The Legal Foundation of Washington funds programs and supports policies and initiatives that enable the most vulnerable people in our state to overcome barriers in the civil justice system. The Washington Supreme Court created the Legal Foundation in 1984 to manage the funds generated by the Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program. Today, the Foundation administers IOLTA funds and charitable support from the Campaign for Equal Justice to more than 30 programs annually.
These funding streams play a crucial role in filling the justice gap in Washington by helping ensure that clients get help with the entire spectrum of legal problems they face. The real story of the Legal Foundation is not about administering money; it’s about the families and individuals who have been helped by the Foundation’s grant recipients.
Take for example Bonnie and William. Their trouble began when a car accident left William with a broken neck and spinal stenosis. With William unable to work, the couple was forced to spend all their savings and retirement monies and pawn their belongings to keep up with house payments. When Bonnie and William eventually fell short, they negotiated a forbearance agreement with the bank.
To keep afloat, they borrowed more money from family members and did everything else possible to manage their problems. Realizing the best plan would be to recover any remaining equity in the house, the couple made plans to sell. Under the impression that they did not have to worry about a trustee sale, Bonnie and William were shocked to discover that the house had already been sold without their knowledge.
In great need of legal assistance, a volunteer attorney from the King County Bar Association took Bonnie and William’s case and helped to ensure that sale proceeds from the house were either returned or applied to past due payments.
The justice gap is too big a leap for many in Washington to make alone. Without this free legal assistance, Bonnie and William would have leapt from the frying pan straight into the fire. They would have lost their home and their economic stability.
The Washington Supreme Court’s 2003 Civil Legal Needs Study documents a justice gap in Washington. Current resource levels for civil legal aid do not meet the needs of low-income and vulnerable people for civil legal services. More than 80% of low-income people facing urgent civil legal problems do so with no help whatsoever.
Without meaningful access to the justice system, civil legal problems have devastating consequences on fundamental aspects of people’s lives. Civil legal aid often means the difference between shelter and homelessness, family health and safety, food on the table and hunger, economic stability and bankruptcy, productive work and unemployment.
Washington is working to close the justice gap. Coordinated statewide efforts are under way to increase resources for civil legal aid. In a unique public-private funding partnership, IOLTA funds and charitable dollars complement state and federal funds to support the work of pro bono attorneys and staffed legal aid programs providing a range of legal services.
The Legal Foundation of Washington is part of the Alliance for Equal Justice, a statewide network of organizations providing and supporting legal aid for low-income people in need. Civil legal aid providers are the most important participants of this Alliance. Every day, low-income people call the Coordinated Legal Education, Advice, and Referral (CLEAR) hotline in need of legal assistance. CLEAR advocates at the Northwest Justice Project either address the needs of a client over the phone or refer that person to the most appropriate and accessible legal aid provider. Driven by a dedication to equal justice for all, Washington’s civil legal aid providers work as a team.
Washington’s innovative civil legal aid delivery system is a result of past efforts by passionate advocates for low-income people. This month, on February 29, the Legal Foundation hosts its 22nd annual Goldmark Award Luncheon. Every year, the Goldmark Award honors the memory of Charles Goldmark, a Seattle attorney and ardent supporter of access to justice who argued before the Washington Supreme Court to establish Washington’s IOLTA program.
This year, John and Mike McKay will receive the Charles A. Goldmark Distinguished Service Award in recognition of their years of enthusiastic advocacy for increased civil legal aid funding for people with low incomes. Through local and national leadership, the brothers fight to provide a justice system whose doors are open and welcoming to all of us. Dedicated public servants, they represent all for which the Goldmark Award and the Legal Foundation stand.
The Legal Foundation of Washington is dedicated to equal justice for all low-income people. It supports and promotes the fulfillment of the core values of Washington’s equal justice community. By strategically allocating scarce resources and ensuring quality and accountability in its grantees, the Legal Foundation protects Washington’s most vulnerable people from being shut out of the justice system.
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Caitlin Davis Carlson is the executive director of the Legal Foundation of Washington. Nell McNamara is the director of the Equal Justice Coalition.
