1. "Call My Lawyer!" Legal Programs as Essential Tools for Public Policy D. Douglas Blanke Kathleen Hoke Dachille Mikelle D. Robinson Mindy Sweeney Funded by:

2. “ “I LAWYERS!”

3. Legal Technical Assistance: A Critical Component of Any Comprehensive Tobacco Control Program

4. WHY?

5.   Comprehensive tobacco control programs are about changing community norms.   Changing norms means changing public and private policies.

6.   Policy change is fraught with legal issues.   Tobacco companies and their allies exploit any legal loophole or vulnerability.

7.   It’s about prevention. Legal technical assistance programs help advocates avoid pitfalls and stay out of trouble.   Inadvertent legal errors can result in policy and program setbacks, years of delay and expensive litigation.

8. Legal Technical Assistance Supports Policy Change Efforts By: Building capacity Untangling issues Clarifying choices Promoting policy development

9. Legal Technical Assistance Supports Policy Change Efforts By: Providing strategic guidance Helping prevent litigation when possible Helping support litigation when necessary

10. What Do Legal Programs Do?   Draft legislation and develop model legislation.   Support litigation.   Provide individualized legal consultation, support and strategic advice.

11. What Do Legal Programs Do?   Analyze opponents’ legal arguments and objections.   Provide research and analysis of key and emerging issues.   Train advocates and others on recurring legal issues.

12. What DON’T They Do?   Legal assistance programs do NOT provide legal advice or representation.   They do NOT represent advocates or governments in court.

13. Selected Areas of Focus:   Smoke-free public places and workplaces.   Tobacco sales practices.   Tobacco taxes.   Needs of special populations (e.g., older people).   Emerging issues: Internet sales, product regulation.

14. Some States Have Made Legal Support An Integral Part of Their Tobacco Control Programs Arkansas California Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota New Jersey

15. Until Your State Funds A Program, Is There Anywhere to Turn?

17. TCLC: WHAT IS IT? The Tobacco Control Legal Consortium

18. A new national network created to advance policy change by making legal expertise more readily available to the tobacco control community.

19. The Tobacco Control Legal Consortium   A response to demand for legal support in states without legal programs.   Grew out of informal collaboration among existing state legal centers, along with national tobacco control organizations and others.

20. Why A New National Consortium?   Most states provide no legal resources for tobacco control.   Lack of access to legal expertise is a primary impediment to development of effective new laws.

21. Mission: To help make legal expertise an integral part of comprehensive tobacco control programs, in order to strengthen policy initiatives.

22. How?   Building capacity: encouraging expansion of legal resources to serve the tobacco control movement.   Direct legal assistance: within its resources, TCLC will provide a limited “safety net” of direct legal assistance.   Training: expanding the knowledge base.

23. Structure   A network of existing legal programs.   Small coordinating office at Tobacco Law Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota.   Draws on existing centers and other legal experts to achieve economies of scale and leverage resources.

24. Capacity Limited budget: roughly comparable to a one-state legal program. Staff of three, coordinating work by the network. Not a substitute for local resources. “Lawyers of last resort.”

25. Priorities: Capacity Building   Encouraging additional states to provide legal expertise to support policy change.   Advising advocates and officials in five states on options for creating new legal programs.

26. Priorities: Direct Legal Support   Providing stopgap legal assistance and information.   Within available resources, supporting advocates and local counsel with research, strategic advice, sample materials and pleadings.   Filing “friend of the court” legal briefs in appropriate cases.

27. Priorities: Education and Outreach   Educational materials.   Presentations and training.   Seminars.   Research and publication on critical and emerging legal issues.

28. Doug Blanke Executive Director William Mitchell College of Law 875 Summit Avenue Saint Paul, MN 55105 (651)-290-7506 tobaccolaw@wmitchell.edu www.TCLConline.org (under construction) tobaccolaw@wmitchell.edu