JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - What began as a Saturday clinic where lawyers, paralegals, and translators helped poor people in need of legal services, has evolved into a time-saving, docket-clearing exercise in street-level justice.
Lawyers who gathered at the Saturday clinics are now finding time to appear in courtrooms and help people who are attempting to represent themselves in simple divorce cases and bankruptcies. Attorney Tony Seaton says harnessing the power of the Internet - through text messaging, email and social networking - is helping lawyers organize and deliver services quickly.
"We just get on the email and just say, 'We need lawyers at 9:00 a.m. in General Sessions court - who can show up?' And then we'll get volunteers who'll show up, and it takes an hour."
Seaton says many problems people have can be organized and rapidly dispatched by a judge, as long as the groundwork has been laid.
"I'll talk to 15 people a day and I give legal advice to 13 of them - 'Why don't you try this? Why don't you go here? Why don't you do this?' And then the other two, I may take a case and may make a fee out of it. We're all constantly giving free legal advice, so we're just kind-of stepping it up a notch."
Critics of the program were concerned that unqualified lawyers might get involved, thereby clogging an already overstressed system, but Seaton says all attorneys are trained in basic contract negotiations and can represent others in court who might find it difficult to speak for themselves. |
Email
Print
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Google
Yahoo!