Daily Record Publishes Pro Bono Article

The Daily Record’s Editorial Advisory Board published an article emphasizing the importance of pro bono work and the vast need for legal services particularly in low-income communities. MVLS is featured in the article, which reports that 665 MVLS volunteers have closed more than 3,200 pro bono cases, valued at $4.6 million. The article also points out the two new rules from the Maryland Rules Committee that have come into effect. Thanks to these two rules, opportunities for attorneys to take on pro bono work have been multiplied. These two rules provide needed clarity, explaining that retired, inactive members of the Maryland bar are authorized to practice pro bono law and that out-of-state barred attorneys can be admitted to the Maryland Bar specifically to provide pro bono legal services. MVLS is looking to have more retired and out-of-state attorneys join our panel – for more information about how retired attorneys can practice pro bono, click here. For more information for out-of-state attorneys looking to provide pro bono work in Maryland, click here.

To learn more about the importance of pro bono and opportunities for attorneys to become more involved, click here. MVLS Deputy Director Susan Francis has recently joined the Daily Record Editorial Advisory Board.

MVLS Estate Planning Article Published in MSBA Bulletin

While estate planning is something that everyone should do, in order to keep your home secured within your family, estate planning is especially vital for low-income communities. In this MSBA Bulletin article, MVLS Deputy Director Susan Francis discusses how estate planning is not only a means of ensuring that families do not lose their homes due to lack of planning, but can also be a means of stabilizing a neighborhood, and thus an entire community’s future. To read more about how this issue affects families from low-income backgrounds and how organizations like MVLS can help, click here.

Celebrate Pro Bono Featured in Baltimore City Biz List

Celebrate Pro Bono, MVLS’ annual awards reception where we recognize our incredibly dedicated volunteer attorneys, was featured in Baltimore City Biz List. The article features photos from the event and identifies all of the award recipients. Mayor Catherine E. Pugh was in attendance and had this to say with regards to MVLS volunteers:

“It was an honor to be among so many professionals who give up their free time to help Marylanders who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford to hire an attorney for their civil legal challenges,” commented Mayor Catherine E. Pugh. “I look forward to hearing more about the great work Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Services does for our Maryland communities.”

To read more about Celebrate Pro Bono and why our volunteers are such an important part of our work, click here.

MVLS Staff Interviewed in Herald-Mail Media Human Trafficking Article

Herald-Mail Media published an article highlighting the work of Washington County Human Trafficking Task Force, including an interview with MVLS staff. Deputy Director Susan Francis and Human Trafficking Prevention Project (HTPP) Coordinator Laurie Culkin spoke to the Herald Mail about common misconceptions, eliminating stigma, and the role that vulnerability plays in trafficking.

To learn more about human trafficking, you can read the full article here.

Celebrate Pro Bono Updates

Mayor Catherine E. Pugh and MVLS Executive Director Bonnie A. Sullivan

Thank you to everyone who attended Celebrate Pro Bono! We are so appreciative of everyone who made this event a huge success. Thank you to our sponsors, volunteers, donors, and partners – MVLS could not provide pro bono legal aid to clients without your continued support. Chief Judge Mary Ellen Barbera, Mayor Catherine E. Pugh, and Thomas Mulinazzi shared their stories about experiences with pro bono work and the impact pro bono has had in clients’ lives. At the event, we had 250 attendees and raised $34,621 in sponsorship and donations, which greatly exceeded our goals and expectations. Baltimore City Biz List has published an article featuring our award recipients as well as details from the event. Click here to read more.

We would like to congratulate all of our incredible award recipients:

Left to Right Top Row: Samantha Stephenson, Hogan Lovells; Justin Wilkes, Center for Urban Families; Thomas Mayfield, Center for Urban Families; Natalie T. Collins, The Law Office of Natalie T. Collins; Andrea Trento, Hogan Lovells; Deborah Devan, Attorney at Law; William H. Buschur, Attorney at Law; Chief Judge Mary Ellen Barbera, Maryland Court of Appeals; Gary M. Brooks, Law Offices of Gary M. Brooks, LLC
Left to Right Bottom Row: James Tansey, Hogan Lovells; Bonnie A. Sullivan, Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service; Nina Seay, Hogan Lovells , Hogan Lovells; Thomas Mulinazzi, Mulinazzi Law Office; Sandra Holt, Mulinazzi Law Office; Kim Sorensen, Mulinazzi Law Office; Shannon Kowitz; Mulinazzi Law Office

We would also like to express our gratitude to the sponsors who made this event possible:

This ad thanking our sponsors ran in the Daily Record on Oct. 5, 2017. A special thank you to The Daily Record for providing MVLS with this ad space.

Spotlight on MVLS Volunteers in Carroll County Times

Carroll County Times featured MVLS in an article highlighting the amazing pro bono work our volunteer attorneys do. Throughout the past year, 14 attorneys from Carroll County have volunteered with us and helped to spread access to justice to our clients. These volunteers provided a huge relief to clients, some taking on five or more cases and even worked with multiple clients during our clinics. Thanks to this kind of support and hard work, MVLS was able to close 3,206 pro bono cases through individual cases or through our clinics during the past year.

To learn more about our organization and what we can offer our volunteers, read on here.

Vacatur Law Article Published by the Daily Record

The Daily Record Editorial Board recently published an editorial calling for expansion of the current vacatur law to include related non-violent crimes committed by victims of sex trafficking. Currently only prostitution convictions are eligible for vacatur. MVLS Deputy Director Susan Francis is a member of the Daily Record Editorial Board. MVLS’ Human Trafficking Prevention Project (HTPP) is providing post-conviction relief for survivors of human trafficking.

Learn more about vacatur by reading the full article here.

October 2017 – Robert Anbinder

Robert has provided immense support with landlord/tenant cases over the past 22 years. He has mentored other attorneys on 17 landlord/tenant cases and has taken on 35 pro bono cases himself. Robert is always willing to help out when clients need it the most. We would like to specifically recognize Robert’s willingness to take on a rush case that had a hearing on that same day. Thanks to Robert stepping in and mentoring the volunteer, they were able to win the case for our client. As a result, the client was able to retrieve her full security deposit. We are so thankful to have dedicated, inspiring attorneys like Robert on the MVLS panel. You can read more about why he has made taking pro bono cases with MVLS a priority in his work.

1. Why do you choose to volunteer with MVLS?

I volunteer with the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service because it provides “one-stop shopping” for all my pro-bono needs! It provides me clients, training, mentoring, malpractice insurance, forms, advice, assistance with costs, plenty of ways to serve and, at the end of the case I receive encouragement to do it again. It is important to realize that MVLS really isn’t just for clients who need legal assistance. It’s for lawyers who want to make the world a little better one case at a time.

2. Do you have any stand out stories?

One of my clients was a very pleasant senior citizen caught up in a dispute with a contractor who was repairing her home after a fire. That matter was soon resolved and, aware of her confusion over fire-related events, I asked to see any papers relating to the fire. I saw a lease for housing she obtained while she was out of her home and learned she had never been returned the security deposit, nor the security deposit for rental of the furniture she had in the home. I contacted the furniture company which immediately returned the $1,000.00 deposit. Getting the housing deposit required discussions with the landlord, his attorney and ultimately a lawsuit seeking the treble damages and attorney fees permitted by law. The case settled the day before trial for twice the security deposit. In the end, my client ended up with $4,000 she didn’t even know she was owed and I felt great.

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

My favorite part of volunteering with MVLS is its wonderful, dedicated gracious staff and attorneys. They are all compassionate people who really feel deeply about their clients and work hard– and yet so pleasantly — to encourage attorneys to help close this “justice gap” we’ve all heard about and seen.

4. Why should other attorneys do pro bono?

Most attorneys seem to know they should do pro bono work, so I prefer to focus on why they don’t do it and address those reasons. Attorneys may be concerned about getting involved in unfamiliar practice areas, or finding a case to handle that doesn’t take a long time. They might be concerned about creating a long-term relationship with a client that they’d rather not have, or whether there will be malpractice insurance in the unlikely event they need it. I tell them that the MVLS offers a wide range of cases requiring no time at all, free training before they take that case, and mentoring while they are handling the case. I also tell them that every case they take from the MVLS comes with unlimited positive reinforcement from the staff and immense gratitude (albeit sometimes unspoken) from the clients they have helped.

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 Managing 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.