Published on October 7, 2015 Posted in Stories

Providing Pro Bono Services in Rural North Carolina

By M. Ann Anderson

Attorneys in smaller communities know about pro bono. They frequently give of their time to citizens throughout their small towns and counties without an expectation of pay. The opportunities to provide pro bono service arise in many ways—some formal and, most commonly, informal, subject to the individual attorney’s practice.

There is only one legal aid attorney for every 13,170 low-income people. In contrast, there is one private attorney for every 562 North Carolinians. In many—if not most—of the small communities in North Carolina, easy access to legal advice is not available through an existing legal aid office because there are not enough legal aid attorneys. Instead, many needy rural North Carolina citizens who would otherwise find their legal needs unanswered have been able to utilize several methods of procuring assistance.

One way small communities are served is through a joint North Carolina Bar Association and Legal Aid of North Carolina (LANC) program, Lawyer on the Line (LOTL), which connects legal aid eligible clients from any geographic region of the state with volunteer attorneys who advise the clients over the telephone from the attorney’s office. Another is the most common but less recognized practice of attorneys in those small communities giving advice, performing services, or representing clients with little or no expectation of being compensated. Finally, some attorneys volunteer with local legal services offices to actually take the client’s case and handle the matter to conclusion.

Lawyer on the Line Attorneys Serve Needy Clients Throughout the State

The North Carolina Bar Association and LANC work together to provide the very successful pro bono program of LOTL. LOTL is a flexible opportunity designed to fit into the schedule of any busy attorney, wherever the attorney or client is located in North Carolina. Clients who meet the eligibility criteria of LANC are prescreened by LANC through a telephone call. The screener determines the client’s area of legal need and then matches the client with an available attorney who has agreed to participate in the program. Volunteer attorneys commit between one and four hours monthly to provide advice by telephone to program clients.

Specifically, LANC screens clients to ensure they are low-income, that their issue/situation ideally will take less than one hour to address through advice only, and can be adequately handled via telephone. LANC provides an email to the volunteer attorney that contains information about the client’s case and introductory materials on the legal topic. Part of the program also includes malpractice insurance and training for the covered representation, and an easily-reached mentor who is always available to discuss cases if needed.

In Anderson’s experience, the opposing party knows the law and “that imbalance in knowledge gives power to the opposing party.”

The expectations by LANC are that the volunteer attorney will interview the client, provide basic advice, and write a brief summary of the advice given, which is then sent to Legal Aid for review and case closing. Every case is assigned based on the volunteer’s availability—if a volunteer is having a busy week (or several weeks), he or she can decline a referral and will receive one that works for his or her schedule once time is again available. The vast majority of LOTL cases take less than one hour to complete, and most attorneys report that they feel that they have truly helped each client after speaking with them.

Tom Anderson from Pilot Mountain, North Carolina, practices debtor bankruptcy law and serves as a LOTL volunteer. His LOTL cases vary, but basically Anderson says that the clients who seek assistance are people who do not understand the legal process or legal principles and many times do not have the skills to address the factual situations facing them. Frequently, Anderson finds that he is helping clients marshal and prioritize facts and goals so that they can make a decision. LOTL clients are sometimes in positions where they have legal rights, but they do not know what they are. In Anderson’s experience, the opposing party knows the law and “that imbalance in knowledge gives power to the opposing party.”

One of Anderson’s LOTL referrals involved a debtor who had a meager income and was threatened by a creditor with wage garnishment for a student loan, when wage garnishment was not legally allowed because of the client’s very low income. Anderson intervened with the creditor who communicated to Anderson that its rules permitted it to garnish wages. The creditor assumed that the debtor would be powerless in the face of its threat. Anderson told the creditor he did not like the rules and that “we are going to use the law.” The creditor did not pursue the client when it realized that the client was empowered by being represented by someone who knew the law. This LOTL representation took less than two hours and involved only gathering documents and talking to the client and the creditor on the telephone. The debtor in this matter did not have ready access to a legal aid office.

Anna Winger gives additional examples of how LOTL serves rural communities. Winger, who handles trusts and estates and represents small businesses, serves on the LOTL Committee. Winger has represented a number of LOTL clients. One illustrative case that she handled took less than two hours, but made a huge difference to the woman she was advising. Winger said the client had a third party payee receiving her social security check. According to Winger, in some cases, where the recipient is not competent, a third party can be designated to receive the principal’s social security check. The client was not getting the money from the social security check forwarded from the payee because of a personal conflict with the payee. Winger believed that the payee was receiving the money only because the client was homeless. The client met several times with the Social Security Office, but could not determine how to get the money sent directly to her. Winger determined that the client needed a form, talked the client through how to get a note from a doctor to say she was competent—which Winger had no doubt that she was—and then talked to the representative from the Social Security Office. There was some time pressure, because a check was going to be distributed fairly soon. Because of Winger’s efforts, the client was able to get the money sent to her directly and this change made a huge difference in her life. The client mailed Winger a thank you card with a note and money, which Winger returned. As an aside, Winger observed that her partner learned about practicing Social Security Law through the LOTL program, liked what she was doing, and now has a practice in this area.

Regan Rozier, who practices in Wilmington, notes that one of the benefits of LOTL is that the program serves citizens who are in smaller communities because attorneys can talk to clients who are located anywhere in the state. Rozier says that he volunteers with LOTL because it is a good way to give back with very little time commitment, and because he knows that with one phone call you can make a big difference in someone’s life. Many of his cases take only 15 minutes. Rozier’s referrals involve many people who just want to know what their options are or their legal rights. Clients who learn their options are then provided with power to handle their personal challenges.

Rozier, who has served as co-chair of the LOTL Committee, handles a variety of cases including expungement files which take about 30 to 45 minutes per client. Because LANC sends him all the information he needs, including the client’s criminal record, he can review the chart to determine if the client is in fact entitled to have the criminal record expunged. Volunteers are not expected to actually file for the expungement, but just to advise the client.

Lawyers who volunteer for LOTL also benefit from serving the needy clients. Bryn Dodge Wilson from Mooresville was recruited to participate in the program by her uncle, Gray Wilson. Bryn, who previously practiced with a large firm, has been a stay-at-home mom for the past five years and was looking for a way to keep her fingers in the legal field. Ms. Wilson says that providing service to a client is easy, especially when the client’s question is in an area of the attorney’s practice. Wilson notes that the time line for working with the clients should fit into any schedule.¹

Pro Bono or “Low Bono” is a Common Practice for Needy Clients in Rural North Carolina

While Gehring had no expectation of being paid for the preparation of the will, his willingness to work with this family did bring him a substantial case.

Small town lawyers often provide services for clients who cannot pay, in part due to their strong connection to the community. The practice of North Carolina attorneys in small communities giving assistance to clients who are unable to pay is illustrated by John Gehring, who has practiced in Walnut Cove, North Carolina, since 1968. Gehring says that being a country lawyer enables him to practice law without having to punch a clock or count pennies, and that when he performs services without an expectation of compensation he frequently will become that family’s lawyer. Gehring gave an example of a couple who came to see him in the 1980s so that he could prepare a will for them. He spent three hours with the couple and at the end of the conference they asked him how much they owed him. He told them that he had prepared the will for free. Subsequent to the pro bono work, the couple, returned for Gehring to represent them when two of their three children were killed in a car accident, “because he was their lawyer.” While Gehring had no expectation of being paid for the preparation of the will, his willingness to work with this family did bring him a substantial case.

Gerry Collins, who has a general practice in Murphy, discussed providing services to clients at a low fee, also known as “low bono.” Collins, who has been practicing since 1980, says that he has seen the need increase since the economic downturn in 2009. He believes that for some clients who cannot afford to pay him, charging an extremely modest rate—something he thinks they can afford to pay—provides a sense of dignity to clients. He gave an example of preparing a will, power of attorney, and health care power of attorney for a needy client and charging the client $50. The client was “tickled to death.” Collins says that he is particularly sympathetic to elderly clients who do not have much money and need wills and powers of attorney.

Though not pro bono, in other cases where a client has been paying regularly, but the client clearly is struggling to pay the fee, Collins will discount the fee as “client consideration.” Collins has tried to benefit the clients who have been paying with a fee discount. In addition, Collins understands that in certain types of cases, when the fee has been underestimated, that likely the remaining work for the client will be done pro bono. Collins stated that he performs pro bono or low fee work “out of feeling for the person sitting across the table from you who can’t afford the work, and you can come in on a Saturday—not taking away from your other work—and get it done.” Collins also mentioned the small town common occurrence of having people in the grocery store stop and ask his advice because folks know that you are “the” lawyer. Collins is confident that the lawyers in Clay and Cherokee Counties are all providing similar pro bono or low fee work for the needy citizens of those counties.

Both Collins and Anderson frequently spend time on the telephone talking to clients, knowing that they will not get paid, that the telephone call will not generate any representation, yet they spend time with those clients giving them help and guidance. Occasionally, even when there is no expectation of receiving anything in return for that help and guidance, the client will bring in a nonmonetary gift. Anderson has been given cookies, a homemade cake, and on one occasion venison. A client brought Collins a paper bag full of ears of corn in return for the preparation of a will.

Attorneys Provide Extended Representation for Needy Clients

In addition to advice and “low bono” work, attorneys in rural North Carolina are representing clients on a pro bono basis. Chris Callahan, an attorney from Rutherford County, has been a volunteer for many years and has been nominated for several pro bono awards. Callahan’s service is more in the nature of what other attorneys would call extended service in that he actually represents the clients, and is not just giving advice to the client. Callahan’s referrals come from Pisgah Legal Services, so he knows that the clients are truly needy. Callahan has represented clients in a variety of areas, but two cases that came to mind were ones that involved rent-to-own mobile homes. In one case, the client knew she was not able to pay. When the tenant told the landlord, he evicted her, threw her belongings out of the mobile home, and disposed of them. The landlord also would not return the tenant’s security deposit. Callahan represented the tenant by suing the landlord for wrongful disposal of the client’s property and for failure to follow the statute governing the return of her security deposit. Callahan sent the landlord discovery, including requests to admit, which the defendant failed to answer. Once Callahan noticed the case for a hearing on his summary judgment motion, the landlord hired an attorney. Because of the unanswered requests to admit, the client was able to obtain a settlement of a few thousand dollars. The settlement, without having to pay an attorney, was significant to his client, and took Callahan about ten hours of work.

In another matter, Callahan represented an elderly couple who unknowingly became part of a continuing scam by a well-known local citizen when they purchased a mobile home. The landlord would sell elderly clients a mobile home with a down payment of about $1,000, and then with modest monthly rent-to-own payments. One of the aspects of the scam was that the clients could not see the property before it was purchased. Of course, when these clients saw the property for the first time, they found that it was uninhabitable. Callahan believes that many of the rent-to-own scams that target the elderly are an attempt to avoid the landlord tenant laws. Callahan says that with about three hours of work and threatening to sue the landlord, he was able to get a return of the client’s money. The landlord was later prosecuted.

Callahan noted that our justice system sometimes teeters on the edge of being unfair because impoverished citizens do not have access to lawyers who can help balance out the cost that the legal system sometimes requires.

Conclusion

Rural communities need the assistance of attorneys willing to provide pro bono services.

There are many ways for attorneys throughout North Carolina to provide that assistance. Help can be provided in as little as one hour a month through the LOTL program, where the volunteer attorney knows that the client meets the poverty thresholds of LANC. For those attorneys who are willing to become more involved, they can assist through extended service, where the volunteer hours can make a big difference to a client who might otherwise be powerless. However the service is provided, attorneys in North Carolina are making a difference to rural communities.

M. Ann Anderson is a former co-chair of the NCBA’s LOTL Committee.

Endnote

1. LOTL celebrated its four year anniversary on March 4, 2015, with some tremendous statistics. Since its creation in 2011, LOTL has served over 12,873 clients with attorneys volunteering, as of the end of April 2015, over 12,832 hours.

The total value of these services is roughly estimated to be $3.2 million dollars.
During January 2015, 39% of the clients calling LANC’s hotline were handled by LOTL volunteers. Clearly the contributions of this pro bono program are making a big difference for those in need.

Currently over 684 North Carolina attorneys are volunteering, but the program is seeking 250 more with 100 attorneys needed to handle advice only expungement cases.