Legal Aid of Southeastern PA

By Marion Hoffman Fraley, Communications Manager, Legal Aid of Southeastern PA

Lisa Whalen is new Pottstown Managing Attorney for Legal Aid of Southeastern PA

Lisa Whalen is Legal Aid of Southeastern PA’s new Pottstown Managing Attorney. She joined LASP as a CARES Attorney Fellow in Pottstown in October 2020. She also has served as Staff Attorney in Chester County and in LASP’s Regional Housing Unit based in Chester City, Delaware County.

Lisa is an experienced trial lawyer and also served as a judge on the Yuma County, Arizona Superior Court for eight years.

She started as Pottstown Managing Attorney on Dec. 16. In her new role, she has joined Tri-County Network’s homeless services committee and is meeting with local organizations about LASP services. Lisa can be reached at lwhalen@lasp.org or 484-816-4091.

LASP 20+ Fête for Justice!

Join Legal Aid of Southeastern PA (LASP) in celebrating 20+ years as a regional legal aid program serving four counties: Montgomery, Bucks, Chester and Delaware counties. The Fête for Justice! 4 Freedoms, 4 Counties, 4 Justice! will be Thursday, May 19, 2022 from 6-10 p.m. EDT at Normandy Farm, Blue Bell. LASP also will offer a virtual program from 7-8 p.m.

LASP will celebrate 40+ Honorees from the four counties who have paved the way for LASP to be able to advocate and protect basic human rights for our region’s most vulnerable neighbors.

Visit lasp.org or the event website, lasp20.org. To learn about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Ann Tydeman-Solomon, Development Director, at asolomon@lasp.org.

Legal Aid: A Pro Bono Perspective

By Carolyn R. Mirabile, Esq.

In 2016, while President of the Montgomery Bar Association, my mission was to provide access to justice to low-income residents of Montgomery County. Since my area of practice concentrated in family law, I immediately contacted Legal Aid of Southeastern PA and spoke to the Director about the legal challenges that faced residents of Montgomery County who were trying to obtain a divorce. In 2016, as a resident of Montgomery County, if you could not afford an attorney to get a divorce and contacted Legal Aid, you would be placed on a waiting list. Legal Aid relies on attorneys who volunteer their time to assist those in the community who are the most vulnerable. In 2016 the waiting list for a no-fault divorce was two years.

I could not believe residents of the community that I had lived and worked in during my entire life had to wait two years to obtain a no-fault divorce. Something needed to be done to overcome what was yet another barrier to low-income residents. I immediately contacted the President of the Montgomery Bar Association Family Law Section and notified my colleague that something must be done to help residents obtain a no-fault divorce without having to wait two years to be assigned an attorney.

First, at the next Family Law Section Meeting, I made an announcement that as the President of the Bar I wanted to provide access to justice to low-income residents who qualified for legal services through Legal Aid. I informed everyone the waiting list for residents was two years and we, as a section, needed to do something about it. This wasn’t just about furthering my Bar mission; this was about helping people in the community who faced a real legal challenge and needed immediate help.

Even though the meeting had about 70 attendees, maybe only a handful of those in attendance were providing pro bono services through Legal Aid. This clearly wasn’t enough. I explained to the section members that Legal Aid needed our help and that they would provide each attorney who volunteered for a case, a waiver of all filing fees, and of course the satisfaction of helping someone in the community. I expressed to everyone who attended the meeting that day this was not acceptable for our community and, as leaders, we needed to do something about providing access to justice to those in need. I challenged each attendee, and I made a very simple request, that they volunteer for two pro bono divorces.

As President of the Bar, you are always asking people to do things, go above and beyond their expectations and engage members. This was not only a professional request but a call to action which required immediate attention and accountability. Would they listen? Would members of our Bar take the time from their busy schedules and workloads to complete the challenge?

After that meeting, I would follow up two more times with the section members to volunteer with Legal Aid and help those in the community to obtain a divorce. During the monthly Board meetings, I began to make the same announcements and asked attorneys who had already given so much time to the Bar to now help those in the legal community who were less fortunate obtain a no-fault divorce.

The results were overwhelming. In 2016 during my tenure as President of the Bar attorneys listened to my request and volunteered to help slowly chip away at the divorce list which was two years long. I had hoped that even if I encouraged a few attorneys to answer the call to justice my requests would be successful. Instead, my expectations were more than fulfilled, and the members of our Bar came through to help those in the community who are the most vulnerable and who need just a little help to make a difference in their lives.

While practicing family law at Weber Gallagher I have continued to challenge myself to provide pro bono divorces to those who need them. Legal Aid doesn’t have a two-year waiting list anymore, but volunteer services are always appreciated and access to justice continues to be a much needed resource to those in the community. Each time I get assigned a new pro bono divorce I get to meet someone new, someone who probably would not have otherwise crossed my path. Each new client is appreciative that they will finally be divorced and can move on with their lives. Each client has their own story which makes them unique, and I love the satisfaction when I get to tell them their divorce is final.

Pro bono work continues to be my passion and I am a member of Weber Gallagher’s Pro Bono Committee. Our firm invites each attorney to provide pro bono work in many areas of the law including divorce, eviction, low-income housing opportunities, and expungements to name a few. I will continue my mission to provide access to justice to those in need because it is one of the most rewarding experiences an attorney can provide.