Columnist Sandra Thompson: Merger offers one-stop legal aid center

Sandra Thompson

Sunday, July 9, 2000 | 10:57 a.m.

Sandra Thompson is vice president/associate editor of the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached at 259-4025 or through e-mail at thompson@lasvegassun.com.

There is renewed hope for people who need, but can't afford, attorneys to handle complex legal matters, especially in Family Court.

The merger of the Clark County Pro Bono Project and Clark County Legal Services, which has been in the works for several months, is complete.

"This rejuvenates our pro bono efforts, especially in the family law area," says Barbara Buckley, who heads Clark County Legal Services and is a Democratic assemblywoman.

When her agency and Nevada Legal Services moved into new offices at 800 S. Eighth St. last March, it was hoped that the pro bono project's eventual addition would make it a "one-stop" legal aid center.

That's now a reality.

Traditionally, Nevada Legal Services has handled cases involving denied public benefits and landlord/tenant issues. Clark County Legal Services handles housing and senior issues, as well as consumer fraud. It also oversees the Children's Attorney Project. The Clark County Pro Bono Project dealt with family law, primarily domestic violence cases.

Although the project received thousands of calls in a year, it could only place 20 people each month with attorneys who would take cases on a pro bono basis. An additional 70 people a month were interviewed about their cases and placed on a waiting list. The others simply were turned away because of a lack of legal resources.

"That's not even one full drop in the bucket," Buckley says of the numbers of people who desperately need legal help.

The merger gives the legal center a chance to review needs in the community and assess available resources. The center especially wants to provide better legal services in family law matters.

Buckley says a committee will be formed to determine how to get more attorneys to volunteer their time to take these cases. For example, if the pro bono project could do more front-end work in screening cases and filling out paperwork, this would free up attorneys to spend more time in court with the clients.

Clark County Legal Services has been tentatively approved for a $110,000 Department of Justice grant to provide legal assistance to domestic violence victims.

Buckley says victims need more help in getting TPOs (temporary protection orders) enforced. Victims may obtain TPOs on their own, but when the order is violated they need help with enforcement. The offender usually has an attorney, but the victim doesn't. So the victim often is victimized again, Buckley says.

The agency also will look at other options such as raising funds to pay attorneys rather than asking them to do pro bono work.

The bottom line is how to best serve the growing numbers of people who need legal help, especially in Family Court matters.

It's a major component of a well-rounded program that includes weekly classes on the Family Court process. Buckley hopes to begin offering a special class in January that focuses on child custody issues so people can be better prepared in court.

There is a move to ask the Supreme Court to mandate that attorneys provide 20 hours per year pro bono work or contribute $500 to a pro bono fund.

That has stirred heated debate among attorneys and judges opposed to such mandates, as well as suggestions that courts make it easier for litigants to represent themselves.

"Catering" to pro se litigants would only create a two-class system, one Northern Nevada judge remarked.

However, we already have a two-class justice system, especially in Family Court: Those who can afford attorneys (average cost of a protracted case is $20,000) and those who can't.

Clark County Legal Services, through its renewed pro bono-related efforts, can help level the judicial playing field.