Private Attorney Involvement

LEGAL SERVICES FOR CAPE, PLYMOUTH AND ISLANDS, INC.
LAW FIRM COUNSELING PROJECT

  1. On certain mornings or afternoons each week in four separate locations (Falmouth, Hyannis, Orleans, and Plymouth), law firms and individual attorneys participating in Legal Services for Cape, Plymouth and Islands, Inc.’s Law Firm Counseling Project will interview and counsel low income and elderly clients who are residents of towns in close proximity to the hosting location.
  2. The interview sites are as follows:

Falmouth Human Services, 35-41 Glenwood Place, Falmouth, MA;
LSCPI – Hyannis office, 460 West Main Street, Hyannis, MA;
Cape Cod Bank & Trust Company, Main Street, Orleans, MA; and
LSCPI – Plymouth office, 18 Main Street Ext., Plymouth, MA.

  1. Interviews are generally held on Tuesday mornings and afternoons in Hyannis; on Wednesday mornings in Falmouth and Orleans; and two variable days per week in Plymouth. Appointments will be scheduled for the attorney at one-half hour intervals, beginning at 9:00 a.m. and ending with a final interview at 11:30 a.m. for morning sessions, and beginning at 2:00 p.m. with the final interview at 4:30 p.m. for afternoon sessions.
  2. Applicants for service will contact LSCPI. LSCPI will screen clients for geographic and income eligibility and obtain information particular to each applicant’s legal problem. Thereafter, the executive director will determine which clients present issues within LSCPI’s priorities which are handled by staff advocates and which clients present issues appropriate for law firm counseling project appointments.
  3. LSCPI will schedule the appointments for the clients, send the clients confirmation letters, and make confirmation telephone calls the day prior to the interview. Clients will then appear at the interview site for a specifically scheduled appointment. Absent an emergency, no clients will be seen at the interview site without an appointment.
  4. LSCPI informs clients that they will be interviewed in person at the appropriate interview site by a private attorney who is volunteering his or her time to help, that the attorney will provide the client with advice/brief service on how to resolve the legal problem, and that it is up to the client to follow-through with the attorney’s advice.
  5. Generally, clients will only be given one law firm counseling project appointment per legal problem. LSCPI usually cannot provide clients counseled through law firm counseling project with full service representation in-house; however, if a client presents a compelling situation which would warrant further review by LSCPI, the law firm attorney needs to bring the matter to the attention of the executive director.
  6. Each participating law firm will be completely responsible to ensure that the interview site is staffed on its scheduled day.
  7. By noon on the day before each interview day, LSCPI will fax to the law firm an appointment schedule listing client identifying information and a brief description of each client’s problem. LSCPI’s executive director will review the information before it is faxed.
  8. The day before the interview day, LSCPI will call each client who has a telephone to remind him or her of the appointment. It is possible that on some days, for example, during bad weather, a few clients may not keep their appointments. The interviewing attorney may choose to take reading material or other work to the interview site to minimize the frustration of missed appointments. LSCPI makes every effort to ensure that clients keep scheduled appointments.
  9. During the interview, the attorney will be responsible for evaluating the client’s problem for the benefit of the client, and recommending any future course of action which may be necessary or possible. It has been LSCPI’s experience that 75 % of clients’ problems are resolved to the client’s satisfaction by means of an opportunity to discuss the problem with an attorney and receive some general advice.
  10. At the end of each interview the attorney may choose to dictate or to write a summary of the client’s problem and the advice offered. The use of dictation equipment taken to the interview site by the attorney has proven to be most efficient. The tape or notes should be transcribed by the law firm staff, and the resulting memo and any other materials will be mailed/faxed to LSCPI for case file processing and retention in the client’s file. These summaries should be received by LSCPI no later than the Friday after the law firm appointments.
  11. LSCPI’s executive assistant is the recipient of these materials from participating law firms. Materials will be brought to the attention of the executive director and, if necessary, further action will be taken on behalf of the client.
  12. LSCPI staff will be alert for and will accept any phone calls from law firm attorneys on interview days in order to provide assistance when needed.
  13. On occasion, it may be necessary for the law firm attorney to perform some additional work after the appointment, for example, brief research, a phone call, a follow-up letter to the client, or a simple legal document. To the extent possible, the attorney should perform this work. If the case demands more extensive work, the attorney may transfer the case back to LSCPI for further in-house review.
  14. At each interview, the attorney may want to remind the client to contact LSCPI directly if any new problems occur. The attorney is not expected to take any additional unexpected or unrelated calls from the client.
  15. During the handling of cases received at the interview site, each attorney will be covered by LSCPI’s professional liability insurance consisting of the following coverages: a) professional liability coverage: $1,000,000 each claim, $1,000,000 aggregate, $1,000 deductible each claim; b) personal injury liability coverage: $100,000 each claim; $300,000 aggregate; $1,000 deductible each claim; and c) disciplinary proceedings costs: $5,000 each claim; $500 deductible each claim.
  16. LSCPI staff will make appointments for clients who have the following kinds of legal problems which LSCPI staff also handle:

Housing — general landlord/tenant, illegal lockouts, evictions, subsidized housing cases, general housing authority problems, repair problems, homelessness issues, discrimination cases;

Elderly Law — representation of wards or proposed wards in guardianship and conservatorship cases, representation of wards or proposed wards in involuntary commitment cases, housing, government benefits, utility shutoffs, medicaid, medicare, other consumer health issues, nursing home law, tax abatements, fraud or duress by relatives, wills, home equity conversion;

Disability Law — overpayments, representative payee problems, work incentive issues, architectural access issues;

Family Law — advice on abuse prevention issues, homelessness and child custody, divorce, custody, child support, state intervention, post judgment matters on support issues; and

Government Benefits — Social Security and SSI overpayments, state veterans services, unemployment compensation.


  1. LSCPI staff will also make appointments for clients who have the following kinds of legal problems which LSCPI does not handle:

Landlord/Tenant — non-emergency lockouts, security deposit cases, housing authority damage claims, some repair problems, utility issues;

Consumer — inappropriate garnishments, mortgage foreclosures, small claims matters, deficiency judgment suits, automobile repossessions, and general consumer issues;

Simple wills, powers of attorney, homestead declarations;

Elderly Law — real estate transfers from joint names to the at-home spouse, estate tax returns where a house is the only asset and there is no tax, divorce;

Bankruptcy; and

Miscellaneous.

LSCPI staff does not work in the above areas, but they are recognized as important areas of concern for low income families. The primary service to be provided to clients in these areas will be advice and counseling, and any other service the attorney decides to provide.

  1. On occasion, during the course of the interview, an attorney may find that a client who appeared to be eligible for services is not, or that the client’s legal problem is fee- generating, criminal or otherwise outside the scope of this project. In such situations, the attorney may provide the client with the information and advice deemed appropriate, and then the client may be referred back to LSCPI for referral to a member of LSCPI’s over-income fee-generating referral panel.
  2. In the event that a conflict of interest becomes apparent during the course of the interview, the attorney shall so notify the client and LSCPI, and the client should be referred back to LSCPI.
  3. Attorneys participating in the Law Firm Counseling Project will become members of LSCPI’s over-income fee-generating referral panel provided said attorneys carry legal malpractice insurance, and will be referred cases in accordance with the general operating practices of the program.
  4. LSCPI will provide to each law firm all available reference materials on the legal areas mentioned above. For those areas where useful materials are not available, LSCPI staff will provide any kind of training which might be helpful.

LAWYER REFERRAL SERVICE FOR
OVER-INCOME FEE GENERATING CASES

This Over-Income Fee Generating Referral Panel is comprised of attorneys who have agreed to accept pro bono referrals from LSCPI. Individuals who telephone LSCPI who present fee-generating cases, or who are over-income and demonstrate the ability to pay fees, are referred to private attorneys on our LRS panel. It is the responsibility of the attorney and client to discuss the fee arrangement. Participating attorneys agree to carry their own legal malpractice insurance and are requested to remit a 10% donation above the first $100 collected to LSCPI.

MENTOR/MENTEE PROGRAM

A very successful component of LSCPI’s private bar involvement program is its Mentor/Mentee initiative which pairs experienced attorneys with newly admitted attorneys or attorneys wishing to expand their practice to include family law. Recruitment efforts include the “Day in Court” program, a collaborative undertaking of the Barnstable County Probate and Family Court, the Pro Bono Committee of the Barnstable County Bar Association, and LSCPI’s Private Attorney Involvement Coordinator (PAIC), inviting newly admitted attorneys to enjoy morning refreshments with Court personnel, observe morning and afternoon court sessions, tour the Court and have lunch with the judges. In exchange for this introduction to the Court and practice of family law, the participants agree to accept a pro bono case through the Mentor/Mentee program. Additionally, mentors and mentees are covered by LSCPI’s malpractice insurance while representing LSCPI’s clients pro bono and are eligible to receive MCLE discounted tuition vouchers. The campaign to ensure equal justice to all continues. Attorneys who volunteer to help LSCPI’s clients are entitled to participate in LSCPI’s Lawyer Referral Service (LRS) panel in order to receive referrals for over-income and fee generating cases, provided said attorneys carry their own legal malpractice insurance.
PROJECT PADRE
Legal Services for Cape, Plymouth and Islands, Inc. (LSCPI) is offering a new pro bono opportunity for attorneys. Through a generous one-year grant from the Massachusetts Bar Foundation, Project PADRE (Private Attorney Debtor Relief Effort) is offered to income eligible individuals who need to file for bankruptcy and who need a “fresh start.” Project PADRE is coordinated through LSCPI’s pro bono program to recruit attorneys to accept a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case for filing on behalf of a pre-screened low-income client. Attorneys new to the practice of bankruptcy law will be a assigned a mentor who will guide them through the bankruptcy filing process.

For more information on volunteering for Project PADRE, contact Audrey Miller, private attorney involvement coordinator, LSCPI, at (800) 742-4107 or e-mail [email protected]. LSCPI’s service area includes Barnstable, Dukes, Nantucket and eastern Plymouth counties.
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PRIVATE BAR INVOLVEMENT (PBI)

Pro Bono Panel: Private attorneys who agree to represent eligible clients for full representation in family law, housing, and other matters as necessary. Attorneys representing eligible clients in this manner will be covered by legal malpractice insurance carried by LSCPI. Contact the Volunteer Attorney Coordinator at 508-775-7020.

Law Firm Counseling Project: law firms generally agree to one morning each month wherein a member of its firm will meet with six different clients to provide counsel and advice only. LSCPI schedules the client interviews and prepares summaries on clients’ cases which are forwarded to the participating law firm prior to the appointments. See above for more information.

Mentor/Mentee: newer attorneys are paired with experienced attorneys on full-representation cases taken pro bono through LSCPI. See above for more information.