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Next Meeting: May 7, 2013 | Upcoming Meetings

 

 

 

LAD Meeting Minutes

- Past Minutes -

 

 

Minnesota State Bar Association
Legal Assistance to the Disadvantaged Committee

March 18, 2013

Minutes
Present: Jean Lastine (co-chair), Dianne Heins, Cynthia Anderson, Sue Pontinen, Julian Zebot, Cathy Haukedahl, Nancy Mischel & Steve Marchese (MSBA staff)
By Telephone:  Alysia Zens, Graciela Gonzalez, Pam Wandzel, Joe Dixon, Janine Laird, BridgetGernander, Gary Hird, Jean Binkovitz

  • Introductions
  • January minutes – accepted
  • Program presentation: Call for Justice – will be re-scheduled to September meeting
  • Subcommittee Reports
    • Pro Bono Council (Steve Marchese)
      • ABA resolution on unbundled legal services – resolution passed the ABA House of Delegates at the midyear meeting in Dallas.
      • Upcoming program on corporate law office pro bono for Late April/May/June. Council also undertaking a planning process for future initiatives
    • Law School Initiative (Janine Laird)
      • Legal scholarship for equal justice class being reviewed to see how it can best meet the needs of legal services lawyers, well as law students.
    • MN-CABS (Jean Lastine)
      • Subcommittee met in February to discuss most, but not all, of the substantive areas.  Will be meeting again in late March to finish and begin preparing report.
    • Cy Pres (Sue Pontinen)
      • Proposal being vetted through various sections. Judiciary Committee was vetting it before going to Assembly for final approval in December. Questions and concerns about nexus requirement, the Minnesota Legal Services Foundation, potential effects on legislative funding, etc.  More work to be done, including how to move forward.
      • Subcommittee members working on talking points to address concerns. Will reconvene in May to review and plan strategy for meeting with stakeholders. More activity will take place on this initiative in the fall.
    • IOLTA (Cathy Haukedahl)
      • Subcommittee working on getting participation from a larger bank. Smaller community banks are eligible to participate - 9 banks total because of their existing rates.  Promising meeting with US Bank and hope to continue conversation with individuals with responsibility to set rates.
    • Civil Gideon (Jean Lastine)
      • Committee met in early February.  Sally Silk will chair committee. Ideas discussed for delivering a CLE with updated materials from Mary Schneider used for a previous presentation. MJF student potentially available to assist. The MSBA Civil Litigation section has expressed interest in co-hosting the CLE in the fall.
  • Updates
    • Access to Justice Summit (Steve Marchese)
      • Reconvening to review work of consultants on messaging set for April 12th.
    • Funding and legislative strategy (Jean Lastine)
      • Governors budget proposed increase of $500,000.  This is the floor for a funding recommendation from the Legislature. Still waiting for budget targets from Legislature. Lobbying team looking to restore approx. $2.1M to get back to the pre-recession level of funding.
    • North Star Lawyers (Steve Marchese)
      • Certifications for 2012 were due on February 28th.  Original goal was 500 members to be recognized in first year.  As of March 1st, 730 members certified for recognition.  Details on recognition activities to follow later in spring/summer.
    • Emeritus Petition (Bridget Gernander))
      • Emeritus order signed on March 15th.  Court approved the emeritus petition as presented in the joint petition.  Retired lawyer may fill out application to do pro bono work as emeritus, will be required to do 5 hours of CLE (3 in substantive area, 1 ethics, 1 bias) and may volunteer with any approved provider with same definition as CLE for pro bono rule. The CLE hours can be done remotely.
      • The order will be circulated to LAD members after the meeting.  The Pro Bono Council will be asked to discuss promotion of the new rule.
    • ATJ Staffing (Nancy Mischel)
      • Steve Hirsh left the MSBA as of January 31st.  MSBA is in planning process for budget for next fiscal year.  Current budget proposal is for .5 ATJ director with .85 PB development director. This represents a slight reduction in staff from past years.  Prior ATJ director was .8 FTE on ATJ activities with .2 FTE for other duties. Support for ProjusticeMN.org website was .20-.25 FTE of former director’s position and responsibility for that function is now with Legal Services State Support Center.
      • Operations Committee of MSBA Council will meet on April 11th to discuss budget.  LAD Committee may comment on the proposed staffing and present its own proposal at that time.
    • Passing of Bricker Lavik (Jean Lastine/Steve Marchese)
      • Bricker was a long-time member of committee and important presence in the sector with his pro bono leadership at Dorsey & Whitney.  Memorial in his honor will held on Sunday, March 24th from 4-7 pm at Four Seasons Dance Studio.

 

  • Next meeting: May 7, 2013