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I. Moderate Means Program Overview
1. What is the WSBA Moderate Means Program?
In partnership with the three Washington law schools, the WSBA developed the Moderate Means Program to connect moderate-income residents of Washington State with lawyers who have agreed to reduce their standard fees and hourly rates. The Moderate Means Program is just one of many service opportunities that the WSBA will make available to its members as part of its strategic goal to enhance the culture of service within WSBA membership.
2. What are the roles of the Moderate Means Program partner organizations?
The Moderate Means Program is a partnership between the WSBA and the law schools of Seattle University, Gonzaga University, and the University of Washington. The WSBA will recruit, train, and reach out to participating lawyers. Two project attorneys will supervise law students as they conduct client intake and refer income-eligible clients to participating lawyers. One project attorney will supervise a team of law students at Seattle University and a team at the University of Washington, and a second project attorney will supervise a team of law students at Gonzaga University.
3. What are the goals of the Moderate Means Program?
A key goal of the Moderate Means Program is to increase access to justice for moderate-income residents of Washington State through reduced-fee legal assistance. The Program will serve individuals and families with incomes between 200% and 400% of the Federal Poverty Level. For example, the maximum annual income for an income-eligible household of one is approximately $21,000 and for a household of four is approximately $89,000. By providing legal assistance to this under-served population, lawyers participating in the Moderate Means Program will prevent Washington families from falling into poverty.
4. How is the Moderate Means Program funded?
The WSBA’s Board of Governors signaled its commitment to the Moderate Means Program with an initial budget allocation of $200,000 to support two project attorney positions at the law schools and the production of online training materials. The WSBA is also providing significant in-kind staffing through its Public Service Program Manager and Public Service Training Specialist.
5. Does the Moderate Means Program duplicate what other programs are doing?
Existing civil legal aid programs serve clients whose incomes are at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). There are very few legal resources for those whose incomes are in excess of 200% of FPL. Approximately ten years ago, the Spokane Young Lawyers Division partnered with the Access to Justice Board to create the Greater Access and Assistance Project (GAAP), a pilot reduced-fee lawyer panel whose services were available to moderate-income residents of Spokane County. With the local success of this pilot project, several other Washington counties created similar projects. The Moderate Means Program builds upon these local efforts to create a state-wide service opportunity for WSBA members to serve moderate-income individuals and families.
6. What kind of legal assistance will lawyers provide to Moderate Means Program clients?
Family, housing, and consumer law are the areas of legal need for which moderate-income clients have the highest demand; therefore, the Moderate Means Program will initially offer referrals in these areas of law only. Lawyers who focus on other areas of law are welcome to sign up for the Program.
II. Benefits for Lawyers and Students Participating in the Moderate Means Program
7. How will lawyers benefit from participating in the Moderate Means Program?
Lawyers who participate in the Moderate Means Program will have the unique opportunity to provide reduced-fee legal help to moderate-income residents of Washington State. This assistance may allow a client to stay in their home, remain safe from abuse, and maintain financial self-sufficiency. With initial intake and case information gathered and summarized by law students, lawyers can use their time and expertise to provide clients with substantive legal counsel and assistance. Together, participating lawyers and students will help to close the justice gap in Washington State. The Moderate Means Program will also offer free, on-line skills training and WSBA-approved CLEs, free referrals to build a client base, the opportunity to expand practice areas, increased access to mentoring and peer-support opportunities, and the opportunity to provide at least thirty hours of reduced-fee pro bono service as defined by RPC 6.1(b).
8. What kind of training is available to participating lawyers?
The WSBA is developing a comprehensive free and low-cost training component to support attorneys who are participating in the Moderate Means Program and who are providing pro bono and emeritus services through one of the many Qualified Legal Services Providers (QLSP) in Washington State. WSBA’s new Public Service Training Specialist will work as part of WSBA’s CLE Department to create in-person and online trainings focused on specific skill sets needed for effective representation of low- and moderate-income clients. The WSBA will recruit and train faculty with subject matter expertise from the private bar, WSBA Sections, law school faculties, and civil legal aid and pro bono programs. In addition to the training, faculty will be responsible for creating and providing training materials and manuals for publication and distribution by the WSBA.
9. How do I report my online CLE attendance?
To receive MCLE credit, lawyers participating in the Moderate Means Program should report CLE attendance directly on their member profile at www.mywsba.org.
10. Is there another lawyer I can call if I need help?
The Moderate Means Program will provide new lawyers or those inexperienced in specific practice areas with mentoring and guidance from experienced lawyers. The WSBA is recruiting experienced lawyers who may be matched up with less experienced lawyers to provide mentoring and peer-to-peer guidance. We will notify participating lawyers once this phase of the Program is established.
11. How will law students benefit from participating in the Moderate Means Program?
Law student participants will have the unique opportunity to interview, provide preliminary case assessment, and refer moderate-income clients to participating attorneys. Students will team up with participating lawyers to make legal assistance more accessible to individuals and families who could not otherwise afford prevailing rates for lawyers’ services. Together, student and lawyer participants will help to close the justice gap in Washington State. Students will be trained to use Legal Server, the client tracking system used by all Washington State legal aid organizations. Law students will gain substantive legal knowledge and experience interviewing clients. Students will also have the benefit of direct communication with participating lawyers when making client referrals. Students may be available to continue working on specific cases if the lawyer accepting a referral requires additional clerical or research support. In this situation, the lawyer should contact the law school project attorney in their area and discuss this continued collaboration with the student.
III. Moderate Means Program Lawyer Registration
12. How do I sign up to participate in the Moderate Means Program?
Please login to myWSBA to complete an online registration form, which includes questions about your experience in family, housing, and consumer law; geographical preference; availability; and other relevant information. It should take fewer than five minutes to complete this form.
13. What are the qualifications for a lawyer to participate in the Moderate Means Program?
To be eligible to participate in the Moderate Means Program, a lawyer must be an active member of the Washington State Bar Association. All lawyers applying to participate will be subject to a WSBA discipline screening. Lawyers who sign up to provide direct service to clients must carry their own malpractice insurance.
The Moderate Means Program does not provide malpractice insurance coverage for cases referred by or for lawyers who accept referrals through the Moderate Means Program. If you participate in the Moderate Means Program, the WSBA-sponsored professional liability insurance offered through Kibble & Prentice may offer several options to obtain more affordable liability insurance than you would otherwise be able to obtain. Please contact Heather McDaniel at Kibble & Prentice at (206) 676-5664 or Heather.McDaniel@usi.biz for additional information.
14. Can I still participate if the system will not allow me to complete the registration form?
All lawyers singing up to participate in the Moderate Means Program are screened for active status, malpractice insurance, and discipline history. The system will notify you if WSBA needs additional information to complete the registration process. If you are unable to complete the form, please contact WSBA Public Service Program Manager Catherine Brown.
15. I have a prior disciplinary record. Can I still be involved in the Moderate Means Program?
The WSBA will determine whether a recent or pending disciplinary matter will impact a lawyer’s eligibility to participate in the Moderate Means Program. Please contact WSBA Public Service Program Manager Catherine Brown with any questions.
16. Does it matter where I live or work?
We anticipate that there will be prospective clients in every county in Washington State in need of legal assistance through the Moderate Means Program. In addition to clients with disputes in the county where you live or work, you may be able to provide assistance to clients in remote counties via telephone, video conferencing, or email. The Moderate Means Program cannot provide direct technical connection between clients and lawyers at this time; however, participating lawyers who are interested in providing remote assistance but do not have access to technology should contact the nearest law school or WSBA Public Service Program Manager Catherine Brown to discuss possible assistance.
17. Does the Moderate Means Program require a time commitment?
We encourage each participating lawyer to accept at least one case and/or serve as a mentor to a less experienced lawyer for a case referred by the Moderate Means Program. If you are unable to continue providing services, please contact the WSBA Public Service Manager so that your information can be updated.
IV. Referral and Case Acceptance
18. How will Moderate Means Program cases be referred to me?
The information provided by lawyers through the online registration process is transferred into a database. Under the supervision of a project attorney, law students will gather, review and summarize case information to include in referrals that are sent to lawyers participating in the Moderate Means Program. Students will identify appropriate matches with participating lawyers based on client referral needs and lawyer referral criteria. Students will make the best matches possible, and will attempt to ensure that referrals are made as equitably as possible, with the goal of referring all income-eligible clients to participating lawyers.
The information provided by lawyers through the online registration process is transferred into a database. Under the supervision of a project attorney, law students will gather, review and summarize case information to include in referrals that are sent to lawyers participating in the Moderate Means Program. Students will identify appropriate matches with participating lawyers based on client referral needs and lawyer referral criteria. Students will make the best matches possible, and will attempt to ensure that referrals are made as equitably as possible, with the goal of referring all income-eligible clients to participating lawyers.
19. How will prospective Moderate Means Program clients apply for assistance?
Prospective clients can apply for Moderate Means Program assistance through an on-line application or a toll-free telephone number. Law students will retrieve information submitted by prospective clients to conduct income screening, complete intake and preliminary case assessment, and refer eligible clients to participating lawyers.
20. What if the Moderate Means Program client is a conflict of interest for me?
Participating lawyers are responsible for conducting a conflicts of interest check in a manner consistent with their normal practice. If a lawyer has a conflict of interest with a client referred by the Moderate Means Program, the lawyer should inform the law school of the conflict, and should encourage the individual seeking assistance to contact the law student with whom they are working for an alternate referral.
21. What fees and/or advance fee deposits may I charge a client referred by the Moderate Means Program?
Fees charged for service rendered by participating lawyers to clients referred by the Moderate Means Program should be reduced by a percentage of the lawyer’s standard rate, based on the client’s income, at the lawyer’s discretion. Any and all fees agreed upon by participating lawyers and their clients are subject to the requirements of RPC 1.5. Using the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) as a guideline, the Moderate Means Program encourages participating lawyers to reduce their standard fees in accordance with the scale below:
Client Income
0%-200% FPL Pro Bono*
200%-250% Reduce Fee by 75%
250%-350% Reduce Fee by 50%
350%-400% Reduce Fee by 25%
*Individuals and families seeking assistance who are under 200% FPL will initially be referred to existing legal aid organizations for pro bono assistance. If the individual is unable to secure assistance, the Moderate Means Program may attempt to find a participating lawyer to offer pro bono or reduced-fee assistance. Lawyers are encouraged to all agreements to writing to ensure that both parties understand the scope and cost of representation. The Moderate Means Program provides a model advance fee deposit agreement to participating lawyers, although participating lawyers are not required to use the model agreement.
22. How will I know where a client's income falls on the FPL scale?
Law students conducting intake and referral will obtain income information from and determine where a client’s income within the FPL scale listed above. This FPL information will be included in the referral package that is sent to participating lawyers.
23. How can I provide pro bono assistance through the Moderate Means Program?
In light of the astonishingly high unmet need for free legal assistance, we encourage participating lawyers to allow WSBA to share their contact information with local volunteer lawyer programs and/or accept a pro bono case for a low-income Moderate Means Program client. Law students will refer pro bono cases to those participating lawyers who have indicated their willingness to provide free assistance on a case-by-case basis.
24. Will I need to report case outcome or any other information?
Law students will stay in contact with participating lawyers who accept Moderate Means Program cases to collect general information about case outcomes and final fee agreements. This statistical information will be shared with the WSBA and it’s the Board of Governors to highlight Moderate Means Program successes and to identify areas in need of improvement.
25. Is there a process for clients who are dissatisfied with the services received?
If a client who was referred to a participating lawyer by the Moderate Means Program is dissatisfied with the assistance or representation they received and wishes to discontinue such representation, the client should inform the lawyer in writing of the intent to discontinue the attorney/client relationship; inform the law school of the discontinued representation; request another lawyer referral if necessary; submit a completed client survey; and/or avail themselves of the WSBA's attorney discipline system.