emerging issues in the delivery of pro bono services matt gallagher supervising attorney - carpls...
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Emerging Issues in the Delivery of Pro
Bono ServicesMatt Gallagher
Supervising Attorney - [email protected]
About CARPLS
Overview of CARPLS
Legal aid hotline
42,000 client services provided in FY08
Primarily telephone-based service
Help desks operated at 4 locations in the City
Thirty attorneys on staff, many part-time
CARPLS Volunteer Programs
“Nightline” - evening individual volunteer program
“Go Bono” - daytime firm volunteer program
Individual volunteers in specialized roles
Organizational focus on volunteers
Many of our staff attorneys came from our volunteer program - including me
Technology used to help bring pro bono volunteers into our program
Staff support for volunteer projects
Technology supporting pro bonoRecent redesign of our case management software to support volunteer attorneys
Provides detailed canned answers to specific legal questions
Written specifically from the point of view of a hotline attorney and incorporates CARPLS’ philosophy and policies
IP Phone system allows remote users to sign on
QuickTime™ and aVideo decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Nightline program
Nightline: Overview
In operation for 10+ years
Wednesday evenings 5:30 - 8 p.m.
At our office
Volunteer attorneys
Volunteering on an individual basis
Nightline: Training and supervision
Two-part training
Substantive law group training
Individualized computer training
Nightline: Who volunteers?
25+ individual attorneys
Wide variety of practice areas
Wide variety of practice settings
Typical tenure 2-3 years
Nightline: What they do
Return calls in specific areas of law
Current: Landlord-tenant and consumer
Less success: employment
All work done over the phone
Supervised by CARPLS staff in person
Nightline: Pros and cons for CARPLSPro: Good return on attorney time
Pro: Gets word out about our program to many people
Pro: Can serve as development vehicle
Con: Constant training cycle
Con: Recruitment
Pro and Cons for volunteers
Low-commitment
Discrete volunteering opportunity
Networking
Learn new area of law
Develop client counseling skills
Go Bono Program
Go Bono: Overview
Taking the volunteer experience to the volunteer attorney’s own office
Focus on larger law firms / legal departments
Pilot phase
Landlord-tenant law - part of our focus on housing law
Go Bono: Overview
Firm commits to the program, not individuals
Pilot phase: 1 ‘live’ firm, one in training, one in the wings
‘Break even’ size: 20+ volunteers per firm
Required Firm Commitment
Space: Office or conference room
Two computers with web access
20+ volunteer
Firm support for scheduling and training
Individual attorney commitment
Training - 6 hours
Volunteering - 3 or 4 hours per month, 40 per year
Annual refresher training
Go Bono: Training and supervision
Recruitment events
Web-based video training for substantive legal training
In-person computer/phone training
In-person support for first ‘live’ call for each attrorney
Ongoing: remote support via phone and IM
Go Bono ongoing
Firms commit to staffing one shift per week
2 attorneys, 4 hours - 8 attorney-hours per shift
Remotely supported by the ‘Attorney on Call’
In future, volunteer whenever attorney wants
Go Bono: Benefits to firm
Low-commitment, high impact volunteering
Flexibility in scheduling
Easy to get attorneys to volunteer - in office
Go Bono: Benefit to CARPLS
Develop relationship with firms
High payoff - 20 volunteers at once per firm
Low-impact on overhead - volunteering done from their office not ours
Relatively easy to support once up and running
Go Bono: Challenges during pilot IConflicts of interests for firms - biggest challenge
Business concerns
Getting high-level leaders at firm to support and drive project
Much more on-site supervision required than we initially thought
Go Bono: Challenges during Pilot II
Getting individual attorneys to comply with our training requirements
Loss of interest after initial burst
Identifying leaders within the volunteer base
Going forward
One firm up and running
One in middle of training
One getting ready for pilot phase
Goal is 10 firms - 10 shifts per week, 1 firm each
If achieved, this would be ~100 clients served per week, 5000 per year - >10% increase in our capacity
Other volunteers
‘Random volunteers’Individuals who fill a specialized need
Foreign-licensed lawyer who provides supervised assistance to Spanish speaking clients
Paralegal volunteer to assist with some intake work
Challenges with individual volunteers
Difficult to manage
Supervision required on an intense basis - they can never ‘fly solo’
Tend to disappear randomly
Staff supervision difficult on one-off basis
Lessons learned
Lessons learned: Volunteer programsGo Bono will biggest impact to our program in terms of serving greatest number of clients at lowest cost
Go Bono also requires much more work on the front end to get it going
Individual volunteers outside of Nightline and Go Bono are rarely worth the time commitment required by staff
Lessons Learned: Go BonoTakes much more on-site staff time than we initially thought
Biggest issue for firm leadership is conflicts of interest
Proposed supreme court rule change
Biggest issue for CARPLS is getting firm leadership to commit a sufficient number of volunteer attorneys on a regular basis
