May 1995 Report

May 25, 1995
Chief Justice Barbara Durham
Temple of Justice
P.O. Box 40929
Olympia, WA 98504-0929

Ron Gould, President
Washington State Bar Association
1201 Third Avenue
40th Floor
Seattle, WA 98101

Dear Chief Justice Durham and President Gould:

On April 18, 1994, the Supreme Court entered an order establishing the Access to Justice Board. In part, that order provided for evaluative interim reports every six months to the Supreme Court and the Board of Governors regarding the work of the Access to Justice Board. The first six-month report, dated November 28, 1994, covered the appointment of the ATJ Board members, the hiring of ATJ Board staff and the first ATJ Board meeting on November 21, 1994. This letter is the second six-month report.

Meetings: The Access to Justice Board has met monthly. The December 19, January 19, February 27, March 20 and April 17 meetings were held in Seattle at the Washington State Bar Association offices. The May 12 meeting was held at the Spokane Legal Services Center, with part of the day spent in a joint session with the WSBA Board of Governors. I have attached the Agendas from each of those meetings (Tab A).

ATJ Board Mission and Structure: An early task was the development of a Statement of Principles and Goals to guide the ATJ Board in its work (Tab B). Another task was the development of a working list of ATJ Board Priorities and Activities (Tab C). This document utilizes the six directives in the Supreme Court order to outline the ATJ Board's priorities and to chart the course of the activities within each priority. This Priorities Chart is updated after each ATJ meeting. The ATJ Board also is establishing subcommittees to respond to identified priorities. Currently the Board has four subcommittees: Equal Justice Coalition (EJC), Voluntary Legal Services Action Plan (VALS), Courthouse Facilitator Project, and ATJ Board Funding.

ATJ Board Activities: During its second six months, the ATJ Board has made significant progress in addressing its priorities. The following narrative will provide the Court with an overview of the Board's activities to date. I have attached a number of exhibits which document these activities.

Equal Justice Coalition: The ATJ Board has taken the lead in responding to threats by Congress and the Washington State Legislature to cut legal services funding. In response to an ABA request for assistance by state bar associations, the Board created the Equal Justice Coalition (EJC) whose mission is to "ensure a civil justice system that reflects the fundamental values of fairness and equity of access through continued funding for legal services for the poor." The EJC is chaired by John McKay, a managing partner at Cairncross Hempelmann, former president of the WSBA Young Lawyers and former member of the ABA Board of Governors. Vice-chairs include Paula Boggs, a partner at Preston, Gates & Ellis; Anne Bremner, a partner at Stafford Frey; William Hyslop, former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington and a partner at Lukins & Annis; and Ragan Powers, a partner at Helsell Fetterman and member of the ABA's Commission on IOLTA. The EJC has 80 steering committee members and 43 member organizations (Tab D). The EJC has developed educational materials, "Justice at Work" (Tab E), which are being used nationally by the ABA and the Legal Services Corporation as models. On April 17, the EJC sent out its first newsletter (Tab F) to approximately 3600 individuals and organizations. The work of the EJC has generated favorable press coverage throughout the state, all supportive of the continued funding of legal services for the poor (Tab G). The Access to Justice Board passed resolutions supporting the continued funding of legal services by Congress and the Washington State Legislature (Tab H).

LPO Rule: The ATJ Board played a major role in an effort to secure adoption by the Washington State Supreme Court of its proposed Limited Practice Officer (LPO) Rule, the effect of which will increase IOLTA (Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts) revenues available for distribution to legal services and pro bono programs. The Board sent individual letters to each of the 70 local and specialty bar associations asking them to pass resolutions and write letters of support for adoption of the Rule (Tab I). The Board also passed its own resolution (Tab J).

VALS Action Plan: The ATJ Board established a VALS Subcommittee to implement the "VALS Action Plan" (Volunteer Attorney Legal Services), approved by the WSBA Board of Governors in June 1994. Its purpose is to develop "strategies to remove barriers which make it difficult for attorneys to provide volunteer legal services, and to encourage attorneys to provide these services." The Plan delegates specific activities to each of five entities: the Washington State Bar Association, the judiciary, private law firms, local bar associations, law schools, and volunteer attorney legal services program coordinators. The WSBA's Legal Aid Committee is charged with the task of developing an implementation plan for the Washington State Bar Association. The ATJ Board has taken on the task of developing implementation plans for the other four entities, and is working with the Legal Aid Committee on the overall implementation plan. The attached VALS Progress Report (Tab K) reflects the activity to date and discusses the future course of action.

Courthouse Facilitator Project: The ATJ Board has established a Courthouse Facilitator Subcommittee to improve and expand the courthouse facilitator network in Washington State. The Subcommittee is developing permanent funding for the project and working to develop new projects in counties without them. ATJ Board member Phyllis Selinker made a presentation on the ATJ Board at the Statewide Courthouse Facilitators Conference on April 28, 1995. Information about the Courthouse Facilitator Project is attached as Tab L.

Judicial Selection and Education: A principle of the ATJ Board is that meaningful access to the judicial system necessarily requires that members of the judiciary make access to justice a high priority. To that end, the ATJ Board has submitted to the judicial selection committees of the WSBA and the King County Bar Association suggestions for assuring that judiciary members have a strong commitment to access to justice (Tab M). The ATJ Board is scheduling presentations at judicial conferences, including the fall Judicial Conference, and has begun to contribute articles to Judicial News.

Education of the Bar: The ATJ Board has been very active in educating members of the state and national legal communities about the importance of access to justice. The May 12, 1995 WSBA Board of Governors meeting featured an exercise with the ATJ Board designed to sensitize attorneys about the dilemma faced by clients and legal services and voluntary legal services programs of the severe shortage of legal assistance for those unable to pay for it (Tab N). The May issue of the WSBA Bar News featured a variety of articles on access to justice in Washington State, including the Access to Justice Board (Tab O). ATJ Board members have made numerous presentations on the ATJ Board and access to justice (see Tab C - Sec. D - ATJ Priorities and Activities). The ATJ Board nominated one of its members, Paul Bastine, for a prestigious ABA Pro Bono Publico Award (Tab P). Finally, the ATJ Board will be show-cased at the June 10 ABA Consortium meeting in Seattle as a model project for assuring development and improvement in state-wide access to justice efforts (Tab Q).

Education of the Public: In addition to the press coverage generated by the Equal Justice Coalition (see Tab G), Chair Paul Stritmatter made a guest appearance on KIRO Radio's Legal Line, and EJC Chair John McKay was interviewed by Radio Station KPLU regarding legal services funding.

Expanding Access to Justice: The ATJ Board now has liaisons from the WSBA Group and Prepaid Legal Services Committee and the WSBA Task Force on Nonlawyer Practice of Law. The Group and Prepaid Legal Services Committee is exploring the possibility of developing a telephone access system to provide legal assistance to the low and moderate income. The Task Force on Nonlawyer Practice of Law is reviewing nonlawyer activity in Washington State and making recommendations regarding the continuation and/or expansion of those activities. The ATJ Board has been providing input into the development of these two efforts because they have potential for significantly expanding the delivery of legal assistance in Washington State.

There continues to be an extremely high level of enthusiasm by ATJ members and by other individuals and organizations about the Board's current activities and the seemingly unlimited potential for improving access to justice in Washington State. Although in its infancy, the ATJ Board already is being viewed nationally as a model project, particularly in these difficult economic times where resources are scarce and strong leadership is essential. The Board welcomes your feedback on our activities.

Very truly yours,

Paul L. Stritmatter
Chair