e-Newsletter: April Edition

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Featured Article

Law Student Helps Homeless with Common Catch 22

William Mitchell law student Susan Byellin, under the supervision of Minneapolis Legal Aid attorney Anne Quincy, has created a packet of information and forms to address a Catch-22 problem: Individuals applying for a state identification card must provide a copy of their birth certificate; in order to obtain a copy of a birth certificate, the person must provide a photo ID.

Anne has been using an exception in the law of most states that allows attorneys to request a birth certificate on their client's behalf. When this Catch-22 problem started appearing with increased frequency at Project Homeless Connect events, Anne recruited a Minnesota Justice Foundation volunteer to develop a set of forms to be used at these events. Susan volunteered and in addition to creating the forms developed a list of websites and other information for obtaining birth certificates from each of the 50 states.  View the set of forms.  

New Resources

• INTERACTIVE MANUAL: Conciliation Court: Civil Law
• CLE: Discovery That Works: Civil Law
• CLE: Claiming and Collecting Attorneys Fees: Civil Law
• CLE: Smoke-Free Multi-Housing and the Law - Benefits and Legal Strategies: Civil Law
• UPDATE: Case Index and Summaries - 8th Circuit and U.S. Appeals Courts: Civil Law

Civil Law | Family Law | Immigration | Real Estate

Additional Resources You May Have Forgotten About . . .

• Sample Pro Bono Legal Services Agreement: Civil Law
• SMRLS Child Support Handbook: Family Law
• Advising Collection Proof Clients CLE: Civil Law
• Tenant Remedies Manual: Civil Law
• Minnesota Family Investment Program Manual: Civil Law

Pro Bono News

• Ranks of homeless rising in Minnesota: Star Tribune
  

  
  Homelessness in Minnesota rose 22 percent in the past three years, reaching the highest level in at least two decades, according to initial findings from a statewide survey by Wilder Research of St. Paul. Analysts blamed the weak economy.

• Commentary: A Call for Change on Legal Services Corporation Funding Restrictions: OMB Watch
  

  
  For the past 14 years, the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), which funds legal services for the poor, has been forced by Congress to place severe restrictions on legal aid programs that receive LSC funds. These restrictions also extend to non-federal funds raised by legal services programs. Since their passage, the restrictions have been plagued by repeated First Amendment questions and have sparked calls for change.

• State Bar Honors Low-Income Legal Service Providers: MSBA
  

  
  Two legal aid staff members and one law student are being honored for their efforts in providing legal services to the disadvantaged.  The 2010 Bernard P. Becker Awards for Legal Services Staff and Volunteer Law Students will be presented by the Minnesota State Bar Association at its April 29 Assembly meeting.  The Becker Awards are presented each year for work that exemplifies the dedication and commitment to helping poor people that marked the career of the late Bernard Becker, a renowned legal aid attorney, law professor, and magistrate judge.  Legal Services Staff Award winners each receive $1,000; the Volunteer Law Student Award winner will receive $350.

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