KCBA Launches New Legal Clinic
Collaboration: to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor. Merriam Webster Dictionary. This word captures the successful efforts of the King County Bar Association Neighborhood Legal Clinics Program and the Federal Bar Association in partnership with the King County Law Library in establishing the Civil Rights Legal Clinic.
The Federal Bar brought a proposal to KCBA to establish a pilot federal legal clinic program for indigent pro se litigants in the federal courts following a task force study. The task force identified several gaps in legal services, one of which was assistance to pro se litigants. The study showed that the majority of pro se cases filed in the federal court related to civil rights, housing, employment and prisoner petitions. Although a handbook entitled, “Filing a Complaint in Your Own Behalf,” was available along with the services of several pro se law clerks to handle pro se prisoner filings, the court lacked a designated resource to assist pro se litigants with their federal legal questions.
Through the joint planning efforts of Cathie Caldwell, Neighborhood Legal Clinics program manager; Tracy Morris and Judy Ramseyer, co-chairs of the Federal Bar Association Pro Bono Committee; and Marcus Hochstetler, the director of the King County Law Library, a pilot Civil Rights Legal Clinic will open its doors on March 16. A volunteer attorney will meet with up to four clients every first and third Thursday of the month from noon to 2 p.m. at the law library.
Pro se legal issues will address discrimination claims under federal laws, prisoner rights, Fourth Amend-ment search and seizure and excessive force claims, free speech, and voting rights.
Caldwell believes this clinic will be popular and that they will not have difficulty filling the client schedule. She hopes to expand to weekly operation after the initial pilot period of six months.
KCBA’s Downtown Legal Clinic also relocated from the Plymouth Congregational Church to the King County Law Library as of February 1. Volunteer attorneys will meet with clients on general legal issues every Thursday from noon to 2 p.m. Caldwell enthusiastically reports that the law library facilities are fantastic. The library offers a Legal Research and Training Center, comfortable accommodations, helpful staff members and an overwhelming cache of resource materials.
Katherine Kennedy, from the law firm of Danielson, Harrigan, Leyh and Tollefson, has been one our KCBA Downtown Clinic volunteers since 1997. Following her opening day experience at the law library, she wrote: “I just have to report that the new site for the Downtown Legal Clinic is fabulous!”
Kennedy met with a client who was on Social Security disability and had lost his partial King County property tax rebate because he’d been incarcerated and had not lived in the house for 18 months. The client wondered whether he could object. Reference librarian Rick Stroup conducted a Westlaw search and checked the King County Department of Assessment web site until he found the citation to the applicable statute. Kennedy was able to check the source and answer the client’s questions. She noted, “How did we ever manage without the resources of the library and staff like Rick?”
Collaborative efforts and partnerships with resources such as the King County Law Library make good sense. In the end, it is the client who benefits from the services of the volunteer attorneys.
Interested in volunteering for the Neighborhood Legal Clinics? Please contact Cathie Caldwell at 206-267-7029. New volunteer training is scheduled for March 24 noon-2:00. n
Gary Maehara is the current president of the King County Bar Association. He can be reached at garmae@safeco.com.
