Lawyers at the Law Library

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Houston Bar Association President Neil Kelly visited the Harris County Law Library and Houston Volunteer Lawyers on September 4. In the photo from left are Parker Lee, HVL volunteer and associate with Andrews Kurth LLP; Stephanie Sommerlatte, HVL Staff Attorney; Patrick Yarborough, HVL volunteer and associate with Andrews Kurth; County Attorney Vince Ryan; Law Library Director Mariann Sears; Neil Kelly; and Alissa Rubin, Executive Director of HVL.

Source: Harris County Law Library, Photographer Joe Strange

The Harris County Law Library is pleased to announce a new program that helps litigants with limited means to speak with an attorney within steps of the courthouses in Harris County, Texas. In collaboration with Houston Volunteer Lawyers, volunteer attorneys and law students are now meeting with self-represented litigants every Wednesday and Friday from 9a.m. to 12p.m. at the Law Library's downtown Houston location. The Law Library provides support services to both the volunteer attorneys and limited-means clients by offering research and technology support, computers where self-represented litigants can access and create documents, and information about navigating the downtown courthouse complex.

Wednesday Clinics

Each Wednesday, faculty and students from Houston College of Law help self-represented litigants determine the legal information and documentation they need to represent themselves in court. The purpose of these clinics is multifaceted. Students gain professional experience and an awareness of the depth of the access to justice problems many individuals face while self-represented litigants receive assistance that makes their legal process more efficient both for them and the courts hearing their cases.

Friday Clinics

On Fridays, associates from Andrews Kurth, LLP staff clinics at the Law Library. Andrews Kurth is a Houston-based firm that is frequently recognized for its commitment to pro bono service and is listed as an Equal Access Firm by Houston Volunteers Lawyers. Additional members of Houston's legal community have pledged to staff Friday clinics at the Law Library to ensure that services remain available for those in need.

A Collaborative Effort

The initial plan to bring volunteer lawyers to the Law Library began as a collaboration between Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan and the Houston Bar Association several years ago. When the Law Library joined the County Attorney's Office in 2011, plans were laid to build out a new space for the Law Library on the first floor of Congress Plaza (1019 Congress Street) complete with offices for volunteer attorneys on the lower level. With all services operational, including those provided by the volunteer attorneys, the Law Library is more useful to the residents of Harris County than ever before and has become a great resource for anyone who must go to court without an attorney.

ABA President-Elect Embraces Legal Tech and Promotes Access to Justice

At the annual meeting of the American Bar Association, held earlier this month in San Francisco, Hilarie Bass was selected to serve as president-elect. She will take the helm of the organization in 2017 and intends to focus on two major issues -- closing the justice gap and promoting use of technology in the practice of law. She will also focus on the legal education system, working to update the existing model with more innovative approaches to learning.

Addressing the ABA House of Delegates, Ms. Bass discussed these areas of concentration in detail. She also referenced the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Services, which was just released on August 6th. Among its many recommendations, the report advises that all members of the legal profession adapt to changes in the delivery of client services. Legal practitioners must be aware of relevant technology and know how to use it effectively, allowing for more efficient workflows and increased protection of privileged data. Innovations in technology are the key to remaining relevant in an age of rapid change, when process improvement is critical and technological proficiency is a must.

In addition to tech skills, Ms. Bass discussed the need for restored faith in the justice system, particularly among low-income citizens and those who belong to minority demographic groups. Ms. Bass feels strongly that race, gender, religion, and income should not determine one's ability to access to the legal system, and she's already taken steps to help mitigate the effect that our own implicit biases based on these characteristics can have on the administration of justice. As a member of the ABA Section on Litigation, Ms. Bass helped create the Implicit Bias Initiative, a resource to assist legal professionals in identifying their personal biases.  At the center of this initiative is a video produced by The Judicial Branch of California. It challenges viewers to examine the hidden factors that influence their decisions, exploring both the neuroscience and psychology behind the choices we make. (This is just one of many excellent videos in the California Courts Video Archive, a resource worth exploring.) 

The legal profession is changing rapidly. New approaches to the practice of law and the delivery of legal services are desperately needed. Under the leadership of Hilarie Bass, the ABA will strengthen its focus on legal education, legal tech, and the justice gap.

Access to Justice, New and Noteworthy Items Around the Web

Today’s blog post is a look at resources around the Web. What services exist for those in need of civil legal aid? Who is working in Texas and across the nation to provide these services, and what can be done to further their cause? What alternatives to traditional legal aid already exist and which efforts are most successful? Do law schools, legal clinics, and incubator programs have a role to play? How can technology be employed to help self-represented litigants navigate the justice system? And what is driving this increasingly dire need for legal services to the poor? What can be done to help?

The Harris County Law Library has compiled this brief list of resources to help answer these questions. We invite you to explore the topic further. We will update this list with subsequent blog posts in the near future, making sure to provide the latest coverage about this growing area of concern.

Organizations - Texas

Texas Access to Justice Foundation

TexasLawyersHelp.org

TexasLawHelp.org

Texas Legal Services Center

LegalAidResearch.org

Organizations - National

National Center for Access to Justice

National Coalition for a Right to Civil Counsel

National Legal Aid and Defender Association

Public Welfare Foundation

Self-Represented Litigation Network

Recent Media Coverage

Access to Justice: Is Civil Gideon a Piece of the Puzzle?

The Defenders: What does the future of legal services for the poor look like?

How to Solve the Housing Crisis: More Lawyers

Lawyers: Bulwark against Inequality and Gentrification?

Legal Aid With a Digital Twist

One More Way the Courts Aren’t Working for the Poor

States Look to Provide Lawyers for the Poor in Civil Cases

Recently Published Reports

Blazing a Trail: The Fight for Right to Counsel in Detention and Beyond

The Justice Index 2016

Free Legal Assistance for Low-Income Texas Flooding Victims

Following the recent storms in the Houston area, President Obama issued a major disaster declaration for Harris County. In response, the State Bar of Texas, Texas Young Lawyers Association, and the ABA Young Lawyers Division have joined forces to assist low-income individuals affected by the severe weather.

A toll-free legal line is now open (800-504-7030); calls are being accepted 24 hours a day. Issues that will be addressed include:

• Assistance securing FEMA and other government benefits available to disaster victims

• Assistance with life, medical, and property insurance claims

• Help with home repair contracts and contractors

• Replacement of wills and other important legal documents lost or destroyed in the disaster

• Consumer protection issues such as price-gouging and avoiding contractor scams in the rebuilding process

• Counseling on mortgage-foreclosure problems

• Counseling on landlord-tenant problems

More details are available from the American Bar Association, along with contact information for FEMA and the Small Business Administration, and from the State Bar of Texas.
See also Disaster Relief Resources from the State Bar of Texas and National Disaster Legal Aid.

Miranda Monday: Mirandizing Family Justice

Throughout the month of May, the Harris County Law Library is celebrating Law Day and the historic Miranda v. Arizona ruling of 1966. This decision, which established our right to remain silent when questioned by the police, is a cornerstone of our freedom and, for the last 50 years, an essential safeguard in guaranteeing procedural due process under the law.

Commemorating this decision and the fundamental rights it guarantees, including the protection against self-incrimination, is important. We at HCLL are committed to safeguarding justice and to reducing the barriers that impede equitable outcomes. We embrace all efforts that increase access to the legal system, especially for those in the greatest need, and we fully support any initiatives that improve expediency and fairness in the delivery of legal services. One such effort, which is slowly making a foothold in Texas, is the Family Justice Center initiative. (Bexar County, Hays County, and Tarrant County all have well-established FJC programs.)

Originating in San Diego, the Family Justice model was designed to increase efficiency and eliminate fragmentation in the delivery of legal services for victims of family violence. According to the program's design, combining governmental and community-based agencies under one roof allows for greater efficiency and better coordination of services, resulting in more effective intervention strategies for those in need of domestic relief.

At the same time, however, those who provide intervention services, including police, prosecutors, social workers, safety advocates, and medical personnel, are required to report any instances of violence, leading to a very problematic conflict of interest: the same duty that obligates these professionals to report abuse also grants them de facto authority to open criminal cases against the perpetrators, ostensibly in the best interests of their clients, but often in opposition with the confidentiality to which their clients are entitled.

A brilliant article by UC-Irvine law professor Jane K. Stoever explores this very conflict and raises the need for extending Miranda-like protections to those involved in the FJC system. Her article, "Mirandizing Family Justice," is worth a careful read. In academia, journalism, and politics, much has been written on the expansion of Miranda rights to civil matters.  As discussed in a previous Miranda Monday post, these protections are typically limited to criminal situations despite recent arguments in favor of the need for civil safeguards.