Public Service Campaign: 5th & Front Launch by Strategies 360

5th & Front Launch PUBLIC SERVICE CAMPAIGN PUBLIC RELATIONS DIVISION

ENTRANTS Kelci Lucier Brian Cronin

STRATEGIES 360

We are Change Makers

SHAPING BUSINESS, POLITICS, AND CULTURE IN THE SPIRIT OF THE WEST.

CONTENTS 3 7 8 9 10

Brand Narrative Opinion Piece Press Release Talking Points News Clips

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5th & Front Brand Narrative BACKGROUND

Prior to the launch of 5th & Front, Concordia’s pro-bono legal clinic, we worked with Concordia leadership to develop the name for the clinic and write a Brand Narrative, which helps shape the story and messaging that Concordia will tell about this element of their work. This is not a publicfacing document, but is a building block in the process of determining how to tell the 5th & Front story.

BRAND NARRATIVE

Often felt as both a calling and a pursuit, servant leadership posits that service to others is the truest expression of leadership. In this spirit, 5th & Front’s foundation of servant leadership integrates three formative experiences for its law students and alumni: meaningful community engagement, rigorous legal education, and hands-on, small-practice training. Rooted in Concordia University’s Lutheran values, the clearest expression of our servant leadership ethos is our community work. We serve low-income, modest-means, and underrepresented individuals and communities with intentionality, purpose, and conviction. We provide the vision and the means for bridging the justice gap. Through technology, outreach, and collaborative partnerships, 5th & Front’s work will extend beyond Boise and throughout Idaho, inspiring similar efforts throughout the country. 5th & Front blends theory and practice in ways that enhance the law school’s high-quality legal education as well as an understanding of the social responsibilities that come with being an attorney. We graduate morally principled, highly skilled people who will serve their communities as lawyers and business and civic leaders. Our classroom, courtroom, and clinic learning environments are led by experienced faculty who also practice law. 5th & Front prides itself on its combination of education, advocacy, service, and mentorship. We learn by serving; faculty, graduates, and students work side by side to serve the highest-need people in our community. Because it is an academically rigorous and community-focused resource, 5th & Front helps students and recent graduates learn and hone the practical skills needed for success in the legal ﬁeld, including how to start and manage a small practice. Regardless of how graduates choose to work in and serve the legal community, they will leave 5th & Front professionally prepared, culturally competent, and with a deeper understanding of the importance and impact of pro-bono work and modest-means service.

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Brand Narrative (Cont’d)

Often felt as both a calling and a pursuit, servant leadership posits that service to others is the truest expression of leadership. In this spirit, 5th & Front’s foundation of servant leadership integrates three formative experiences for its law students and alumni: meaningful community engagement, rigorous legal education, and hands-on, small-practice training. Rooted in Concordia University’s Lutheran values, the clearest expression of our servant leadership ethos is our community work. We serve low-income, modest-means, and underrepresented individuals and communities with intentionality, purpose, and conviction. We provide the vision and the means for bridging the justice gap. Through technology, outreach, and collaborative partnerships, 5th & Front’s work will extend beyond Boise and throughout Idaho, inspiring similar efforts throughout the country. 5th & Front blends theory and practice in ways that enhance the law school’s high-quality legal education as well as an understanding of the social responsibilities that come with being an attorney. We graduate morally principled, highly skilled people who will serve their communities as lawyers and business and civic leaders. Our classroom, courtroom, and clinic learning environments are led by experienced faculty who also practice law. 5th & Front prides itself on its combination of education, advocacy, service, and mentorship. We learn by serving; faculty, graduates, and students work side by side to serve the highest-need people in our community. Because it is an academically rigorous and community-focused resource, 5th & Front helps students and recent graduates learn and hone the practical skills needed for success in the legal ﬁeld, including how to start and manage a small practice. Regardless of how graduates choose to work in and serve the legal community, they will leave (The Center) professionally prepared, culturally competent, and with a deeper understanding of the importance and impact of pro-bono work and modest-means service.

Our results demonstrate what can happen when servant leaders dedicate themselves to a legacy of social change. We are committed to meeting the most urgent needs of our neighbors, while supplementing a ﬁrst-rate legal education for our students. Service to others and one’s own development are not mutually exclusive pursuits; rather, it is through serving others that we better ourselves and infuse our lives with purpose. Recognizing this, we utilize a servant leadership model as our north star for curriculum, programming, and outreach. In so doing, we cultivate and inspire a new generation of attorneys, preparing them not only for exemplary work in the legal profession but also for selﬂess advocacy that advances the greater social good.

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Brand Narrative (Cont’d)

MESSAGE FRAMEWORK

What: 5th & Front enhances Concordia University School of Law’s legal education by offering professional experiences and employment opportunities for students and alumni, who then provide much-needed legal services to low-income and modest-means individuals and communities. Why: Communities need ethical, well-prepared lawyers and business leaders who, as servant leaders, work to close the justice gap and improve the lives of those in need. How: 5th & Front combines education, community work, and practical experience to further its mission of advancing the legal training of participants, instilling cultural competency, providing mentorship and career opportunities, and fostering a commitment to servant leadership beyond its walls. 5th & Front Is Inventive: As a community-based and community-focused resource, 5th & Front will offer entrepreneurial, innovative ways for its students and faculty to better understand, represent, and serve individuals in need. 5th & Front Is Nimble: The servant leadership ethos and structure of 5th & Front will allow it to grow and adapt in response to new and emerging community needs. 5th & Front Is Distinguished: 5th & Front is well regarded, well known, and inspiring to others because of the authenticity of its mission, the quality of its academic and practical training for both students and graduates, the strength of its faculty, and its measurable impact on the community.

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Brand Narrative (Cont’d) BENEFIT STATEMENTS

5th & Front’s high-caliber faculty and servant leadership ethos ensure that its students graduate with the knowledge and skills necessary to pursue rewarding, community-focused careers. 5th & Front prepares its students by having them provide pro-bono work and modest-means services to community members who may otherwise not have access to legal representation or legal resources. 5th & Front mindfully and intentionally trains a new generation of civic-minded attorneys by incorporating servant leadership into its curriculum, programming, and community work. 5th & Front provides legal services to the community, and to low-income and modest-means individuals in particular, that help close the social justice gap. 5th & Front serves and leads the broader community through legal advice, advocacy, training, and mentoring. 5th & Front provides its students with a high-quality education as well as with the training and experience necessary for graduates to live and lead rich, meaningful lives based on an ethos of servant leadership.

INSTITUTIONAL LEGACY

Concordia University has a rich history of providing a rigorous education, founded in and guided by Lutheran values, that also incorporates a strong commitment to servant leadership. The Concordia University School of Law, established in 2012, continues that legacy by educating and training morally principled, highly skilled professionals who will work as lawyers and business and civic leaders. As an important component of both the School of Law and the larger Concordia University community, 5th & Front continues Concordia’s mission by combining a rigorous curriculum, practical experience, mentorship opportunities, and training in cultural competency for its students while also providing pro-bono work and modest-means legal services to community members. 5th & Front strives to ensure that the School of Law’s faculty, staff, and students honor Concordia University’s Lutheran identity and history. Those connected to and served by 5th & Front mutually beneﬁt from a shared commitment to social justice, servant leadership, and a more just society.

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Op-Ed A Critical Time for Servant Leadership By Elena Langan Dean, Concordia University School of Law As dean of Concordia University School of Law, I often reflect on how our institution can best fulfill our mission of preparing leaders for the transformation of society. We have a strong and intentional commitment to servant leadership, where we believe we can best provide leadership to our Boise, Treasure Valley, and Idaho neighbors through service. As a nonprofit, Lutheran institution, our school feels a high level of responsibility for living out our values and mission. In our classrooms, we explore complicated legal issues and how they impact people and communities. We teach how to protect and advocate for the rights of individuals, organizations, and businesses. And we explore the larger social question of how the law can work to ensure equality for all. In our community, we look for how we can best meet specific local needs while also educating civic-minded lawyers. The United Way of Treasure Valley noted in its ALICE report last year that 37 percent of Idaho’s population is living either below the U.S. poverty level or making less than the basic cost of living for the state. If 37 percent of our fellow Idahoans can’t afford the basic necessities, they certainly can’t afford legal counsel when they face housing discrimination, need assistance with a will, encounter an immigration difficulty, or otherwise need access to legal services. In fact, the American Bar Association reports that over 20% of Idaho’s residents are eligible for legal aid. In 2014 alone, Idaho Legal Aid Services (ILAS) assisted nearly 6,000 Idahoans—including over 2,500 children. Family and housing issues accounted for 65% of ILAS’s total caseload that same year. I have been fortunate to discover my servant leadership opportunity in this nexus between clear community needs and my current position at Boise’s first law school. As dean, I’m in a unique role to encourage our students, staff, and faculty to pursue a life of meaning, purpose, and passion. My own servant leadership manifests in my commitment to ensuring our institution provides a high-quality education and rigorous training to ethical people who will serve their communities as lawyers and business and civic leaders. At Concordia, we don’t want to simply graduate attorneys; we want to work with and honor our Boise and Treasure Valley neighbors by serving them and our shared community. On October 27th, we formally launched 5th & Front. Located on campus in the heart of downtown Boise, 5th & Front is the home of our extensive portfolio of community-based and community-focused services and programs. The faculty, staff, and students—our servant leaders—all work to provide access to justice for underserved populations, including juveniles, veterans, immigrants, refugees, and families living in poverty. In addition to participating in a street clinic run by the Idaho Trial Lawyers Association, we also fully run a housing clinic and an immigration clinic that provide pro-bono and low-bono services to those in need. We are partnering with community organizations, such as Idaho Military Legal Alliance, Life’s Kitchen, Family Advocates, and Women’s and Children’s Alliance, to ensure that our services are streamlined and collaborative in nature. Moving forward, 5th & Front will house these initiatives as well as others that we launch in the future to meet both current and emerging community needs. On days when the work of the law seems most challenging, I am proud to join hands with our law school, our community partners, our legal advocates, and our broader community in the name of service. Elena Langan is dean of the Concordia University School of Law in Boise.

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Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MEDIA CONTACT: November 2, 2017 Kelci Lucier (208) 695-8189 kelcil@strategies360.com Concordia University School of Law Launches 5th & Front, Home to Community-Based and Community-Focused Services and Programs (BOISE, ID)—On October 27, 2017, Concordia University School of Law formally launched 5th & Front, the law school’s new home for its extensive portfolio of community-based and community-focused services and programs. Located on the Concordia Law campus in downtown Boise, 5th & Front provides access to justice for underserved populations—including juveniles, veterans, immigrants, refugees, and families living in poverty. Services offered cover a wide range of legal issues, including housing, asylum and citizenship, criminal law, wills and estate planning, and family advocacy. Approximately 75 students, faculty, staff, community members, members of the media, and government representatives attended the launch event. “We are excited to formally introduce 5th & Front to the community,” said Dean Elena Langan. “Concordia University School of Law currently offers rigorous legal training to our students through extensive pro-bono and lowbono services, which include our housing clinic, immigration clinic, and externship programs. Moving forward, 5th & Front will serve as the umbrella under which these services are offered by our students, faculty, and community partners.” As a Lutheran institution with a strong commitment to servant leadership, Concordia University School of Law has a specific mission to prepare leaders for the transformation of society. Since opening as Boise’s first law school in 2012, the institution estimates its students have provided nearly $4 million in pro-bono services to the community. More information about 5th and Front can be found at https://law.cu-portland.edu/5th-front. ### ABOUT CONCORDIA LAW Concordia University School of Law in Boise, Idaho, is part of Concordia University, a nonprofit, Lutheran, liberal arts university based in Portland, Ore., with a mission of preparing leaders for the transformation of society. Founded in 1905, Concordia University serves more than 5,000 students on campus and online through its College of Education, College of Health & Human Services, College of Arts & Sciences, School of Management and School of Law. Concordia University School of Law and the George R. White Law Library opened with its inaugural class of students in fall of 2012. For more information visit http://law.cuportland.edu.

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Talking Points Key Talking Points Concordia University School of Law 5th & Front Launch Event INTERNAL USE ONLY Key Message: 5th & Front is the home of Concordia University School of Lawâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s extensive portfolio of community-based and community-focused services and programs.

5th & Front enhances Concordia University School of Lawâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s legal education by offering professional experiences and opportunities for students and alumni, who then provide much-needed legal services to Treasure Valley low-income and modest-means individuals and communities. 5th & Front combines education, community work, and practical experience to further its mission of advancing legal training, instilling cultural competency, providing mentorship and career opportunities, and fostering a commitment to servant leadership in Boise and beyond. Communities need ethical, well-prepared lawyers and business leaders who, as servant leaders, work to close the justice gap and improve the lives of those in need. Programs and initiatives include: Housing clinic Immigration clinic Street law clinic (housed at Boise Public Library!) Student externship program Jack McMahon Pro Bono Service Impact Award Richard C. Fields Civility Award Richard C. and Shirley I. Fields Transformation of Society Scholarship 5th & Front Fellows (in development) Each Concordia University School of Law student is required to complete 50 hours of pro-bono work prior to graduation, although the vast majority go above and beyond this number. All law student work done through 5th & Front is under the supervision of a fully licensed attorney. 5th & Front: Where Law and Social Justice Meet

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Op-Ed Placement

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News Clips

� Facing eviction? Deportation? Law students in Boise offer free legal help 1:41 Concordia Law School’s library in Downtown Boise is now a place where people who are too poor to aﬀord a lawyer, yet don’t qualify for government assistance can ﬁnd help in a time of desperation. Listen as Latonia Haney Keith, associate professor and director of clinical education at Concordia describes the program. Kyle Green kgreen@idahostatesman.com BUSINESS INSIDER

These law students offer free legal help in Boise to tenants and immigrants BY RUTH BROWN rbrown@idahostatesman.com NOVEMBER 16, 2017 06:10 PM UPDATED NOVEMBER 20, 2017 01:59 PM

Concordia Law School’s library in Downtown Boise is now a place where people who are too poor to afford a lawyer, yet don’t qualify for government assistance can ﬁnd help in a time of desperation. Here they can meet with someone who just might be able to help. This is where the school’s law students provide free legal help to immigrants, including refugees from war-torn countries; and tenants who often are living in pest-infested homes or on the verge of homelessness. They don’t know their rights. They don’t understand their options. They’re often misinformed. That’s where Latonia Haney Keith comes in. An associate professor and director of clinical education at Concordia, Haney Keith directs two student-led law clinics that provide one-on-one assistance and a third in which students work in courtrooms helping Boise city prosecutors with misdemeanor cases and infractions.

� Facing eviction? Deportation? Law students in Boise offer free legal help Concordia Law School’s library in Downtown Boise is now a place where people who are too poor to aﬀord a lawyer, yet don’t qualify for government assistance can ﬁnd help in a time of desperation. Listen as Latonia Haney Keith, associate professor and director of clinical education at Concordia describes the program. Kyle Green kgreen@idahostatesman.com

“In the future I think we’d like to expand that so we’re both on the prosecutor’s side and on the public defender’s side,” Haney Keith says.

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These law students offer free legal help in Boise to tenants and immigrants BY RUTH BROWN rbrown@idahostatesman.com NOVEMBER 16, 2017 06:10 PM UPDATED NOVEMBER 20, 2017 01:59 PM

“In the future I think we’d like to expand that so we’re both on the prosecutor’s side and on the public defender’s side,” Haney Keith says.

The nonproﬁt side of the law Breaking The housing clinic typically handlesNews people facing eviction, residences that are uninhabitable and people who’ve had their Be the first to know when big news breaks security deposits wrongfully withheld. Enter Email Address

The immigration clinic mostly helps unaccompanied minors seeking asylum and other undocumented immigrants. Last month, SIGN UP students helped as Boise’s Schaefer Law Firm assisted recipients of the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. President Donald Trump had announced plans to phase out the DACA program, and recipients faced an Oct. 5 deadline for renewals. The housing and immigration clinics operate throughout the The ofby the law schoolnonproﬁt year to helpside clients appointment after referrals. Students use study rooms intypically the library in thepeople school facing on Front Street to The housing clinic handles eviction, meet with clients. residences that are uninhabitable and people who’ve had their security deposits wrongfully withheld. In the criminal law clinic, students help Boise city prosecutors with trafﬁc infractions misdemeanors. The process offers The immigration clinic and mostly helps unaccompanied minors experience as well teaching students how to be thoughtful seeking asylum andasother undocumented immigrants. Last month, when using prosecutorial students helped as Boise’sdiscretion. Schaefer Law Firm assisted recipients of the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. President Donald Trump had announced plans to phase out the DACA program, and recipients faced an Oct. 5 deadline for renewals.

The housing and immigration clinics operate throughout the THE VELTEX BUILDING, 420 WEST MAIN STREET, SUITE 205 | BOISE, IDAHO 83702 STRATEGIES360.COM school year to help clients by appointment after referrals. Students use study rooms in the library in the school on Front Street to meet with clients.

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News Clips More clinics might come soon. Providing free legal aid to the disadvantaged drives Haney Keith. A Harvard law grad, she ran a worldwide pro bono practice at McDermott Will & Emery LLP, a Chicago firm, and was honored with the Chicago Bar Foundation’s 2014 Distinguished Service Award. She came to Concordia, a Lutheran university, in 2015 to help build a pro-bono program from the ground up. The needs are great, she says, and the clinics, however helpful, can just begin to meet them. “The fear of [homelessness], the lack of affordable housing, [and knowing that] no matter what we do moving mountains, we cannot find housing — that keeps me up at night,” she says. “I would not be attracted to the for-profit space. I’m much more attracted to the nonprofit side of the law.”

happens when you touch a person, and not just these hypothetical cases or cases you read in a book?” The clinics help relieve some of the burden facing the nonprofit Idaho Legal Aid Services Inc., which is Boise’s primary provider of free legal services. “The income qualification for Legal Aid is [a maximum of] 125 percent of the federal poverty line, which is very, very low,” Haney Keith says. That’s $15,075 for an individual and $30,750 for a family of four in 2017, according to information from the Legal Services Corporation, a publicly funded nonprofit established by Congress in 1974 to support and fund legal aid programs nationally. “Individuals of modest means ... can’t afford an attorney.” All students working at these law clinics have completed at least 60 credits, or two years of law school, which allows them to get a limited license from the Idaho State Bar to practice law with supervision. Some students receive credit for helping; others volunteer by choice.

Students step up Ben Monaghan, a third-year law student, volunteers at the housing clinic. “(Clients) are coming in here with massive amounts of stress on their shoulders and they’re worried about getting evicted, or their kids getting sick,” he says.

Third year law student Becky Taylor-Brooks oﬀers legal advice to one of her clients during a free housing clinic session at Concordia Law in Boise. She explained that a lot of times people don’t understand their rights when they come to the clinic and just need advice. That’s what she and the other students strive to do when helping those in need. Darin Oswald - doswald@idahostatesman.com

Offering free legal aid From 2015 to 2017, the housing clinic completed roughly 3,500 hours of free legal aid. The immigration clinic provided more than 1,000 hours of service in 2017. The university estimates that since the Boise school opened in 2012, students have provided $4 million worth of services for free.

Helping them is itself rewarding: “...To be able to sit down with them, talk it through with them, and at the end say, ‘I don’t know if we can help, I don’t know if we can make an impact and change the outcome, but we’re going to try.’ And just the look of relief on their faces is so powerful, and they’re so grateful.” Becky Taylor-Brooks, another third-year student in the housing clinic, has had clients who were previously homeless and ﬁghting to avoid the street again. “I don’t see a lot (of options) for a tenant who can’t afford a lawyer,” Taylor-Brooks says. “So what they do is go with what they’re told. And sometimes the landlord’s correct and sometimes the landlord’s misunderstood the law.”

It’s invaluable experience, Haney Keith says. “The beginning of law school is all about books, all about theory, all about doctrine of law, and we have to then ﬁgure out how you translate that into practice,” Haney Keith says. “What really

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News Clips

Fourth year Concordia Law students David Taylor and Stacey Beaumont work on housing and immigration cases that resulted from consultations at free clinics held at the school. Both Taylor and Beaumont work and attend school, but still ﬁnd time to help at the law clinics. They know it will make them better attorneys, but they also ﬁnd it rewarding. Kyle Green - kgreen@idahostatesman.com

Educating the community and lawyers Concordia Law Dean Elena Langan says the school intends to roll out additional opportunities, including an initiative it calls 5th and Front to offer legal help to veterans, homeless people and victims of domestic violence. For example, students may help homeless veterans with bench warrants or misdemeanor charges related to sleeping in the park, or with minor issues that prevent them from receiving housing. Langan hopes that such aid could help break the cycle of homelessness. Other students will have externships with government agencies, such as the public defender’s ofﬁce. Eventually, the school wants students and staff to travel to rural areas on a “justice bus.” “We want students here who will go out and make a difference in the community,” she says. Haney Keith hopes the law students will be leaders who serve throughout their careers. “When they leave my doors I want them to still understand how to practice law, but also be willing to give back to the community,” she says.

Ruth Brown: 208-377-6207, @RuthBrownNews. This story is part special coverage of the business of law in the Nov. 15-Dec. 19, 2017, edition of the Statesman’s Business Insider magazine.

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A word with Latonia Keith of Concordia University’s Fifth and Front Center – Idaho Business Review

A word with Latonia Keith of Concordia University’s Fifth and Front Center 

By: Anne Wallace Allen  December 18, 2017

 Comments Offon A word with Latonia Keith of Concordia University’s Fifth and Front Center

Latonia Keith is director of clinical education and an assistant professor at Concordia University’s 5yearold law school in Boise. She coordinates the school’s Fifth and Front Center, a physical and administrative headquarters for Concordia’s free and lowcost legal service programs in the community. Latonia Haney Keith poses for a photo in the library at Concordia University Law School in downtown Boise on Dec. 6. Photo by Glenn Landberg.

Keith’s background is in accounting and finance, and she started out as a transaction lawyer at a large firm in Chicago before another Chicago firm hired her to build its worldwide pro bono practice.

Keith moved to Boise three years ago when her husband, also a lawyer, was hired by St. Luke’s Health System, and Concordia Law Dean Cathy Silak asked her to lead clinical education at the new law school. Concordia created Fifth and Front this fall as a way to give students clinical practice while providing pro bono legal services to the community. Idaho’s system of free and lowcost legal services, especially for people involved in legal disputes with landlords or in other civil matters, is not robust. Idaho is one of very few states that does not provide funding to pay for legal services for lowincome people. While criminal defendants have a right to representation, people who are involved in civil suits do not. Idaho Legal Aid, which has a budget of $2.8 million and 45 staff in seven regional offices, provides some free and lowcost legal services. But the Trump Administration is seeking to eliminate the primary federal funding that supports Idaho Legal Aid, and without it, Idaho Legal Aid’s director says the agency could not continue. Keith spent some time talking with Idaho Business Review about the new center at Concordia. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. What has led to your interest in pro bono work? I grew up in a military family; my father was in the Air Force for many years, and my parents always had this thought that as we did better as a family, we should be giving back. In law school, I had a finance and accounting background, and consulted overseas for Sprint doing joint venture analysis. My plan was to get a JD/MBA and go back on the transactional side of the law. But you come into law school and get exposed to many different things. I was originally doing financial transactions, but always had a pro bono practice where I did a lot of immigration work, death penalty, and general civil work. What’s the status of legal aid services in Idaho right now? There are not a lot of legal aid lawyers in Idaho. And there are strict guidelines on who Legal Aid can serve; it’s only individuals at 125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. That is an individual making $14,000. That means individuals who are kind of lowincome cannot get legal assistance; they can’t afford counsel. They are pro se, which essentially means they’ll have to go into court by themselves and advocate for their own rights. In something like housing, their opponent will more than likely have a lawyer. A lot of our landlords are de facto lawyers because they’ve been in the courtroom so many times they know the system. The power imbalance is very https://idahobusinessreview.com/2017/12/18/a-word-with-latonia-keith-of-concordia-universitys-ﬁfth-and-front-center/

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A word with Latonia Keith of Concordia University’s Fifth and Front Center – Idaho Business Review

stark.

This is not a great deal for the tenants, and it’s harmful overall because it means that our laws aren’t being adequately or fairly applied in that system. Judges are neutral parties, and even if they want to, they can’t advocate on behalf of the tenants. They have to make a ruling based on the evidence in front of them. If the landlord is able to put forth the evidence in the right way, the case doesn’t go the tenant’s way. There are lots of statistics out there that show the difference between an individual walking in pro se, or with a lawyer. In terms of outcomes they are vastly different. Is this just a problem for individuals, or is there a larger effect? Think about the housing crisis. If people don’t have stable housing, we end up with individuals who are on our streets, who can’t hold jobs, who do not have a stable income, and who can’t give back. Those are also the people loitering outside our businesses. There is also an impact on children that cycles through. We have landlords who approach us asking us to educate them. They want to do the right thing. We don’t view all landlords as bad; that’s really not the case; we understand that there are issues where if a tenant is not paying, the landlord has every right to the rent. We’re just trying to make sure we don’t end up turning that individual out on the street. We try to find some way for landlord to be repaid and give the tenant more time to find housing. Sometimes it’s just a cooler head coming into that situation and making sure both parties can walk away happy. This is about having productive members of society, so an individual can get on their feet and get a job. What kind of community do we want? Do we want to embrace everyone and be sure they can be productive and get jobs, and continue to see our economy thrive? The more we turn our face away from individuals because they are the ones struggling, the more we’ll see the homeless population increase, and violence in our community increase. Do all lawyers do pro bono work? At the firms, absolutely. Large law firms used to have 2,000 billable hours a year, and 3 percent of that was dedicated to pro bono work. That was around 2005, and then that continued to build. The Pro Bono Institute was developed to help The American Lawyer when ranking firms. That’s when you started seeing firms hire pro bono counsel, to make sure every lawyer was giving back. On the criminal side of the system, you have a right to an attorney, but not on the civil side. It’s very limited. Pro bono work is part of the American Bar Association standards for education. At Concordia, 50 hours of pro bono work during the course of the three years is mandatory for all students because it helps them understand the practice of law. We can teach them doctrinal theory every day, but in the clinic they can learn client interviewing skills, how to advocate in court, how to negotiate, how sit across from the landlord and opposing counsel, and how to manage client expectations. Pro bono work is the ideal of everyone’s career. We are a unique and privileged profession, and the law is wrapped up in every aspect of what we do as a society. It behooves us to give back to individuals who are not able to afford our counsel. How do you find clients for Fifth and Front? Front Street is one of the public interest organizations that works as a collective with the other organizations like Idaho Legal Aid and the Idaho Volunteer Lawyers Program. We help with the triage, because we know which organizations in the community are able to serve which populations. We have an immigration clinic and do a lot of that work here. Before, there weren’t a lot of lawyers on the tenant side in the courtroom. Now when you go into eviction court, they are used to seeing us there. What’s next? We’re thinking about a community court that’s been developed across the country to help our veteran population to kind of decriminalize homelessness. For example, if an individual gets tickets for an open container, it’s hard for https://idahobusinessreview.com/2017/12/18/a-word-with-latonia-keith-of-concordia-universitys-ﬁfth-and-front-center/

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News Clips 1/9/2018

A word with Latonia Keith of Concordia University’s Fifth and Front Center – Idaho Business Review

them to get housing or employment. So we’d work with the criminal justice system to remove barriers so they can be productive members of society. The vast majority of the legal aid work is in the Treasure Valley, because all the lawyers are here; we have a huge rural justice problem and we are thinking about starting a mobile street law clinic in a bus. We are just scratching the surface of need nationally, and maybe even less in Idaho because our pro bono ethic is still growing.

ABOUT ANNE WALLACE ALLEN Anne Wallace Allen is the editor of the Idaho Business Review.

https://idahobusinessreview.com/2017/12/18/a-word-with-latonia-keith-of-concordia-universitys-ﬁfth-and-front-center/

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News and Editorial Mentions

Frank Myers' friends didn't want this veteran and neighbor to be forgotten

Frank died July 18, 2017, and his extended family of friends and neighbors went out of their way to make sure he will be remembered. Bill Manny bmanny@idahostatesman.com BILL MANNY

Discouraged by 2017? Here are some people I met who should change your mind BY BILL MANNY bmanny@idahostatesman.com DECEMBER 29, 2017 02:35 PM UPDATED JANUARY 02, 2018 11:45 AM

Most end-of-2017 critiques I’m reading are essentially referendums on Donald Trump. When I look back on 2017, I remember people and experiences that don’t depend on who you voted for or whether you prefer Fox or MSNBC. The people who made the year memorable for me get up every morning determined not to score points, but to make a difference in the real world. People such as Myriame Fisse Fisse, who welcomed me in July to the funeral for Frank Myers, her across-the-street neighbor. She and other neighbors made sure that Frank, a 92-year-old veteran who lived alone, did not leave this world alone and forgotten. Myriame later won one of Mayor Bieter’s Good Neighbor awards . Scott Peterson and his law partner Kimberly Schaefer offered free legal advice for young “dreamers,” the children protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that President Trump is ending. I met Concordia Law School Dean Elena Langan and Professor Latonia Haney Keith, whose free clinics reach out with legal assistance to people who can’t afford a criminal, housing or immigration lawyer. And I am always amazed at Karan Tucker, Liz Woodruff, Lauren Necochea and the other people at Jannus, who run programs that every day make sure that the people who need help the most don’t get overlooked or forgotten. Jim Jones, the former Supreme Court justice, spent hours with me recounting his experiences as a soldier in Vietnam, and why that makes him so passionate about aiding refugees and displaced people in Idaho today. THE VELTEX BUILDING, 420 WEST MAIN STREET, SUITE 205 | BOISE, IDAHO 83702

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