Improve access
to justice
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The State Bar worked with the Equal Justice Coalition
and the Wisconsin Legislature to secure federal funds allocated at the state
level to provide civil legal assistance by lawyers to low-income residents.
As a result, the 1999-2001 Biennial Budget Bill included $100,000 per year
for civil legal services. Outside its legislative efforts, the State Bar
is active in several programs to increase access to justice for everyone
- from low-income residents, to small businesses, to aspiring artists.
Team Pro Bono on the move. The State Bar launched Team Pro Bono
to increase the accessibility of legal services to low-income persons
in Wisconsin, to instill in lawyers a sense of self-satisfaction, to enhance
the public image of the legal profession, and to improve statewide coordination
of legal services efforts.
So far, 23 Wisconsin counties and all substantive
legal practice areas are represented on Team Pro Bono. Each team "position"
provides a different type of volunteer opportunity. Players provide direct
representation, coaches serve as mentors, managers lead a specific pro bono
project, and sponsors make a financial contribution to the Equal Justice
Coalition, Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, or a legal services office
in Wisconsin.
Business Law Section wins SBA legal assistance award. In recognition
of its contributions to the state's economic development, the State Bar's
Business Law Section was honored by the U.S. Small Business Administration
with Wisconsin's 2000 Small Business Legal Assistance of the Year Award.
The section's Business and Nonprofit Business Assistance
program provides up to two free hours of introductory counseling to small
businesses and qualifying nonprofit organizations. Since the program began
in 1995, 195 Wisconsin attorneys have donated their services to this program,
helping more than 2,500 businesses and nonprofit organizations.
New program provides creative pro bono opportunities. Wisconsin
attorneys can fulfill their pro bono obligation by working with the Wisconsin
Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts group. The new group pairs lawyers with
artists and arts groups confronted with issues in intellectual property,
tax, contracts, basic business law, licensing, commercial leasing, and
estate planning. This program was developed in cooperation with the Wisconsin
Assembly of Local Artists and the State of Wisconsin Arts Board.
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