A lawyer’s presence can mean the difference between a family having the right to remain in their home or being ordered to move in one week’s time. In just a matter of hours, our volunteer attorneys change our clients’ lives. As Mr. Carlton excitedly reported to me moments after his hearing, “I don’t know how you all did it, but you really looked out for me and my family, and I just want to say ‘thank you’.”
Like so many tenants who contact AVLF, he expressed hopelessness and frustration with his living situation. Mr. Carlton had originally called our office for relief from the deplorable conditions in which he lived. He explained that he, his fiancée, and his two children began renting an apartment unit in January 2011. Since move-in, the client noticed the unit would flood each time it would rain, excessive mold and mildew throughout the apartment, and a large hole behind the stove, which enabled rats to enter the unit. To make matters worse, the children began experiencing respiratory problems that their pediatrician attributed to the mold spores in the unit.
Mr. Carlton had complained to his landlord about the unlivable conditions on numerous occasions to no avail. Like many of our low-income clients, Mr. Carlton expressed that he felt stuck, with no positive outcome in sight. As the apartment is in close proximity to his job and his children’s school, he was willing to remain in the property, if the landlord would be willing to make the needed repairs. However, he could not afford to continue to put his family’s health at risk, and give money to a landlord who had made no effort to make amends, other than to lean a tin baking sheet against the hole in the wall in an attempt to contain the rodent infestation. Like many of our clients, Mr. Carlton was faced with a difficult decision.
After several months of not getting a response to his repair requests, Mr. Carlton decided to make preparations to relocate his family. The landlord was given notification of Mr. Carlton’s intent to move and started the eviction proceedings out of retaliation. Once Mr. Carlton received the dispossessory warrant, he called our office again to discuss how best to respond to a Proceeding Against Tenant Holding Over. With my help, Mr. Carlton filed an Answer and Counterclaim regarding the lack of repair that had diminished the value of the unit. Armed with photos of rodents that had entered the unit, and mold and property damage caused by reoccurring leaks, Mr. Carlton said that for the first time he felt confident in his ability to stand up to his landlord with the help of an attorney by his side.
Fortunately for Mr. Carlton and all our clients who have a small window in which to file an answer and stand trial (an Answer must be filed within seven days of being served an eviction warrant, and that trial must be held not more than 14 days after filing of an answer), volunteer attorneys from the law firms of Troutman Sanders, King & Spalding, Carlton Fields, and Seyfarth Shaw have all committed to taking eviction defense cases on a regular basis. With support from AVLF staff attorneys, including training, and the provision of recommended actions and relevant case law, our volunteers secure a favorable outcome for our clients nearly 100% of the time. More often than not, these cases settle in mediation, without ever going before a judge. As for Mr. Carlton, the volunteer attorney was able to get the landlord to agree to let Mr. Carlton out of his lease without any further rent payments, and a neutral reference moving forward, as negative credit remarks that could impede their ability to rent in the future are also a common concern of our client population.
Because we witness the often unfavorable outcome of unrepresented tenants in landlord tenant court, it is without a doubt that we recognize the invaluable impact made through the efforts of our Eviction Defense volunteers. A lawyer’s presence can mean the difference between a family having the right to remain in their home or being ordered to move in one week’s time. In just a matter of hours, our volunteer attorneys change our clients’ lives. As Mr. Carlton excitedly reported to me moments after his hearing, “I don’t know how you all did it, but you really looked out for me and my family, and I just want to say ‘thank you’.”
Thursday, July 7, 2011
AVLF by Any Other Name
by: Martin Ellin, AVLF, Executive Director
We have been the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation for 32 years, and we are not going to change a name that is widely known and respected. But our name does not fully convey who we are, and if we were starting again, perhaps we should attempt to be more descriptive…
We are the Atlanta Domestic Violence Prevention Foundation (ADVPF), established to give victims of intimate partner violence access to the civil legal representation that has the most impact on a survivor’s ability to make a permanent break from her abuser. We exist because such help is not otherwise easily and at no cost available to victims, and therefore in 2009 we opened our DV Project’s Safe Families Office, the only courthouse-based free legal support program of its kind in Georgia. The Safe Families Office serves survivors of domestic violence, dating violence and stalking, and since its opening in early 2009 more than 4,500 women have visited the Office. In that time, volunteer attorneys recruited, trained and supervised by the Atlanta Domestic Violence Prevention Foundation have secured not only critical Twelve-Month protective orders but also financial awards for their victim-clients in the amount of $147, 109.27. Because our partner, the Fulton County Superior Court, has dedicated distinct space with protective support from Fulton County Sheriffs, because our Safe Families Office colleague Partnership Against Domestic Violence (PADV) staffs the Office to offer safety planning to victims , and because ADVPF coordinates the provision of quality, free legal support, the American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence last year designated the Safe Families Office as a national model for the delivery of these services.
We are the Atlanta Tenant Support Center (ATSC), founded to coordinate the delivery of legal services to those who need help to encourage or if necessary force their landlord to honor the provisions of any lease and/or the jurisdiction’s Housing Code. In Fulton County alone last year, there were more than 51,000 dispossessory warrants sworn out by landlords: more than 18,000 of them were answered by tenants seeking to contest the landlord’s effort to expel them from their home. Perhaps because the legal process demands that the tenant’s answer be filed within seven days of being serves an eviction warrant, and that trial be held not more than 14 days after the filing of an answer- and certainly because poor tenants cannot pay for legal assistance, and there are far too few free legal service providers for this population- far less than 1 out of every 100 tenants is represented by counsel at the contested hearing. The ATSC attacks the problem in three major ways:
1) The Housing Advocacy Resource Center places an attorney in the Fulton County Self-Help Center four days each week. That attorney counsels low-income tenants as they consider how best to respond to a Proceeding Against Tenant Holding Over, or discusses with tenants how to prepare as well as possible for an upcoming mediation or trial. Having a lawyer to whom to speak is a tremendous benefit to a tenant uncertain about the legal process and the law that will determine their right to remain in the premises, their ability to force a landlord to make demanded repair, their obligation to continue to pay full rent to a defaulting landlord etc.
2) The Eviction Defense Program offers direct representation by an ATSC-trained private attorney at the contested trial on the merits of the landlord’s claim and any tenant set-off or counterclaim.
3) The federal Protecting Tenants in Foreclosure Act offers real assistance to tenants being illegally pushed to leave their home by a foreclosing entity. ATSC lawyers not only have been working to educate the Courts and the tenant population about their legal rights in these circumstances vis a vis the old owner/landlord and the new owner/landlord, they have also partnered with a local law school to craft and promote legislation to confirm and to expand the rights of tenants in this state pursuant to that Act.
4) Many tenants are frustrated by their landlord’s refusal to make repair to their home or to otherwise honor an existing lease. These tenants have not received a dispossessory warrant, but need legal assistance nonetheless to force compliance with the law. Other tenants are constructively evicted by their landlord’s termination of utilities or changing of locks, and need help to address these illegal activities and to return them to their homes and their status. For these tenants who have a legal claim that may be furthered by meeting with a lawyer, we offer our Saturday Lawyer Program, where volunteer attorneys from private firms meet with clients to assess their concerns, to offer brief advice and counsel and, as necessary and appropriate, agree to serve as counsel for the full, direct representation of the claim.
We are the Atlanta Children’s Law programs (ACLP). Children whose parents are engaged in high conflict custody litigation, or whose lives are in limbo while their parents are in addiction treatment programs, need an advocate focused on the child's best interests. ACLP coordinates the provision of legal support to these children through two specific programs:
1) The Guardian ad Litem Program: ACLP recruits volunteer attorneys to serve as Guardians of the children of low-income divorcing parents who are engaged in high conflict custody disputes in the Fulton County Superior Court Family Division: Guardians ad Litem represent the best interests of the child in the litigation. The ACLP-trained volunteer Guardian conducts an extensive investigation of the child's interests and needs, and based on that inquiry and assessment makes recommendations to the parents prior to trial, encouraging the parents to mediate their differences. The volunteer Guardian often participates in the mediation of the case, and when the matter can be resolved informally, the child is spared the increased hostility between the parents that often results from a trial in court. If the case does go to trial before a judge, the volunteer Guardian provides the court with a full report of the child's needs and makes a recommendation concerning the parents' abilities to meet the child's needs. Therefore, the judges are better able to make decisions of custody and parenting plans that provide the child with the most stable and nurturing home available.
2) The One Child One Lawyer Program- Statistics suggest that as much as 80% of the time that abused or deprived children are removed from their home by the Department of Family and Children’s Services, the parents are involved in drug use. In Fulton County, these parents may be subject to a termination of their parental rights, but in certain circumstances may retain those rights if they participate in and successfully complete the County’s Juvenile Court’s Drug Treatment Program. While the parents are in the program, the children are the responsibility of DFACS, subject to the supervision of the Juvenile Court, and each child must have counsel during the process whose only responsibility is to the best interest of that child.
The Program Director and Program staff conduct an initial assessment of the child and the child's legal position and make a recommendation regarding the acceptance of the case into the Family Drug Court Program. The volunteer attorney representing the child then works with Program staff to conduct a more thorough assessment of the child and the child's safety, well being, and permanency plan. Fulton County's Family Drug Court operates on a collaborative basis, and as a member of the Family Drug Court team, the Program Director works with DFCS, other service providers, CASA, and the lawyers for the parents to ensure that the families are receiving a comprehensive array of supports and services. Furthermore, the volunteer attorneys representing the children attend IEPs and citizen panel reviews to advocate for their child clients.
The Program Director, an experienced child welfare attorney, is always present at Family Drug Court staffings and hearings, and the volunteer attorneys are present at the permanency hearings, disposition hearings, and any hearings considering the extension of custody or modification of custody. Based on the comprehensive assessment described above, the attorneys advocate for the child’s position and best interests. If the child's parent does not successfully complete the Family Drug Court program and it is apparent that reunification will not be achieved in a timely manner, the One Child, One Lawyer Program continues to represent the child as the court considers the alternate permanency options for that child.
The One Child, One Lawyer Program represents the child client until the child attains permanency. Attorneys maintain on-going regular contact with the child to monitor the child's well-being and to ensure that the attorney is able to advocate for the child's safety and well-being and to ensure that the child attains timely permanency.
We are the Atlanta Consumer and Wage Claim Foundation (ACWCF). …We are the Atlanta Probate Information Foundation….We are the Atlanta Wills and Advance Directives for Seniors and Emergency Service Personnel Project….
Well, you get the idea. The Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation is all of these, and more. And come to think of it, a name that speaks to only one aspect of the Foundation’s work may well be too limiting. So we will keep the all-encompassing moniker, for now, and continue to coordinate the provision of the breadth of free civil legal services to the poor of our community through the volunteer efforts of private lawyers just like you.
Please visit our website for additional information on AVLF's programs and services.
We have been the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation for 32 years, and we are not going to change a name that is widely known and respected. But our name does not fully convey who we are, and if we were starting again, perhaps we should attempt to be more descriptive…
We are the Atlanta Domestic Violence Prevention Foundation (ADVPF), established to give victims of intimate partner violence access to the civil legal representation that has the most impact on a survivor’s ability to make a permanent break from her abuser. We exist because such help is not otherwise easily and at no cost available to victims, and therefore in 2009 we opened our DV Project’s Safe Families Office, the only courthouse-based free legal support program of its kind in Georgia. The Safe Families Office serves survivors of domestic violence, dating violence and stalking, and since its opening in early 2009 more than 4,500 women have visited the Office. In that time, volunteer attorneys recruited, trained and supervised by the Atlanta Domestic Violence Prevention Foundation have secured not only critical Twelve-Month protective orders but also financial awards for their victim-clients in the amount of $147, 109.27. Because our partner, the Fulton County Superior Court, has dedicated distinct space with protective support from Fulton County Sheriffs, because our Safe Families Office colleague Partnership Against Domestic Violence (PADV) staffs the Office to offer safety planning to victims , and because ADVPF coordinates the provision of quality, free legal support, the American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence last year designated the Safe Families Office as a national model for the delivery of these services.
We are the Atlanta Tenant Support Center (ATSC), founded to coordinate the delivery of legal services to those who need help to encourage or if necessary force their landlord to honor the provisions of any lease and/or the jurisdiction’s Housing Code. In Fulton County alone last year, there were more than 51,000 dispossessory warrants sworn out by landlords: more than 18,000 of them were answered by tenants seeking to contest the landlord’s effort to expel them from their home. Perhaps because the legal process demands that the tenant’s answer be filed within seven days of being serves an eviction warrant, and that trial be held not more than 14 days after the filing of an answer- and certainly because poor tenants cannot pay for legal assistance, and there are far too few free legal service providers for this population- far less than 1 out of every 100 tenants is represented by counsel at the contested hearing. The ATSC attacks the problem in three major ways:
1) The Housing Advocacy Resource Center places an attorney in the Fulton County Self-Help Center four days each week. That attorney counsels low-income tenants as they consider how best to respond to a Proceeding Against Tenant Holding Over, or discusses with tenants how to prepare as well as possible for an upcoming mediation or trial. Having a lawyer to whom to speak is a tremendous benefit to a tenant uncertain about the legal process and the law that will determine their right to remain in the premises, their ability to force a landlord to make demanded repair, their obligation to continue to pay full rent to a defaulting landlord etc.
2) The Eviction Defense Program offers direct representation by an ATSC-trained private attorney at the contested trial on the merits of the landlord’s claim and any tenant set-off or counterclaim.
3) The federal Protecting Tenants in Foreclosure Act offers real assistance to tenants being illegally pushed to leave their home by a foreclosing entity. ATSC lawyers not only have been working to educate the Courts and the tenant population about their legal rights in these circumstances vis a vis the old owner/landlord and the new owner/landlord, they have also partnered with a local law school to craft and promote legislation to confirm and to expand the rights of tenants in this state pursuant to that Act.
4) Many tenants are frustrated by their landlord’s refusal to make repair to their home or to otherwise honor an existing lease. These tenants have not received a dispossessory warrant, but need legal assistance nonetheless to force compliance with the law. Other tenants are constructively evicted by their landlord’s termination of utilities or changing of locks, and need help to address these illegal activities and to return them to their homes and their status. For these tenants who have a legal claim that may be furthered by meeting with a lawyer, we offer our Saturday Lawyer Program, where volunteer attorneys from private firms meet with clients to assess their concerns, to offer brief advice and counsel and, as necessary and appropriate, agree to serve as counsel for the full, direct representation of the claim.
We are the Atlanta Children’s Law programs (ACLP). Children whose parents are engaged in high conflict custody litigation, or whose lives are in limbo while their parents are in addiction treatment programs, need an advocate focused on the child's best interests. ACLP coordinates the provision of legal support to these children through two specific programs:
1) The Guardian ad Litem Program: ACLP recruits volunteer attorneys to serve as Guardians of the children of low-income divorcing parents who are engaged in high conflict custody disputes in the Fulton County Superior Court Family Division: Guardians ad Litem represent the best interests of the child in the litigation. The ACLP-trained volunteer Guardian conducts an extensive investigation of the child's interests and needs, and based on that inquiry and assessment makes recommendations to the parents prior to trial, encouraging the parents to mediate their differences. The volunteer Guardian often participates in the mediation of the case, and when the matter can be resolved informally, the child is spared the increased hostility between the parents that often results from a trial in court. If the case does go to trial before a judge, the volunteer Guardian provides the court with a full report of the child's needs and makes a recommendation concerning the parents' abilities to meet the child's needs. Therefore, the judges are better able to make decisions of custody and parenting plans that provide the child with the most stable and nurturing home available.
2) The One Child One Lawyer Program- Statistics suggest that as much as 80% of the time that abused or deprived children are removed from their home by the Department of Family and Children’s Services, the parents are involved in drug use. In Fulton County, these parents may be subject to a termination of their parental rights, but in certain circumstances may retain those rights if they participate in and successfully complete the County’s Juvenile Court’s Drug Treatment Program. While the parents are in the program, the children are the responsibility of DFACS, subject to the supervision of the Juvenile Court, and each child must have counsel during the process whose only responsibility is to the best interest of that child.
The Program Director and Program staff conduct an initial assessment of the child and the child's legal position and make a recommendation regarding the acceptance of the case into the Family Drug Court Program. The volunteer attorney representing the child then works with Program staff to conduct a more thorough assessment of the child and the child's safety, well being, and permanency plan. Fulton County's Family Drug Court operates on a collaborative basis, and as a member of the Family Drug Court team, the Program Director works with DFCS, other service providers, CASA, and the lawyers for the parents to ensure that the families are receiving a comprehensive array of supports and services. Furthermore, the volunteer attorneys representing the children attend IEPs and citizen panel reviews to advocate for their child clients.
The Program Director, an experienced child welfare attorney, is always present at Family Drug Court staffings and hearings, and the volunteer attorneys are present at the permanency hearings, disposition hearings, and any hearings considering the extension of custody or modification of custody. Based on the comprehensive assessment described above, the attorneys advocate for the child’s position and best interests. If the child's parent does not successfully complete the Family Drug Court program and it is apparent that reunification will not be achieved in a timely manner, the One Child, One Lawyer Program continues to represent the child as the court considers the alternate permanency options for that child.
The One Child, One Lawyer Program represents the child client until the child attains permanency. Attorneys maintain on-going regular contact with the child to monitor the child's well-being and to ensure that the attorney is able to advocate for the child's safety and well-being and to ensure that the child attains timely permanency.
We are the Atlanta Consumer and Wage Claim Foundation (ACWCF). …We are the Atlanta Probate Information Foundation….We are the Atlanta Wills and Advance Directives for Seniors and Emergency Service Personnel Project….
Well, you get the idea. The Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation is all of these, and more. And come to think of it, a name that speaks to only one aspect of the Foundation’s work may well be too limiting. So we will keep the all-encompassing moniker, for now, and continue to coordinate the provision of the breadth of free civil legal services to the poor of our community through the volunteer efforts of private lawyers just like you.
Please visit our website for additional information on AVLF's programs and services.
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