ASK A LAWYER

HOW DO WE INCREASE COMMUNITY ACCESS TO LEGAL SERVICES IN WAKE COUNTY? ASK A LAWYER

THE WCBA OFFERS A NEW PRO BONO OPPORTUNITY FOR MEMBERS THROUGH COLLABORATION WITH WAKE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES

BY BECKY BERRY JOHNSON, LEXIPOL, LLC | WAKE COUNTY BAR FLYER EDITOR

THE MOST VALUABLE THING YOU CAN GIVE SOMEONE IS YOUR TIME. This is especially true for attorneys, many of whom account for their day by the billable hour. However, the cost of an attorney’s time, and the invaluable advice that often comes with it, is too great a pull on many individuals’ purse strings.

Kendra Stark, president-elect of the Young Lawyers Division, sought to address this dilemma while previously serving as chairperson of the YLD Pro Bono Committee. Ultimately, the committee took inspiration from the “Lawyers in the Library” program implemented by other bar associations across the country. Working with the North Carolina Pro Bono Resource Center and Wake County Public Libraries, Stark and the YLD committee launched the Ask A Lawyer program.

HOW, WHEN AND WHERE TO ASK A LAWYER

Ask a Lawyer is a bi-monthly program offered on the first and third Tuesday of each month from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The first-Tuesday program takes place at Southeast Regional Library in Garner, and the third-Tuesday program takes place at East Regional Library in Knightdale. Stark says these locations were chosen based on the identifiable need for legal access in these parts of the county.

During an initial intake process, patrons sign a limited retainer agreement acknowledging they are receiving limited legal advice and that none of the volunteers are taking them on as clients when their session ends. Most Tuesday-night programs see 15 to 20 patrons seeking help with a legal question. For this reason, sessions are generally limited to 20 minutes per patron. However, a volunteer who is interested in providing a patron with further assistance may do so after the session, at their own discretion and on their own time.

The program, which began in October 2019, has a group of regular volunteers, Stark says, but more help is needed to ensure program consistency and commitment to the community. To maintain success, the program requires three volunteers to provide limited legal advice to patrons and one volunteer to conduct intake. No specialized training is required. Sign-up for any of the Tuesday night sessions is available on the WCBA’s Community Calendar.

VOLUNTEERS RECEIVE RECIPROCAL BENEFITS FROM PROGRAM PARTICIPATION

The questions presented by patrons are wide-ranging, though the majority focus on contract, landlord-tenant, wills and estates, and family law issues. Your own legal practice need not focus in any of these areas in order for your services as a volunteer to be meaningful.

“Most of the questions we get from these patrons are going to be things that you covered in your first year of law school,” Stark says. “It’s not anything too complex. These things seem like really big issues to the people who are facing them, but for us, if you’ve been in practice for a couple years, you know generally how to field those questions.”

For newer lawyers, the Ask A Lawyer program not only provides a means for giving back to the community through pro bono service, but allows them to develop client-facing skills outside of their regular practice. Matthew Bissette, an associate attorney at Whitley Law Firm in Raleigh, has been a regular volunteer at the Ask A Lawyer program since its inception. “This is perfect for younger lawyers to get better, confident, and learn client-relationship skills,” Bissette says.

Wesleigh Vick, an associate at Howard, Stallings, From, Atkins, Angell & Davis, P.A., agrees. Vick, being a 2019 law school graduate, says she appreciates the client-facing interaction that the Ask A Lawyer program provides her as a newer attorney. However, she also feels that, having been lucky enough to go to law school, she has a responsibility to give back to her community and help people when she can.

Bissette echoed these sentiments. “You’re giving back to the community and you’re giving back to people that have probably been looking for a lawyer and can’t find somebody,” he says. “It just seems like a duty that we have. This is once a month. I can spare three hours once a month to help people,” Bissette says. “I feel like it’s the least I can do.”

Kathleen Putiri, a solo family law practitioner in Raleigh, also finds the program a valuable use of her time outside of everyday practice. “I think that it’s important that there’s accessible pro bono activities. As somebody who’s a solo [practitioner], I cannot help someone throughout their entire case,” Putiri says. “I just don’t have the free time to do that. So, a couple hours on an evening is really easy for me to do, to give back to the community without feeling like it’s too much of a burden on my free time or my work time.”

FULFILLING A COMMUNITY NEED WITH SIMPLE GUIDANCE AND RESOURCE REFERRALS

Stark says the Ask A Lawyer program is advertised to the public as a program that provides limited counsel on civil issues, which obviates addressing criminal matters that may impact an individual’s liberty interests. But, there are occasions when a patron asks a question that exceeds the scope of a volunteer’s legal knowledge or expertise.

“There’s no requirement that you have the perfect answer to every patron’s question if you’re a volunteer,” Stark says. “Even if we cannot provide a specific perfect answer for them right on the spot, I think a lot of these people just want someone to listen to them and hear what they’re going through.”

If a patron asks a question that the volunteer cannot answer or doesn’t feel comfortable addressing, the volunteer can consult with another volunteer or conduct some quick research on-the-spot (for this reason, volunteers are asked to bring their own laptop). Volunteers can also provide patrons with pre-printed resource sheets and guidance on how and where to seek further legal advice within their means.

Bissette knows first-hand just how happy patrons are to receive the resource referrals and general guidance. “If you don’t know anything and you can’t answer a question, there’s just so many resources; people are just happy to get that information,” he says. “Don’t worry about giving people the answers. They’re not going to be mad at you for taking three hours out of your time and trying to help them.”

BUILDING BLOCKS TO PROGRAM EXPANSION

Although the Ask A Lawyer program is currently only conducted at two WCPL locations, the hope is that the growth and development of a broad volunteer base will lead to program expansion at other libraries within the county, Stark says.

Sarah Lyon, WCPL’s senior library manager for experience, works with the WCBA to promote the Ask A Lawyer program. “Ask a lawyer was developed to address an information gap, eliminating a barrier faced by many citizens in Wake County who require legal advice,” Lyon says. “The program is invaluable as evidenced by a consistent turnout that illustrates strong community need.”

The WCPL, in conjunction with Wake County’s Communications Office, promotes the program through social media campaigns on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter; signage in participating libraries; the WCPL website; and a televised graphic display at the Wake County Justice Center.

“We are thankful that volunteers with the Wake County Bar Association are generous with their time and can support an evening program,” Lyon says. “Our ability to offer free legal counsel on a regular and consistent basis* in the evening ensures that [patrons] can work the program into their schedule. This is a critical detail for individuals who work more than one job, go to school, have young children, or some combination of all three.”

The positive response to the Ask A Lawyer program is evidence that the community’s need for greater access to legal help is real, and it is a need that the WCBA can step up to meet. Try not to think of pro bono legal service as lost time from your billable day. Instead, think of it as an invaluable service to the greater legal community. *At the time of this publication, all WCPL programs, including Ask a Lawyer, are suspended due to the COVID-19 crisis. Please regularly refer to the WCBA’s Events Calendar and WCPL website to monitor the return of this and other public service programs within Wake County. WBF

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