Legal Aid and Defender Association, Inc. (LAD) held the third in its series of Advancing Justice Initiative (AJI) breakfasts to introduce itself to federal, state and county government officials Dec. 2 at the Clinton-Macomb Public Library in Clinton Township.
LAD is Michigan’s largest provider of free civil legal services to low-income residents. It serves metropolitan Detroit through its offices in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties.
LAD also represents criminal defendants in Wayne County and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Including brief consultations and comprehensive legal services, the public law firm handles some 15,000 legal matters yearly.
LAD developed the AJI following a reduction in funding by the federal Legal Services Corp. that forced LAD’s Civil Law Group to lay off several attorneys, paralegals and support staff. In November, LAD held breakfasts for officials in Wayne and Oakland counties.
Attending the breakfast for officials in Macomb County were State Sen. Steven Bieda, D-9th District; Macomb County Probate CourtJudge Kathryn A. George; Capt. Elizabeth Darga of the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office; and representatives of U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.; U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, D-12th District; and State Reps. Marilyn Lane, D-31st District; Ken Goike, R-33rd District; and Harold L. Haugh, D-42nd District.
Joan Glanton Howard, chief counsel of the Civil Law Group, and Kelly L. Bidelman, managing attorney of LAD’s offices in Macomb and Oakland counties, spoke on behalf of LAD.
“We represent people who otherwise would not be able to utilize our court system,” Howard said, including people victimized by “bad actors” engaged in mortgage foreclosure and other scams. “We’re here to help your constituents,” she said. “We’d also like to be invited to comment on legislation affecting poor people,” she said.
LAD came to Macomb County in 2003 as part of a consolidation of legal services programs by the Legal Services Corp., Bidelman said. Since then, LAD’s Macomb office has served more than 10,000 people and provided them with more than $3 million in economic benefits, she said.
Howard and Bidelman cited LAD’s efforts to recruit pro bono private attorneys, help pro se litigants and mentor new attorneys in the county.
Howard said LAD would like to establish a help desk for pro se litigants like the one it operates at Oakland County Circuit Court with the help of the Oakland County Bar Association.
Members of LAD’s Macomb staff sit on the boards of several social services agencies and are members of several taskforces and coalitions, Bidelman said, including Macomb County Domestic Violence Center, Macomb County Hispanic Coalition, Macomb County Homeless Coalition, Solid Ground Transitional Housing and Baker College Paralegal Advisory Board.
The breakfast was catered by a successful restaurateur who had been a client of LAD.
“We work with clients in a comprehensive manner, so that as we solve their legal problems, we help solve other problems as well,” says Deierdre L. Weir, president and CEO of LAD. “We help people rebuild their lives and help families stay together.”
Anyone seeking legal services can call (877) 964-4700 or visit www.ladadetroit.org.
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