Microsoft Word - Bar Association Legal Clinic Toolkit 2018

Setting the Stage

The Mississippi Access to Justice Commission was created by the Mississippi Supreme Court to

improve and expand access to civil justice for low-income citizens. In a state of 2.9 million,

700,000 people qualify for civil legal aid. Unfortunately, Mississippi ranks 48

in the number of

civil legal aid attorneys. There is only one legal aid attorney for every 22,000 who seek help. We

have to find ways to support our legal aid programs. Pro bono service is one way to do that. It

will take all of us to ensure the legal needs of the underserved are met.

We are committed to fostering a culture of pro bono service. Your interest in providing a legal

clinic plays a vital role in carrying out an importance piece of our mission—assuring all citizens

equal access to justice. For the majority of low-income individuals and their families, legal

clinics are the only way to receive professional legal advice, basic legal services, or access to an

attorney.

Getting Started

This toolkit will provide you with the information and forms you will need to establish a legal

clinic, including the following attachments:

1. Checklist of Items to Consider When

Setting Up a Legal Clinic (pg. 2)

2. List of items needed for legal clinics (pg.

3. FAQs about Legal Clinics (pg. 5)

4. Sample Legal Clinic Timeline (pg. 7)

5. Sample Legal Clinic Layout (pg. 10)

6. Sample Volunteer Attorney Sign-Up

Form (pg. 11)

7. Sample Law Firm Sign-Up Form (pg. 12)

8. Sample Legal Clinic Flyer (pg. 13)

9. Sample Legal Clinic Intake Form (pg. 14)

10. Sample Legal Clinic Appointment Roster

(pg. 15)

11. Sample Legal Clinic Press Release (pg.

16)

12. Sample Attorney Confirmation Email

(pg. 17)

13. Sample Thank You Email to Attorneys

(pg. 18)

14. Sample Legal Clinic Retainer Agreement

(pg. 19)

15. Sample Legal Clinic CLE Certificate (pg.

20)

LEGAL CLINIC TOOLKIT

16. Sample Legal Clinic Sign-In Sheets (pg.

21-22)

17. List of Legal Nonprofit Organizations

(pg. 23-24)

______Form a committee in your bar association to plan the clinic

______Establish a timeline for clinic planning (See attachment 4 for suggested timeline)

______ Begin establishing support for the clinic in your community by meeting with local

leaders and area legal service providers to discuss need, types of cases to handle at clinic and

client recruitment strategies

______Decide whether and how to engage local courts and judges

______Establish the date and time for the clinic

______Determine the facility to use for the clinic and visit the clinic location to determine how

the clinic will be set up (See attachment 5 for suggested layout)

______Develop recruitment flyers to email to attorney volunteers with sign-up forms (See

attachment 6 for sample volunteer sign-up form)

______Begin recruiting attorney volunteers: announce the project to your bar membership

through publications, e-newsletters, emails, and website (if applicable)

______Decide if your clinic will be by appointment only or if you will allow walk-ins. If your

clinic will be by appointment only, decide how appointment calls will be handled, i.e., which

entity or person.

______If your clinic will be by appointment, develop a clinic appointment roster (See

attachment 10 for a sample roster)

______Develop legal clinic intake form (See attachment 9 for sample intake form)

______Develop clinic flyers to distribute with the date, time, location, and who to contact for

an appointment (if necessary) (See attachment 8 for sample clinic flyer)

______Contact corporate legal departments and law firms in your area to ask for sponsorships

and volunteers (See attachment 7 for sample law firm volunteer form)

______Keep local officials and legal service providers apprised of the project’s progress

ATTACHMENT 1: CHECKLIST OF ITEMS TO CONSIDER WHEN SETTING UP A LEGAL CLINIC

______Set up an orientation seminar for volunteers (can be arranged on the same day as the

clinic). Decide whether the orientation will include CLE instruction and/or legal clinic

administration information only. If you decide to include CLE instruction, you will need to

recruit a CLE speaker to cover the topics you intend to handle at the clinic. S/he will also need

to be present for the entire clinic to answer questions or be the “roaming expert.” (See FAQ #7

re: CLE credit on page 6)

______Publicize clinic in local media—newspaper, radio and television (See attachment 12 for

sample press release)

______Determine staffing and staff responsibilities for the clinic

______Recruit a notary or notaries to assist with execution of documents after clients meet

with volunteer attorney. This is not a requirement for clinics, but clients appreciate being able

to get their documents notarized while they are at the legal clinic.

______Send initial reminder(s) to volunteers about clinic date and other relevant information,

including any orientation seminars. Ask volunteers to bring laptops to the clinic.

______Prepare signage for the facility

______Purchase flash drives (at least 15) and pre-load them with the form pleadings you will

need for the legal clinic. Consult with local attorneys who practice in the areas the clinic will

cover for sample pleadings.

______Reconfirm all volunteers at least two days before the program. Remind attorney

volunteers to bring laptops.

______Determine whether you will provide refreshments for volunteers or attendees. Assign

staff members to pick up or arrange with the facility. (This is where law firm/corporate

sponsorships can be helpful.)

______Day of Clinic: Set up signage and sign in, intake and exit tables, and individual meeting

areas. The notary can be assigned to the exit table.

______Provide orientation to all volunteers if you have not done so already

______Collect case files and prepare a short report on the clinic’s success—i.e., number of

volunteers, number of clients served, types of cases handled, etc.

______Decide how you will handle calls from clinic clients after the event. At times, clients will

call when they experience issues with filing documents and/or appearing in court. You need to

decide how those calls will be handled. This is something to possibly discuss with the area legal

service provider community. They may be willing to assist with this as part of a co-sponsorship

relationship.

______Provide feedback on the clinic to legal service providers and your local bar members

______Send thank you letters to your volunteers and recognize volunteers in bar publications,

including Bar Briefs and The Mississippi Lawyer magazine

At least one large printer, ideally one that also makes copies

Printer Ink

At least one laptop to connect to the printer

White Paper

Flash Drives

Ink Pens

Extension Cords

Stapler

Post-it Notes

Paper Clips – small and large

Pro Se Litigant Files

Extra Blank Manila Folders

Legal Pad (for taking notes of things to do after the legal clinic)

CLE Certificates

“What to Do After the Legal Clinic” Forms

Legal Clinic Disclaimers

CLE Speaker Biography

CLE Speaker’s Written Materials

Notary (if possible)

Sign-in sheets

Water

Coffee

Food (if applicable)

ATTACHMENT 2: LIST OF ITEMS NEEDED FOR LEGAL CLINICS

1. Should our bar association partner with a local legal aid or pro bono service provider

on the legal clinic? Legal aid and pro bono programs can connect you with members of

the community who need the services you will provide at the clinic. They can also help

you determine the types of cases you should handle and advise of obstacles you might

face in planning an event. They can also serve as referral points for people you cannot

serve at the clinic or for those who may require additional assistance after the clinic. In

other words, partnering with these programs can be beneficial. However, you do not

have to partner with a legal aid or pro bono program to have a successful legal clinic.

This toolkit was developed to provide you with all of the information you will need to do

that.

2. Is malpractice insurance provided? If you partner with a legal aid or pro bono program,

they can sometimes provide malpractice insurance. If you partner with a legal aid or pro

bono program, you might ask them to “sponsor” the event by providing malpractice

coverage. However, even if you plan an event on your own, individual attorneys can

bring their own malpractice coverage to the event and that should be sufficient. These

clinics are limited in scope and the types of services provided by volunteers. Participants

sign retainer agreements that discuss the scope of the clinics and the fact that an

attorney’s representation is limited to what s/he does at the event. Participants who

refuse to sign the retainer agreement should not receive assistance at the clinic. We

recommend the bar associations retain copies of the agreements for at least one year.

3. Where can our bar association find information on other bar association’s legal

clinics?

Please contact the Mississippi Access to Justice Commission at 601-960-9581 to learn

about other clinics.

4. What should our bar association do about income guidelines for people wishing to

participate in the legal clinic? This will be a choice for your bar association to make, but

there are some factors it should consider in making it. Since the state’s legal aid

programs assist individuals who are at 125%-200% of the federal poverty level, we

recommend following similar guidelines. To find out what the current poverty

thresholds are, visit https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-

poverty/historical-poverty-thresholds.html. Please contact the Mississippi Access to

Justice Commission at 601-960-9581 with questions about how to approach this

determination.

ATTACHMENT 3: FAQs ABOUT LEGAL CLINICS

5. Should our clinic have attorneys who practice in certain areas and, if so, which ones? It

is certainly advisable to have attorneys present who practice in the areas your clinic will

cover. However, you should not limit the legal clinic to only those attorneys. Indeed,

legal clinics present outstanding opportunities to engage new attorneys and attorneys

who wish to learn about new areas of the law. It will be important to designate

someone to conduct a CLE training before the legal clinic on the areas of the law you will

cover. You can hold this training immediately before the clinic or even more in advance.

That is up to you. You will want to invite the attorneys who will volunteer to attend and

learn. Ideally, the CLE trainer will agree to be present at the event to field questions

that may arise, particularly from attorneys who do not practice in the areas addressed

by the legal clinic. You will be able to give CLE credit for each hour that an attorney

volunteers at the event as long as a “roaming expert” is present to answer questions

that may arise and generally be available. See #6 for more on this.

6. Can attorneys receive CLE credit for volunteering at the legal clinic?

Yes! Bar associations that hold legal clinics can offer hour-by-hour continuing legal

education credit to volunteer attorneys as long as the following conditions are met: (1)

the CLE is conducted by an individual or group qualified by practical or academic

experience; (2) the individual or group conducting the CLE provides thorough, high

quality, readable, and carefully prepared written materials to all participants at or

before the time the course is presented; and (3) an individual or group instructor(s)

(ideally the same person or people) is present throughout the legal clinic to respond to

questions or address issues that may arise.

Please note: The Mississippi Bar is an accredited sponsor of the Mississippi Commission

on CLE. We would strongly encourage bar associations to partner with The Mississippi

Bar or another accredited sponsor to assure they receive CLE credit without having to

submit the additional materials referenced in (2).

7. How can we best promote the legal to the community?

Create fliers to post in public places like schools, libraries, and the post office. See

attachment 8 for a sample. You may want to contact local media stations or newspapers

to include a notice as well. See attachment 12 for a sample. Maintaining a relationship

with the legal services providers and social services providers is key in getting the word

out to your potential client population.

8. Should we provide an orientation for volunteers for the clinic?

Orientation is invaluable for volunteers since they will frequently be inexperienced in

providing on-the-spot advice. Ideally, you will offer a live orientation coupled with a

nuts and bolts CLE in a specific practice area. That will ensure your attorneys receive

instruction, CLE credit, and the information they will need to have a successful legal

clinic experience.

9. We have read through the entire Legal Clinic Toolkit and we still have questions. Who

should we contact?

Please contact the Mississippi Access to Justice Commission at 601-960-9581 with

questions. We look forward to helping your bar association in any way that we can. We

commend you for downloading our Legal Clinic Toolkit and learning about how to

establish a clinic in your community. To learn more about the Commission, visit our

website, www.msatjc.org.

THREE-SIX MONTHS BEFORE CLINIC:

 Form a committee in your bar association to plan the clinic

 Begin establishing support for the clinic in your community by meeting with local

leaders and area legal service providers to discuss the need, types of cases to handle at

clinic and client recruitment strategies

 Decide whether and how to engage local courts and judges

 Establish the date and time for the clinic

 Determine the facility to use for the clinic and visit the clinic location to determine how

the clinic will be set up

FOUR WEEKS BEFORE CLINIC:

 Develop recruitment forms to email to attorney volunteers with sign-up forms (See

attachment 6 for sample form)

 Begin recruiting attorney volunteers: announce the project to your bar membership

through publications, e-newsletters, emails, and website (if applicable)

 Decide if your clinic will be by appointment only or if you will allow walk-ins. If your

clinic will be by appointment only, decide how appointment calls will be handled, i.e.,

which entity or person.

 If your clinic will be by appointment, develop a clinic appointment roster (See

attachment 10 for a sample roster)

 Develop legal clinic intake form (See attachment 9 for a sample form)

 Develop clinic flyers to distribute with the date, time, location, and who to contact for

an appointment (if necessary) (See attachment 8 for a sample flyer)

 Contact corporate legal departments and law firms in your area to ask for sponsorships

and volunteers (See attachment 7 for a sample form)

 Identify local agencies to send marketing email and clinic flyer and create list of contact

people with email address and phone numbers. The list should include the Department

of Human Services, local courts (justice, municipal, chancery and county) and local

churches, among others

THREE WEEKS BEFORE CLINIC:

ATTACHMENT 4: SAMPLE LEGAL CLINIC TIMELINE

 Set up an orientation seminar for volunteers (can be arranged on the same day as the

clinic). Decide whether the orientation will include CLE instruction and/or legal clinic

administration information only. If you decide to include CLE instruction, you will need

to recruit a CLE speaker to cover the topics you intend to handle at the clinic. S/he will

also need to be present for the entire clinic to answer questions or be the “roaming

expert.”

 Publicize clinic in local media—newspaper, radio and television

 Determine staffing and staff responsibilities for the clinic

 Recruit a notary or notaries to assist with execution of documents after clients meet

with volunteer attorney. This is not a requirement for clinics, but clients appreciate

being able to get their documents notarized while they are at the legal clinic.

 Send initial reminder(s) to volunteers about clinic date and other relevant information,

including any orientation seminars. Ask volunteers to bring laptops to the clinic.

TWO WEEKS BEFORE CLINIC:

 If client sign-ups have been slow, contact the legal nonprofits and others for assistance

and referrals.

ONE WEEK BEFORE CLINIC:

 Make confirmation calls to all clinic participants to confirm their attendance. This can

be done 2-3 days out as well.

 Determine whether you will provide food for volunteers or attendees. Assign staff

members to pick up or arrange with the facility. (This is where law firm/corporate

sponsorships can be helpful.) If you intend to provide, place the order one week before

the clinic.

 Arrange for use of printers. If you are having the event in a courthouse, you may be

able to use the court’s equipment. Otherwise, you will want to make sure you have a

printer(s) and laptop ready for flash drives at the event. Make sure to purchase flash

drives and have them pre-loaded with the form pleadings needed at the event.

 Send reminder to notary.

 Make copies of the following—attorney and clinic participant sign-in sheets and CLE

certificates. (See attachment 16 for sample sign-in sheets)

 Finalize your appointment roster (See attachment 10 for a sample roster)

 Email all volunteer attorneys with clinic confirmation details, including clinic participant

numbers and case types. Include directions to the clinic’s location. (See attachment 11

for sample email)

 Prepare signage for the facility

DAY OF THE CLINIC:

Morning

 Set up signage and sign in, intake and exit tables, and individual meeting areas. The

notary can be assigned to the exit table.

 Put out sign-in sheets and ink pens on registration table

Clients’ Arrival

 Greet clinic participants and attorneys at registration table. Have participants wait in a

waiting area until an attorney is ready to meet with them.

Orientation with Attorneys

 Provide overview of cases

 Discuss clinic procedures and make attorney/student assignments. Distribute flash

drives.

 Escort clinic attorney/clinic participant teams to rooms once assigned. Make sure you

have clinic participants’ file folders with you.

 Take pictures at the clinic for posting to social media and post-event press.

During Clinic

 Use your “roaming expert” to assist attorneys with questions

 Make sure someone is ensuring the event is running smoothly and clinic participants are

being served as promptly as possible.

 As clinic participants and attorneys exit, make sure:

(1) The documents have been notarized, if applicable;

(2) The documents are correct—use your “roaming expert” to review them;

(3) Flash drives are returned;

(4) Attorneys have returned the CLE certificates;

(5) All rooms are cleaned; and

(6) The registration desk is cleared.

AFTER THE CLINIC:

 Post clinic pictures to social media.

 Decide how you will handle calls from clinic clients after the event. At times, clients will

call when they experience issues with filing documents and/or appearing in court. You

need to decide how those calls will be handled. This is something to possibly discuss

with the area legal service provider community. They may be willing to assist with this

as part of a co-sponsorship relationship. Otherwise, you will want to designate an

individual(s) who can answer questions or refer them to the legal service provider(s) as

needed.

 Provide feedback on the clinic to legal service providers and your local bar members

 Send thank you letters to your volunteers and recognize volunteers in bar publications,

including Bar Briefs and The Mississippi Lawyer magazine (See attachment 13 for sample

thank you email to attorney volunteers)

Room Set-Up

Individual Table Set-Up

ATTACHMENT 5: SAMPLE LEGAL CLINIC LAYOUT

NAME OF BAR ASSOCIATION

LEGAL CLINIC

ATTACHMENT 6: SAMPLE VOLUNTEER ATTORNEY SIGN-UP FORM

VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP FORM

I would like to volunteer to make the legal clinic a success by:

______ Volunteering to serve on the legal clinic planning committee

______ Volunteering to provide legal advice and counsel and, where appropriate, draft

legal documents for individuals who seek help at the legal clinic

______ Volunteering to provide the CLE instruction and serve as the “roaming expert”

who helps attorneys who have questions at the legal clinic

______ Volunteering to man the registration desk and take pictures at the clinic

______ Volunteering to promote the clinic by distributing flyers, sending emails or

otherwise making the community-at-large aware of the event

______ Volunteering to help at the legal clinic as may be needed

______ Other, please describe: ______________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Name: ________________________________________________________________________

Firm/Company: _________________________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________________________________

Phone: ________________________________________________________________________

Email: ________________________________________________________________________

Please return form to ____________________________________

by email at ______________________________________

or fax at ________________________________.

NAME OF BAR ASSOCIATION

ATTACHMENT 7: SAMPLE LEGAL CLINIC LAW FIRM SIGN-UP FORM

LEGAL CLINIC

LAW FIRM SIGN-UP FORM

My law firm would like to volunteer to make the legal clinic a success by: