Legal Aid and Defender launches Advancing Justice Initiative

DETROIT - Legal Aid and Defender Association, Inc. (LAD) launched its Advancing Justice Initiative (AJI) to introduce itself to federal, state and county government officials with a series of breakfasts in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties.

LAD is Michigan's largest provider of free civil legal services to low-income residents.  It serves metropolitan Detroit through its offices in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties. LAD also represents criminal defendants in Wayne County and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.  Including brief consultations and comprehensive legal services, the public law firm handles some 15,000 legal matters yearly.

LAD developed the AJI following a reduction in funding by the federal Legal Services Corp. that forced it to lay off 13 attorneys from the staff of its Civil Law Group.
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"We're always there for the community," Deierdre L. Weir, president and CEO of LAD, told the breakfast audience.  "We're looking for new funding and partnerships," she said.

Wayne County AJI Keynote Speaker Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano expressed his support for Legal Aid. “LAD is an important partner of Wayne County, according to County Executive Robert A. Ficano, keynote speaker at the breakfast.  He cited LAD's involvement in the county's STEP (Second Chance Through Expungement) and mortgage foreclosure programs. Legal Aid and Defender is a key part of the nation's unique legal system, Ficano said.  "It's making a difference," he said.

U.S. Rep. Hansen Clark, D-13th District, also addressed the breakfast in Wayne County, which was held at the Legal Aid and Defenders headquarters on Abbott in Downtown Detroit.

Following a welcoming address by Weir, LAD's three senior attorneys - Donald Johnson, chief counsel of the State Defender Office; Miriam Siefer, chief counsel of the Federal Defender Office; and Joan Glanton Howard, chief counsel of the Civil Law Group - described the roles of their practice groups and the clients they serve. In her talk, Howard cited the importance of the help LAD receives from pro bono attorneys from the private bar and corporate practice.

LAD clients, one a single mother with a mortgage foreclosure problem, the other a restaurateur with serious health problems, gave testimonials to the value of the help they received from LAD.

"We work with clients in a comprehensive manner, so that as we solve their legal problems, we help solve other problems as well," Weir said.  "We help people rebuild their lives and help families stay together."

Second in series of breakfasts promotes Advancing Justice Initiative
Legal Aid and Defender meets with officials in Oakland County

DETROIT - Legal Aid and Defender Association, Inc. (LAD) held the second in its series of Advancing

Justice Initiative (AJI) breakfasts to introduce itself to federal, state and county government officials Nov. 21 at the Oakland County Board of Commissioners in Pontiac.  The Oakland County Advancing Justice Initiative Breakfast was a success. Former mayor of Detroit and chairman emeritus of Detroit-based law firm Dickinson Wright PLLC, Dennis Archer was the keynote speaker. "You have in Legal Aid and Defender an outstanding organization with a staff of dedicated attorneys," he told the assembled officials.  "They care and want to make a difference in people's lives."

"What you do makes a difference," said James V. Jackson, an aide to Levin.  "I see it every day." Oakland County commissioners, state legislators and representatives of U.S. Reps. Sander Levin, D- 12th District, and Gary Peters, D-9th District, attended the meeting. "We also like to help with policy work," Howard said, including the drafting of legislation that affects poor people.

Bidelman said that LAD's work in Oakland County includes the Free Legal Information Help Desk for pro se litigants at the Oakland County Courthouse staffed by LAD attorneys and pro bono private attorneys from the Oakland County Bar Association, the bar association's Mentor Program for new attorneys, and the Lawyer of the Day program at 43rd District Court in Ferndale.

Third in series of breakfasts promotes Advancing Justice Initiative

Legal Aid and Defender meets with officials in Macomb County
DETROIT - Legal Aid and Defender Association, Inc. (LAD) held the third in its series of Advancing Justice Initiative (AJI) breakfasts to introduce itself to federal, state and county government officials Dec. 2 at the Clinton-Macomb Public Library in Clinton Township.

Joan Glanton Howard, chief counsel of the Civil Law Group, and Kelly L. Bidelman, managing attorney of LAD's offices in Macomb and Oakland counties, spoke on behalf of LAD.

"We represent people who otherwise would not be able to utilize our court system," Howard said, including people victimized by "bad actors" engaged in mortgage foreclosure and other scams.  "We're here to help your constituents," she said.  "We'd also like to be invited to comment on legislation affecting poor people," she said.

LAD came to Macomb County in 2003 as part of a consolidation of legal services programs by the Legal Services Corp., Bidelman said.  Since then, LAD's Macomb office has served more than 10,000 people and provided them with more than $3 million in economic benefits, she said.
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