Legal Assistance Center’s Executive Director Deborah Hughes, at far left, and Paralegal/Program Coordinator Charlie Campbell, at far right, presented information to 63rd District staff including, left to right, Court Administrator Kevin McKay, Civil Clerks Dawn Kolenbrander, Melissa Bosley, and Molly Norton.
PHOTOS BY CYNTHIA PRICE, LEGAL NEWS
by Cynthia Price
Legal News
The Legal Assistance Center (LAC) is celebrating its tenth anniversary by taking steps to ensure that all citizens of Kent County have easy access to its services.
In late June, LAC’s Paralegal/Program Coordinator Charles Campbell and its new Executive Director, Deborah Hughes, gave personnel at the 63rd District Court a brief training on how to use its new Court Personnel Referral Manual. This was the first LAC staff training and manual delivery, but it will be replicated in all the trial courts within the county.
Since LAC exists to help unrepresented individuals help themselves, LAC staff and volunteers often find themselves drawing very fine lines to avoid overlapping into the unauthorized practice of law.
So, for example, the LAC will not handle civil suits involving dollar amounts over the legal limit for small claims, criminal cases, driver’s license or traffic violation matters, or appeals of any nature.
Deborah Hughes, who started her position Jan. 1, is an attorney, formerly practicing in Iowa with a focus on family and employment law, so she is well-acquainted with where many of those lines must be drawn.
Hughes came to the Grand Rapids area in 2004, served as a legal consultant and adjunct faculty at Grand Valley State University, and for the year or so prior to being hired as Executive Director, volunteered at LAC.
Under any circumstances, LAC has shown itself to be ever-vigilant over the years about practicing law without authorization. The referral manual reflects that throughout.
One way in which LAC remains clear about what it can and cannot cover in each case, Campbell and Hughes noted, is by doing a thorough intake evaluation of each client’s situation. Though Campbell and the other LAC paralegal, Vickie Hannigan, lead the charge, law and paralegal students as well as other trained volunteers swell the ranks of those doing such time-consuming analysis.
Volunteer sources provide almost 5,000 hours of service annually.
Visitors to the LAC hear the message over and over again: “Individuals making their way through the court system are virtually always better off if represented by an attorney,” as the referral manual puts it.
That said, most people filing a small claims suit, for example, do represent themselves. Many courts have found that such services as those the Legal Assistance Center offers can expedite the experience for court staff, and make the experience more satisfying for people making their way through the legal system.
The LAC last year served approximately 16,000 people, after starting off with 3,000 in 2002. It is on track to serve about 17,000 in 2012.
In addition to all the volunteer time, the LAC balances its finances through Kent County in-kind support in the form of supplying space in the downtown courthouse where LAC sees its patrons, many of whom are walk-ins.
There has been a growing recognition that this location may not be well-received by people who use outlying courts. Many of those using the five additional district courts may be intimidated by driving and parking downtown, may be under the impression that LAC does not apply to them, or may just not know about the LAC.
To remedy that, the LAC piloted a project where the LAC’s Charlie Campbell made himself physically available at the 63rd District Court building. Few people took advantage of it, so next steps were sought.
The Court Personnel Referral Manual resulted, based on the thought process that if court personnel were truly conversant with what LAC can and cannot do, and where else to send patrons who come into their courts for help, all patrons would be better-served.
The State Bar of Michigan Access to Justice Fund gave LAC a grant not only to create the resource manual, but also to provide the training.
At the 63rd District Court session, Campbell, whose firm grasp of the subject matter was evident in every sentence, led about ten members of the staff, including administrator Kevin McKay, through the manual.
An important section of the well-organized handbook gives contacts and summarized information about other places patrons can go for help. One of these, of course, is Legal Aid of Western Michigan.
Another is the Lawyer Referral and Information Service of the Grand Rapids Bar, which, for a $25 administration fee, arranges for people with questions about how to proceed legally to meet for one half hour with an attorney specializing in the required practice area. Whether those people get their questions answered and move on, or continue by engaging the attorney, LRIS has helped make the legal experience easier. More information is at www.grbar.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=67.
There is a statewide senior legal help line at 800-347-5297.
In addition to referencing local clinics specific to certain needs such as landlord-tenant, Campbell and Hughes revealed a resource so new it is not in the manual: the State Bar-funded website, www.michiganlegalhelp.org, now in “soft launch.” This offers statewide help similar to that of the LAC.
The resource section also includes contact information for such social service agencies as Safe Haven Ministries for domestic violence issues, and United Way 211 First Call for Help.
Some of the clerks had questions about the dollar-amount limitations, in light of the increases planned for small claims limits. The cap moves up to $5000 on Sept. 1 of this year, and then increases $500 every three years until it reaches $7000 in 2024. Campbell said the LAC will follow that schedule.
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