MVLS Attorney Amy Hennen Pens Op-Ed for Baltimore Sun

There are many laws and systems that actively work against individuals from low-income communities throughout Maryland. MVLS Consumer and Housing Attorney Amy Hennen wrote an opinion article for the Baltimore Sun explaining how “body attachment” allows creditors to force debtors into court. If the debtor in question does not appear in court, creditors can then have this person arrested. This aggressive means of debt collection impacts vulnerable individuals, such as elderly, disabled, and low-income Marylanders, the most. These debtors cannot typically afford the high cost of hiring a lawyer and do not possess the legal know-how to defend themselves in court. Pro bono legal services provided by organizations like MVLS are crucial in meeting this need and helping debtors with body attachment issues. To read the full article and learn more, click here.

Kaitlyn Wernsing Joins MVLS Staff

MVLS would like to welcome Kaitlyn Wernsing who was recently hired as our new Development Coordinator. Kaitlyn will be assisting the development department with a variety of fundraising activities. Kaitlyn previously worked at Maryland Legal Aid as a Development Associate and at Thrive Healthcare in Charlottesville, VA, as Philanthropy Coordinator of its AIDS/HIV Services Group.

In addition to her development experience, she also worked as a social worker and probation officer while living in Virginia. MVLS is happy to have Kaitlyn a part of our team and she is excited to work with our many donors, volunteers and partners.

September 2017 – Jennifer Lubinski

Jennifer Lubinski from the Heyman Law Firm was selected as our September Volunteer of the Month in recognition of the past 18 years she has spent volunteering with MVLS to help the people who need it most. She has taken 48 cases in family, housing, tort defense, and consumer law. She’s an incredibly skilled and thoughtful trial attorney who is always willing to jump in and help out at a moment’s notice. She has also assisted MVLS by providing training and mentorship for attorneys on the intersection of family law and bankruptcy. We’re very lucky to have amazing volunteers like Jennifer on our panel.

1. Why do you choose to volunteer with MVLS?

I began volunteering with MVLS soon after I was admitted to the bar twenty years ago. I wanted to learn family law and MVLS offered a training. I have continued volunteering for many reasons. One of them is the opportunity, when my practice has often been agency or business litigation focused, to work with individuals rather than committees to solve human rather than economic problems.

2. Do you have any stand out stories?

I once represented a man who had quit-claimed his share of the home he owned with his wife to the wife so she could apply for a reverse mortgage. Of course she then filed for divorce and claimed that the house was non-marital. I won a judgment at trial, which was not paid. Then I won at a contempt hearing. On the day that exceptions were to be argued, the wife filed for bankruptcy. So I filed an adversary proceeding in bankruptcy court, which I won. An appeal was filed to the Fourth Circuit which we also won. That case took a little longer to resolve than I had expected when I took it on, but the client was very grateful.

3. What is your favorite part about volunteering with MVLS?

I have saved every thank you note I have ever received from a pro bono client. They mean more to me than they possibly realize.

4. Why should other attorneys do pro bono?

As a society we don’t expect lower income people to figure out how to perform surgery on themselves. I don’t think we should be expecting them to figure out how to handle a legal matter either. Our family law magistrates and judges do a wonderful job every day of making the system as accessible as possible to pro se litigants but there are limits, and there are often children involved in these cases. Their rights are not adequately represented unless their parents are.

MVLS Data Spotlight in Baltimore Sun Article

Maryland residents can be arrested and jailed for failure to pay rent, a phenomena otherwise known as debtors’ prisons. This incredibly damaging system punishes low-income families for their economic standing and cements them in a spiral of poverty. Data collected through MVLS research was used in this Baltimore Sun article illuminating how aggressive real estate company owners like Jared Kushner benefit by trapping low-income communities who owe money.

As MVLS staff attorney, Amy Hennen, put it in the Sun article, “A few hundred dollars can be the difference between making it and collapsing for tenants. But certainly the body attachment is probably the worst, because we’re talking about what is effectively a debtors’ prison, which is something out of Charles Dickens.”

To read more about how landlords like Jared Kushner are using this system for rent collection, click here.

HTPP Featured on WJZ-13 Baltimore

MVLS Deputy Director Susan Francis and University of Baltimore School of Law Professor and Human Trafficking Prevention Project (HTPP) Director Jessica Emerson were featured on WJZ-TV | CBS Baltimore segment, On Time. Jessica and Susan discussed the MVLS and UB Law partnership that provides post-conviction relief and support for survivors of human trafficking.

To learn more about this MVLS and UB Law partnership and our efforts to provide relief and support for human trafficking survivors in Maryland, watch the video below.

Consumer Protection Project Highlighted in City Paper

MVLS’ Consumer Protection Project (CPP) was featured in City Paper. Each Tuesday, MVLS staff attorney Ellyn Riedl and volunteers from our panel of attorneys provide free legal assistance for people with consumer issues. All too often, people experiencing debt and other consumer issues cannot afford attorneys. Many small claims cases are brought to District Court, creating a chaotic atmosphere that can easily result in errors and confusion. This project, created and administered by MVLS’ consumer and housing law team, is an effort to remedy this negative pattern that leaves clients stuck in District Court system. This clinic would not be possible without staff attorneys Ellyn Riedl and Amy Hennen nor the support of Elva Tillman and our other dedicated volunteer attorneys.

Read more about the MVLS consumer law team and their work here.

Photo credit: Baltimore City Paper

Now Hiring: APGRB Staff Attorney

MVLS is looking to hire a Staff Attorney for our Adult Guardianship Program. Candidates require strong advocacy skills needed to represent indigent alleged disabled adults at guardianship proceedings in the Circuit Courts for Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Candidates should also have 2-3 years professional experience in guardianship, elder, or disability law or 10 years of general litigation experience. To learn more about this opportunity and apply, click here.

MVLS Virtual Reality Tech Innovation Featured in ABA Journal

MVLS has been featured in the American Bar Association Journal, highlighting our exciting new virtual reality technology. This tech innovation, an idea developed by IT Director and Staff Attorney Matthew Stubenberg, allows new attorneys and law students alike to experience the courtroom through virtual reality (VR) goggles. Using Youtube’s three-dimensional capabilities for video, MVLS filmed reenactments of courtroom setups for a variety of different legal areas and types of cases. Attorneys simply pull up the Youtube video on their phones, insert the phone into a pair of virtual reality goggles (which can cost as little as $10), and a whole new realm of possibilities has opened for them through virtual reality.

To learn more about the details of MVLS’ recent adventures in VR, you can read the ABA Journal article here.

Human Trafficking Prevention Program Training Featured in the Baltimore Sun

The first Human Trafficking Prevention Project attorney training has been highlighted in the Baltimore Sun. (more…)

Now Hiring: 1B4J Paralegal

MVLS is looking to hire a paralegal to work specifically with our Workforce Development project, One Baltimore For Jobs (1B4J). As a paralegal, you would work with staff attorneys to review client intake forms and documents to create a case plan for job trainee clients, participate in on-site legal screenings of clients at job training programs in Baltimore City, and communicate between case managers at MVLS partner sites. An ideal candidate would be well-versed in client-centered customer service and at least 2 years of comparable administrative, customer service, or legal experience. To learn more about this opportunity and how to apply, click here.