Editorial
Front Page - Friday, December 10, 2010
Program benefits Legal Aid in funds, commitment, time
Erica Tuggle
Miller & Martin PLLC is the first law firm in East Tennessee to enroll in a payroll deduction program to direct funds to Legal Aid of East Tennessee. Meaghan Jones, attorney and pro bono director of Legal Aid’s Chattanooga office, says the increased demand due to the recession and decreased funding make this program of vital importance. Kevin Hudson, an attorney with Miller & Martin, generated the initial idea for the payroll deduction plan and oversees its implementation at his firm.
- Erica Tuggle
The season of giving is here, and with it a time to reflect not on the past year’s recession woes but rather on the bounty that we do have that others can’t as easily attain. For those who have never needed legal representation, they may be unaware of the great asset an attorney provides to a case and the great expense it can be to have legal representation. Some simply can’t afford this necessity and thus are denied access to justice.
Miller & Martin recognizes this need for those of low income and is doing their part to help in being the first law firm in East Tennessee to enroll in a payroll deduction program to direct funds to Legal Aid of East Tennessee, which provides pro bono work for those in need.
Miller & Martin associate Kevin Hudson is a member of the Legal Aid annual campaign committee and started this idea rolling. Hudson says setting up the program for associates to deduct small amounts like $5 from each paycheck that can add up to good size contributions was easy, and everyone wondered why they hadn’t though of this idea sooner.
He says attorneys realize the importance of legal representation and the inability of some to pay this great expense and therefore most already donate to Legal Aid. Yet, many don’t realize how much it takes for Legal Aid to support themselves. Now with this program, there is help for their efforts to keep their services out there.
Meaghan Jones, an attorney and pro bono director for Legal Aid’s Chattanooga office, says Legal Aid’s non-profit distinction makes for a two fold job of finding the funds and finding the manpower to represent their clients. Additional funding through the payroll deduction program offers a supplement to the shrinking federal funding sources and allows Legal Aid something steady that they can rely on.
Hudson says, “Legal Aid provides a wonderful service and they also work very hard just raising money. I don’t know how much time they spend trying to stay funded, and so they look to the legal community for help.”
He says events like Pro Bono Night allow an opportunity for the community to help Legal Aid, but with the payroll program, a way to sustain Legal Aid throughout the year is now available.
This also frees up the time that Legal Aid spends calling and asking all in the law community for funds so that they can now focus more on their real goal of helping clients in court.
“[Legal Aid] can do what they are meant to do instead of trying to survive,” Hudson says. “They work very hard and spend a lot of time raising money, while still trying to provide the services to people who need representation. If we can get all the firms to start doing this, I think we will have one of the best Legal Aid organizations, especially in East Tennessee.”
Jones agrees that this program has increased efficiency because Miller & Martin is now doing some of the legwork for Legal Aid by making all of their employees aware of the need.
“What may not seem like a major part of any attorney’s budget in $5 or $10 per pay period is very significant over a year because that is $120 a year if it’s $5 and $260 if it’s at $10,” she says.
“For people who may have only given $50 on a one time call, they are giving more over time, and we have the potential to work with a lot more Miller & Martin attorneys that we did not previously have a relationship with.”
Jones says the firm is not only supporting Legal Aid financially but also with their skills, commitment and time in taking pro bono cases.
“These type of institutional relationships is what makes us more efficient,” she says.
“What they are doing is setting up a system where I don’t have to call each attorney at Miller & Martin to place a case. I just call them, they do the check and help figure out who would be the best attorney to take the case in the firm.”
Another great thing about Miller & Martin pioneering this payroll deduction program is that the ease of the program allows other firms to see the results and join in as well. This happened when Jones brought the idea to the firm Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel who joined up right away and are adding to Legal Aid’s cause as well now through payroll deductions.
Legal Aid serves about 8,000 clients a year in 26 counties through seven offices. The money given in Chattanooga to Legal Aid stays local, serving ten counties. Funds go to traveling expenses to the different counties, litigation costs, the pro bono program and the seven staff attorneys at Legal Aid who make housing, consumer law and domestic violence cases their areas of priority, Jones says.
Because of the high demand for domestic cases and other areas at Legal Aid, the pro bono department is where cases are placed that the internal staff (already at capacity) cannot take on.
This allows the justice system to be at its strongest by working for access to everyone and not just those who can afford an attorney, Jones says.
Currently Legal Aid has 200 volunteer attorneys with open cases in the community that are providing direct representation, mentoring younger attorneys and helping in various other ways, which allows them to earn CLE credit toward their license in ethics hours. It also allows these lawyers to be covered by Legal Aid’s malpractice insurance during these cases up to $1,000,000.
Jones says attorneys can volunteer in many ways besides direct representation at clinics and other areas, and Legal Aid works to accommodate an attorneys skills to different cases.
Visit Legal Aid today at their new location at 535 Chestnut street, and see how you can join in on this season of giving.
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