Emerging Issues in the Delivery of Pro Bono Services Matt Gallagher Supervising Attorney - CARPLS

About CARPLS

Overview of CARPLS Legal aid hotline 42,000 client services provided in FY08 Primarily telephone-based service Help desks operated at 4 locations in the City Thirty attorneys on staff, many part-time

CARPLS Volunteer Programs “Nightline” - evening individual volunteer program “Go Bono” - daytime firm volunteer program Individual volunteers in specialized roles

Organizational focus on volunteers Many of our staff attorneys came from our volunteer program - including me Technology used to help bring pro bono volunteers into our program Staff support for volunteer projects

Technology supporting pro bono Recent redesign of our case management software to support volunteer attorneys Provides detailed canned answers to specific legal questions Written specifically from the point of view of a hotline attorney and incorporates CARPLS’ philosophy and policies IP Phone system allows remote users to sign on

Nightline program

Nightline: Overview In operation for 10+ years Wednesday evenings 5: p.m. At our office Volunteer attorneys Volunteering on an individual basis

Nightline: Training and supervision Two-part training Substantive law group training Individualized computer training

Nightline: Who volunteers? 25+ individual attorneys Wide variety of practice areas Wide variety of practice settings Typical tenure 2-3 years

Nightline: What they do Return calls in specific areas of law Current: Landlord-tenant and consumer Less success: employment All work done over the phone Supervised by CARPLS staff in person

Nightline: Pros and cons for CARPLS Pro: Good return on attorney time Pro: Gets word out about our program to many people Pro: Can serve as development vehicle Con: Constant training cycle Con: Recruitment

Pro and Cons for volunteers Low-commitment Discrete volunteering opportunity Networking Learn new area of law Develop client counseling skills

Go Bono Program

Go Bono: Overview Taking the volunteer experience to the volunteer attorney’s own office Focus on larger law firms / legal departments Pilot phase Landlord-tenant law - part of our focus on housing law

Go Bono: Overview Firm commits to the program, not individuals Pilot phase: 1 ‘live’ firm, one in training, one in the wings ‘Break even’ size: 20+ volunteers per firm

Required Firm Commitment Space: Office or conference room Two computers with web access 20+ volunteer Firm support for scheduling and training

Individual attorney commitment Training - 6 hours Volunteering - 3 or 4 hours per month, 40 per year Annual refresher training

Go Bono: Training and supervision Recruitment events Web-based video training for substantive legal training In-person computer/phone training In-person support for first ‘live’ call for each attrorney Ongoing: remote support via phone and IM

Go Bono ongoing Firms commit to staffing one shift per week 2 attorneys, 4 hours - 8 attorney-hours per shift Remotely supported by the ‘Attorney on Call’ In future, volunteer whenever attorney wants

Go Bono: Benefits to firm Low-commitment, high impact volunteering Flexibility in scheduling Easy to get attorneys to volunteer - in office

Go Bono: Benefit to CARPLS Develop relationship with firms High payoff - 20 volunteers at once per firm Low-impact on overhead - volunteering done from their office not ours Relatively easy to support once up and running

Go Bono: Challenges during pilot I Conflicts of interests for firms - biggest challenge Business concerns Getting high-level leaders at firm to support and drive project Much more on-site supervision required than we initially thought

Go Bono: Challenges during Pilot II Getting individual attorneys to comply with our training requirements Loss of interest after initial burst Identifying leaders within the volunteer base

Going forward One firm up and running One in middle of training One getting ready for pilot phase Goal is 10 firms - 10 shifts per week, 1 firm each If achieved, this would be ~100 clients served per week, 5000 per year - >10% increase in our capacity

Other volunteers

‘Random volunteers’ Individuals who fill a specialized need Foreign-licensed lawyer who provides supervised assistance to Spanish speaking clients Paralegal volunteer to assist with some intake work

Challenges with individual volunteers Difficult to manage Supervision required on an intense basis - they can never ‘fly solo’ Tend to disappear randomly Staff supervision difficult on one-off basis

Lessons learned

Lessons learned: Volunteer programs Go Bono will biggest impact to our program in terms of serving greatest number of clients at lowest cost Go Bono also requires much more work on the front end to get it going Individual volunteers outside of Nightline and Go Bono are rarely worth the time commitment required by staff

Lessons Learned: Go Bono Takes much more on-site staff time than we initially thought Biggest issue for firm leadership is conflicts of interest Proposed supreme court rule change Biggest issue for CARPLS is getting firm leadership to commit a sufficient number of volunteer attorneys on a regular basis

Thank you Matt Gallagher