Pro Justice MN org New Tools for Pro

Pro. Justice. MN. org: New Tools for Pro Bono Support MVAP Meeting Minneapolis, MN June 15, 2010 John Freeman Staff Attorney / Website Coordinator Minnesota Legal Services Coalition State Support Office

I. Legal Resources

Practice Areas • Civil Law – housing, consumer, seniors, public benefits, etc. • Family Law • Immigration Law • Real Estate – equity stripping, foreclosure defense

Practice Area Libraries: Additions of Note in Past Year • Recorded Webinars and Other Training Materials – Assisting Clients with Garnishment Exemption Claims – Board Service for Attorneys: Non-Profit Law & Ethics – Representing Tenants of Public Housing and Section 8 in Housing Court – Discovery That Works – Smoke-Free Multi-Housing and the Law: Benefits and Legal Strategies – Criminal Expungement Basics with Automated Tools

Practice Area Libraries: Additions of Note in Past Year • Recorded Webinars and Other Training Materials – Health Care Updates for Single and Childless Adults – Fair Housing Implications – Procedural Protections for Section 8 Voucher Terminations – Working with Clients and Employees with Disabilities – Restorative Parenting – Representing Low-Income Clients – Advising Collection Proof Clients

Practice Area Libraries: Additions of Note in Past Year • Hot. Docs® Automated Documents – – – Criminal Expungement Start-to-Finish Affidavit of Service In Forma Pauperis Name Change Garnishment Exemption (coming soon) Answer to Complaint (coming soon)

Practice Area Libraries: Additions of Note in Past Year • Topic Manuals – Conciliation Court Clinic Manual – Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) Manual – Obtaining Client's Birth Certificate for State I. D. Applications • New Topic: Elder Law • 3 rd Party Custody: Sample Forms

II. Volunteering

MSBA Pro Bono Directory • Searchable listings of ongoing pro bono opportunities • 85 Organizations • Recently updated

Case Placement Tool: Current Functionality • Basic Information About Potential Pro Bono Case is Submitted – Overview (without client-identifying information) – Contact for More Information • Approved by Administrator • Members Expected to Review Site Periodically • Not Currently Active on Pro. Justice. MN. org • Example: ABA Military Pro Bono Project

Case Placement Tool: 2011 Enhancements • Case Field Changes – Minor changes to case placement fields – Possibly configurable by state and practice area • New Cases Email Notifications – Members will be able to subscribe to receive email notices of new posted cases – Can be limited to certain legal topics or geographic areas – Members can choose between “real time” and digest notifications • Case Management – New cases can be selected for “review” or “acceptance” – Cases under review will be marked as such, and not available for acceptance – Cases not clearing conflicts check can be “returned” for review by others • Email Reminders – For cases under review, member will be sent automated email reminders – Admins will get weekly email on case statuses

III. Legal Research

Research Wiki • Research Wiki created as partnership between: – Volunteer Librarians Coalition (Law Firm Librarians and a Graduate Student) – Volunteer Lawyers Network – Westlaw • A research library and research assistance with specific questions • Currently for VLN volunteers, but the partners have generously agreed to expand to support pro bono practitioners statewide through Pro. Justice

IV. Client Resources

Client Resources / Referrals • Law. Help. MN. org – Law. Help. MN. org/Form. Helper (coming soon) • MNCourts. gov/Self. Help • Statewide Legal Clinic Calendar (coming soon)

Your Ideas • Content Needs • Content to Contribute • What Works? What Doesn’t?

Thank you! John Freeman, Staff Attorney / Website Coordinator Minnesota Legal Services Coalition State Support jmfreeman@mnlegalservices. org (651) 228 -9105 ext. 105 Contact me (or Steve) for… • Questions about Pro. Justice or Law. Help • Requests for brochures & other outreach materials • Demos to legal services staff, pro bono attorneys • Adding your content (or other content you use) • Creating new content, including document assembly • Document assembly testing volunteers

URLs Pro. Justice. MN. org Practice Areas • • Civil Law Practice Area: www. projusticemn. org/civillaw Family Law Practice Area: www. projusticemn. org/familylaw Immigration Practice Area: www. projusticemn. org/immigration Pro. Justice Real Estate Practice Area: www. projusticemn. org/realestate Hot. Docs® Automated Documents • • • Criminal Expungement: www. projusticemn. org/civillaw/library/item. 300777 Affidavit of Service: www. projusticemn. org/civillaw/library/item. 243504 In Forma Pauperis: www. projusticemn. org/civillaw/library/item. 242513 Name Change: http: //www. projusticemn. org/civillaw/library/item. 308108 Garnishment Exemption: coming soon Answer to Complaint: coming soon

URLs Recorded Webinars and Other Training Materials (not a complete list) • • • • Garnishment Exemption: www. projusticemn. org/civillaw/library/folder. 268597 Board Service for Attorneys: www. projusticemn. org/civillaw/library/folder. 284783 Representing Tenants in Housing Court: www. projusticemn. org/civillaw/library/folder. 300820 Discovery That Works: www. projusticemn. org/civillaw/library/folder. 301815 Smoke-Free Multi-Housing: www. projusticemn. org/civillaw/library/folder. 305416 Criminal Expungement Basics: www. projusticemn. org/civillaw/library/folder. 310346 Health Care Updates: www. projusticemn. org/civillaw/library/folder. 309646 Fair Housing Implications: www. projusticemn. org/civillaw/library/folder. 308113 Section 8 Voucher Terminations: www. projusticemn. org/civillaw/library/folder. 312259 Working with Clients and Employees with Disabilities: www. projusticemn. org/civillaw/library/folder. 316947 Restorative Parenting: www. projusticemn. org/familylaw/library/folder. 313889 Representing Low-Income Clients: www. projusticemn. org/civillaw/library/folder. 249485 Advising Collection Proof Clients: www. projusticemn. org/civillaw/library/folder. 268603

URLs Topic Manuals • Conciliation Court Clinic Manual: www. projusticemn. org/ccc_manual • Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) Manual: www. projusticemn. org/civillaw/mfip_manual • Obtaining Client's Birth Certificate for State I. D. Applications: www. projusticemn. org/civillaw/library/folder. 293953 New Topic: Elder Law: http: //www. projusticemn. org/civillaw/library/folder. 185781 3 rd Party Custody: Sample Forms: http: //www. projusticemn. org/familylaw/library/folder. 308211

URLs MSBA Pro Bono Directory: www. projusticemn. org/oppsguide Military Pro Bono Project (Case Placement Tool Example): www. militaryprobono. org/new_cases VLC Research Wiki: www. vlc. wikispaces. com Law. Help: www. Law. Help. MN. org Law. Help Form. Helper (coming soon): www. Law. Help. MN. org/Form. Helper Statewide Virtual Self-Help Center: www. mncourts. gov/selfhelp