e-Newsletter: February Edition
Welcome to the fifth edition of the ProJusticeMN.org e-Newsletter! You will need to log in using your ProJusticeMN.org password in order to access some of the materials listed in this e-Newsletter. Can't remember your password? Have it emailed to you.
Keeping Pro Bono in the Mix Can Pay Career Dividends: Lawyerist.com
There are many reasons for doing pro bono work as a component of your practice. Besides the fact that it is strongly encouraged by the rules of professional conduct and is good for the community, doing pro bono work can pay big dividends for your career.
Altruism is good, but pro bono practice can benefit newer, unemployed and underemployed lawyers in important ways. Here are some (self-interested) reasons:
It is good professional and skills development. If you are unemployed or underemployed, pro bono cases may be your best bet to develop and continue to refine your legal skills. You can chose cases from a broad range of practice areas and time commitments. Whatever you do, whether it is a custody hearing or reviewing financial documents in a potential foreclosure matter, you are using some aspect of your legal training for productive use. In other words, practicing law.
- Deaf & Hard of Hearing Interpreter Resources: Civil Law
- Criminal Expungement - VLN Tip of the Month: Civil Law
- Obtaining Client's Birth Certificate for State I.D. Applications: Civil Law
- Medicare Part D: 2010 Costs for Dual-Eligibles: Civil Law
Additional Resources You May Have Forgotten About . . .
- Truth in Lending Act Basics: Civil Law
- Slowing Down Criminal-Activity Eviction Cases to Find the Truth: Civil Law
- Custody Summons and Petition: Family Law
- Obtaining Documented Status for Crime Victims: Immigration Law
- Cy Pres Manual Recently Updated: LAD
The MSBA and the Minnesota Legal Services Coalition have updated the Cy Pres Manual. Cy pres refers to the distribution of unclaimed class action settlement funds to charitable organizations in this instance, providers of free legal services to the poor and disadvantaged. The updated manual contains new examples of cy pres distributions, as well as discussion of other mechanisms for awarding settlement funds to legal aid and pro bono providers. The manual has copies of a number of class action settlement orders that make cy pres distributions, as well as articles discussing the application of the cy pres doctrine. The updated manual is available by following the link above. Please feel free to print and distribute the manual as you see fit.
- Angela McCaffrey, legal advocate, teacher: Star Tribune
As a young lawyer, she championed the poor and the voiceless. She also taught law at Hamline University for 25 years and urged her students to listen to their clients.
Just days before Angela McCaffrey, 60, died of ovarian cancer, her biggest concern was who was going to take over her classes at Hamline University Law School, where she had taught for 25 years and was director of clinics offering students practical experience in litigation, mediation and client counseling.
- LSC Sends Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Request to Congress: LSC
The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) today asked Congress to provide $516.5 million in Fiscal Year 2011 funding, with more than 95 percent of the budget request going to fund 136 nonprofit legal aid programs across the nation that provide civil legal assistance to the nation's poor.
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