March 11, 2005
Access to Justice Commission
Minutes of Meeting Held
March 11, 2005
The Access to Justice Commission met on March 11, 2005 at the office of the Colorado Bar Association beginning at 12:00 noon. Present in person were Judge JoAnn Vogt (Chair), Pamela Gagel, David Butler, Ilene Bloom, Justice Gregory Hobbs, Judge Barney Iuppa, Judge Daniel Taubman, Meredith McBirney, Elizabeth Steele, and Constance Talmage. Present by telephone were Jonathan Asher, Aaron Clay, and Yolanda Fennick. Present as guests were Greg Martin, Kathleen Schoen and Michelle Miller.
1. Minutes of the Last Prior Meeting. The Minutes of the Meeting held January 21, 2005 were approved.
2. Committee Reports.
a. Education. Ilene Bloom reported on the activities of this Committee, which met on February 7, 2005. The Committee received reports of work being done at the University of Colorado and the University of Denver law schools and approved the committee’s procedure for granting awards of $1,500 (donated by Bar-Bri) to a student from each law school to pay for a bar refresher course for the Colorado Bar Exam to be given in July 2005.
b. Resource Development. Meredith McBirney reported on the objective of this Committee to build awareness and support for public funding of legal services. Michael Valdez is working to develop a team in the State legislature to work toward providing financial support when and if the physical condition of the State government permits. Steve Briggs is attending ABA day in Washington and will discuss legal services.
c. Courthouse. Barney Iuppa reported on the meeting held by this Committee on January 21. The Committee was concerned with the costs incurred in pro bono cases, including the cost of interpreters, variations throughout the State in policies relating to waivers of filing fees, and the cost of e-filing. Greg Hobbs updated the discussion on filing fees by reporting that the Ad Hoc Committee on law firm pro bono work had discussed these issues at its meeting on March 10. Manuel Ramos agreed at that meeting to put together a package of forms for use in seeking waivers in cases involving indigent parties. The Supreme Court will then consider how best to encourage uniform procedures for the grant of waivers in order to eliminate, or at least minimize, the present discrepancies between different parts of the State in dealing with this issue.
d. Pro Bono. Aaron Clay reported progress in developing local ATJ committees. He said that good progress was being made in Fort Collins and in La Junta and that there had been some activity in Salida and Elbert County. He said that he needed the names of people to organize an ATJ Committee in Weld County, and was given the names of several people there who might be helpful in forming a committee. The commission discussed ways to improve communication with local Access to Justice members and committees. It was agreed to provide them with copies of the minutes form commission meetings.
e. Ad Hoc Committee on Law Firm Pro Bono. Justice Hobbs and others on the Ad Hoc Committee reported on the work being done in developing a pro bono policy for law firms which could be presented in draft form for discussion at meetings to be held at the Supreme Court with managing partners or other leaders in large and small firms. The group discussed and made suggestions regarding a thoughtful draft for such a policy which had been prepared by Ilene Bloom. This policy may in the future be adapted for use in corporate legal departments. The Committee will meet again in April.
3. Committee Assignments. Judge Vogt is receiving revised descriptions of the committee activities, and will compile and disseminate these before the next meeting.
4. Report by the Chair. The members of the Commission discussed a proposed Policy for ATJC Endorsements and Letters of Support. Minor changes were proposed to the draft furnished by the Chair to members of the Commission prior to the meeting. A copy of the Policy, revised to reflect these comments can be found on the Access to Justice website under the “Commission Bylaws and Supporting Documents” heading. The document is listed at the bottom of the bylaws. The link to the bylaws page is: http://www.cobar.org/group/index.cfm?category=1080&EntityID=dpwaj
5. Elder Law Project. Kathleen Schoen reported on the Elder Law project which is going to be piloted in Adams County. The ABA grant was submitted and we should learn the results in June.
The Chair also pointed out that there would be an ABA Equal Justice Conference in Austin, Texas on May 5 and encouraged member of the Commission to attend. Judge Vogt, Judge Taubman and Meredith McBirney said that they would attend. Jon Asher thought that it was likely that he would attend and Kathleen Schoen said that she might attend depending upon other commitments.
The meeting adjourned at 1:20 pm. The next meeting will be May 13, 2005 at noon at the CBA.
David Butler, Secretary
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