2018 NLADA Annual Conference--Resilient Justice

In 2015, as a response to the unrest in Baltimore City after the death of Freddie Gray, Maryland Legal Aid established the Community Lawyering Initiative. In three years, the program has grown dramatically and places attorneys in libraries, workforce development programs, places of worship, and other community centers throughout the state. The program has not only grown geographically, but also in depth. Attorneys work directly in locations where community members already feel safe and where they are often receiving other services, such as drug treatment or housing counseling. As a result, these attorneys are uniquely positioned to identify emerging client needs. In 2018, Maryland Legal Aid began several new programs based on expressed client needs, including: (1) a pilot program with the Office of the Public Defender to refer clients for civil forfeiture, (2) a partnership with a Skadden Fellow to provide consumer debt relief arising out of money bail, (3) a State’s Attorney partnership to assist with identity theft related to expungement, and (4) a connection with an attorney monitoring police complaints under a consent decree. Come to this session to discover that by listening to community needs, community lawyering creates new, innovative, and important client programs.