Editorial
Front Page - Friday, February 26, 2010
Legal Aid of East Tennessee helping the helpless
David Laprad
Attorney David Yoder is the executive director of Legal Aid of East Tennessee; Russell Fowler is the associate director for the southern region of the agency. Legal Aid provides free civil legal assistance to individuals and families whose income falls 125 percent below the federal poverty level.
- David Laprad
Attorneys Russell Fowler and David Yoder have a lot of stories they could tell. None of them, however, involve big money verdicts or being promoted to partner at a prestigious firm. Fowler offers a choice sample:
“A lady who’d had a difficult birth called us from the hospital. It was only the third day of the month but her landlord had already locked her out for unpaid rent. She was literally going to be on the street with a newborn. We dropped everything to deal with that.”
Not to be outdone, Yoder tells a story of his own. “I remember a case involving an older gentleman who was entitled to a benefit, but because he couldn’t prove residence, the provider of the benefit wasn’t going to give it to him. So a staff attorney took the director of the agency on a ride and showed him the cardboard box under the bridge where the man was staying.”
Are Fowler and Yoder exchanging volleys in a duel to tell the gloomiest story? No, they’re both legal aid attorneys relating the kinds of cases with which they deal. But instead of becoming depressed, they find great joy in their work and the ways in which they’re able to help people.
Fowler is the associate director for the southern region of Legal Aid of East Tennessee; Yoder is the executive director of the whole shebang. Together, they oversee staff attorneys who provide a full range of civil legal assistance to individuals and families whose income falls 125 percent below the federal poverty level. Their services are free.
“We handle everything from domestic violence cases, to consumer problems, to difficulties obtaining public benefits...” Fowler says, his voice trailing off as though he could go on for several minutes.
Legal Aid of East Tennessee receives most of its funding through the Federal Legal Services Corporation. Each year, the agency has to apply for the support and then follow strict rules regarding how to document their work and the manner in which they can use the money. “I spent less time keeping track of billable hours as a paid attorney,” Fowler says, a wry smile crossing his face.
The agency also relies on a number of grants that allow its staff attorneys to do specialized work. An endowment from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funds work on housing-related matters, while a gift from the Benwood Foundation allows Legal Aid to help people extend their unemployment benefits. “We also have a grant that allows us to focus on senior issues, such as predatory lending,” Fowler says. “Predators often target senior citizens because they own their homes.”
Legal Aid also engages in fund-raising activities, with a significant number of annual contributions coming from the members of the various bar associations within its 26 county domain.
Money, however, is the least of the ways in which lawyers across Southeast Tennessee help Legal Aid. According to Fowler, their most important contribution is manpower. “We have about 500 attorneys that volunteer their time and expertise. And they do more than take cases; some of them interview potential clients to see if their cases have merit or work legal clinics once a month, where they can help a large number of people.”
Bar members also serve on Legal Aid’s board of directors and mentor new legal aid attorneys.
This group of pro bono enthusiasts, Fowler calls some of the best lawyers in the state. “We have a senior attorney who’d been retired for a number of years but came back to do pro bono work three days a week,” he says. “He’s having a blast and his clients are getting one of the best litigators they could have.”
Despite his help, and the pro bono efforts of hundreds of his colleagues, Legal Aid is only able to scratch the surface of the legal need in Southeast Tennessee. Yoder talks about the “justice gap,” or the unmet need that exists for civil legal assistance among the low income population, saying studies suggest the nation’s legal aid community has enough resources to meet between five and 15 percent of the need. “There are over 325,000 eligible people in Southeast Tennessee. Studies show they have over 450,000 legal problems a year,” he says. “We can handle about 8,000 cases.”
Nevertheless, Yoder and Fowler don’t regret the path they’ve taken, even though they could earn more money elsewhere, because their work is anything but thankless. “Talk with a lot of lawyers in private practice and you’ll find that many of them are unhappy,” Yoder says. “That’s because they went to law school to make a difference, but that’s not what they ended up doing. They have expensive cars and big houses in gated communities, but instead of making a difference, they’re trying to earn enough money to pay their employees, keep their lights on and appear successful enough to draw in the next client. And some of them never hear a thank you.
“I chose a career in law because I wanted to make a difference. And in 35 years, I’ve never gone to bed at night wondering if that’s what I’m doing.”
Fowler agrees, saying he likes taking cases not for money but for the justice of it. “I get up excited every day because I’m going to be representing people who need my help. That’s rewarding and it’s great fun.”
Yoder, who specializes in domestic violence and abuse issues, closes with a story about a woman who endured 15 years of beatings from her husband to keep her family together. Then came the day when her husband hit their teenage daughter. She told Yoder they had guns in their house, and that one of them was going to die the next time he struck their daughter.
“He hired an expensive, skilled lawyer, but we represented her, and fought battle after battle, but we got her a divorce, a permanent protective order and child support. Three months later, she came back and told me her kids were doing well in school and were no longer waking up at night screaming because they thought their dad coming for them. When you know you can make that kind of difference...”
His voice trails off, as though he could go on for several minutes – or as though he’s thinking about all of the untold stories among the hundreds of thousands of people who need help, but might not get it.
Sign up for the Legal Aid of East Tennessee newsletter at www.laet.org.
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