How does Legal Services of Eastern Missouri help to level the playing field for people who cannot afford attorneys? Tim Cronin and I had the opportunity to discuss LSEM’s ambitious and daunting mission with Karen Warren, Associate Director for Outreach and Administration and Dan Glazier, Executive Director & General Counsel. Episode I of the Simon Law podcast, “The Jury is Out” has already been released. Episode II will be released shortly.
Here is the most shocking thing I learned during these discussions. The entire annual national budget for ALL of the Legal Services offices nationwide is less than $500M. As Dan revealed in Episode I, that is the same amount of money that Americans spent last year on halloween costumes . . . for their pets. Please consider supporting LSEM financially. If you are an attorney in the STL area, they would also welcome your assistance as a volunteer.
I suspect that the $500M is not all-inclusive. I have had occasion to contact more than one county bar association seeking pro bono or significantly reduced-cost legal advice. None of this is paid for by government, but I believe is primarily funded by attorneys through IOLTA (Interest On Lawyers’ Trust Accounts)..
About 15 years ago I had occasion to contact the San Francisco Bar Association about a member who was helping two immigrants divert funds from a federally-registered non-profit for their personal gain. The Bar Association asked if the attorney had been providing me legal advice; she had not. The response was that I had no standing to report misconduct.
Thank God lawyers don’t run the fire department.
“My neighbor’s house is on fire.”
“Do you own the house?”
“No.”
“We have to wait for the owner to call. You have no standing to report the fire.”