The State Bar Legal Assistance Committee has launched a "Just Take Two" campaign in support of increasing the commitment of Wisconsin lawyers to provide low-income Wisconsin residents with meaningful access to legal services. Bar members are encouraged to accept at least two new pro bono legal matters in the next 12 months for low-income individuals or for nonprofit organizations that serve primarily low-income communities.
Inside the
Bar
January 2005
State Bar Pro Bono Initiative kicks off "Just Take Two" program
The State Bar Legal Assistance Committee has
launched a "Just Take Two" campaign in support of increasing the
commitment of Wisconsin lawyers to provide low-income Wisconsin
residents with meaningful access to legal services. Bar members are
encouraged to accept at least two new pro bono legal matters in the next
12 months for low-income individuals or for nonprofit organizations that
serve primarily low-income communities.
The campaign is one aspect of the State Bar Pro Bono Initiative
approved by the Board of Governors last spring. The initiative is a
statewide coordinated program to support, recognize, and increase
lawyers' volunteer legal efforts. In collaboration with the judiciary,
legal services providers, and local bar organizations, the initiative
works to improve public access to the legal system, promote solutions to
eliminate barriers to effective access to the civil justice system, and
increase the availability of pro bono resources for low-income Wisconsin
residents.
"Volunteer lawyers are an increasingly vital part of the legal
services delivery system in Wisconsin," says State Bar Pro Bono
Coordinator Jeff Brown. "While funding for Wisconsin's primary legal
services providers for people in poverty has been steadily declining,
the Wisconsin Council on Children & Families' analysis of the most
recent U.S. Census Bureau data shows that the number of Wisconsin
families living in poverty rose from 74,930 in 2000 to 101,140 in
2003.
"An estimated 63,000 low-income residents sought help from the legal
system in 2003," continues Brown. "Wisconsin's three largest civil legal
services programs must regularly turn away more eligible clients than
they have resources to serve. Last year, the three programs only had the
resources to handle approximately 16,000 matters. Hundreds of Wisconsin
attorneys who generously donated their time to volunteer with those
programs closed at least another 2,500 cases. If each of the more than
14,000 in-state Bar members accepted just two additional pro bono
matters, more than 28,000 additional clients could be served."
For more
information or to sign up, contact Brown at (608) 250-6177, or (800)
444-9404, ext. 6177.
Inside the
Bar
