On March 2 at the John Adams Courthouse, Supreme Judicial Court
Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants and Appeals Court Chief Justice Scott
L. Kafker delivered remarks and honored three volunteers --
Kimberly Parr, Daniel Goodrich, and Conlan Orino -- for their
outstanding pro bono work in the Civil Appeals Court Clinic run out
of the Appeals Court Clerk's Office.
Since 2015, volunteer attorneys from the Volunteer Lawyers
Project and Boston-area law firms have helped at least 230 low
income litigants who are representing themselves in civil appellate
court matters on a number of issues, ranging from housing to family
law.
"The Access to Justice Commission's study found that, every day,
upwards of forty litigants who do not have a lawyer sought help
from the Appeals Court clerk's office as they try to navigate the
complexities of the appellate process on their own," said Supreme
Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants.
"I am pleased that the Appeals Court has been able to host this
innovative program, which is an important step in helping
unrepresented people to get the assistance they need in appellate
cases," said Appeals Court Chief Justice Scott L. Kafker.
"This project has been a terrific example of collaboration among
the courts, legal services, and the private bar to fill a gap in
legal services. The Volunteer Lawyers Project has been particularly
fortunate to be assisted by numerous other legal services
organizations from across the Commonwealth whose specialists have
vetted these cases," said Joanna Allison, Executive Director of the
Volunteer Lawyers Project.
Volunteer pro bono attorneys meet with self-represented litigants
to assess whether they qualify for assistance, and if they do,
provide general advice concerning appellate issues and assist with
self-help materials. Where a litigant presents a case that involves
a potentially meritorious appellate issue, has broad-based
implications for low-income people, or constitutes a legal error,
the volunteer attorneys will refer the case to a panel of
experienced appellate and legal services attorneys, who will refer
cases for full appellate representation to the participating law
firms.
Several years ago, under the leadership of then-Supreme Court
Justice Gants, the Access to Justice Commission developed the
concept of a pro bono appellate clinic and formed a committee to
study pro bono appellate programs around the country and analyze
whether Massachusetts would benefit from such a program.
The committee determined that there was a need for pro bono
legal assistance for low income litigants at the Appeals Court and
Supreme Judicial Court. The clinic, run out of the Appeals Court
Clerk's Office, initially started in May of 2015 as a pilot program
at the Court Service Center located in the Edward W. Brooke
Courthouse in Boston.
The success of that program led to the permanent implementation
of the Civil Appeals Court Clinic starting in December of 2015 that
is available every Wednesday at the clerk's office with the support
of Appeals Court Chief Justice Kafker, Appeals Court Clerk Joseph
Stanton, the Supreme Judicial Court Clerk for the Commonwealth,
several local law firms, and the Volunteer Lawyers Project, which
manages the clinic. The clinic also has support from law firm
volunteers, legal services organizations throughout the state, and
bar associations.
The law firms participating in the pro bono program include
Mintz Levin; Foley Hoag; Goodwin Procter; Nutter McClennen &
Fish; Ropes & Gray; Sugarman Rogers, and WilmerHale. Since May
27, 2015, 131 pro bono attorneys have volunteered. The Boston
chapter of the Association of Pro Bono Counsel helped to launch the
pilot program.
Litigants who have questions about whether they qualify for
assistance can get more information on the Volunteer Lawyer's Project website, or can
call (617) 603-1700.