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November/December 1997 Mr. McKay Goes to (the Other) Washington
by John McKay But after the shock wore off, I remembered why I agreed to be considered for the job in the first place: I knew I could make a strong case for LSC. As a Republican with a background in commercial litigation, I didn't fit anyone's image of a "typical" legal services attorney, thus I could engage members of Congress free of the perception of being a longtime legal services insider. And my experiences as a volunteer attorney and chair of the Equal Justice Coalition would serve me well in articulating the purpose and basis for a strong federal role in meeting the critical legal needs of the poor. But in order to take on this new challenge, I'd have to leave my beloved Washington State and take a leave of absence from my firm, Cairncross & Hempelmann. So I braced myself for a serious change in culture, attitudes, and weather and made the great leap across the country to the other Washington. I arrived in May, which left me no time to ease into the job, since our appropriations committees were already working up recommendations for our FY 1998 budget. The House and Senate votes were to take place within weeks, and I had to make the rounds of Congress, beginning with the entire Washington state delegation (which has been extremely supportive of LSC). In a city where everything is political, my job is to convince members of Congress that the provision of legal services has nothing to do with politics but everything to do with meeting basic human needs. Once we get past the rhetoric and misinformation about the Corporation, I can relate to them hundreds of stories from personal experience about legal services clients: battered wives, abused children, tenants wrongly evicted, senior citizens who were defrauded. These accounts are powerful non-partisan arguments in favor of support for legal services. We have had some successes so far during my tenure at LSC. We secured funding for FY 1998 and are already working on our request for 1999. As we move into the new year, we will continue to improve the way we deliver legal services. We plan to build on particular program initiatives that have worked to increase efficiency and effectiveness of the services that we provide. And, since LSC is a perfect example of a public-private partnership, we also intend to expand our relationships with the private bar and others committed to equal justice, such as the Young Lawyers. What a great pool of energetic lawyers! I know many of Washington's Young Lawyers have donated many, many hours to legal services, but we always need more. Your volunteering can make the difference between clients getting the help they need or being turned away for lack of resources. The rewards you'll reap will be far beyond measure.
John McKay, the president of Legal Services Corporation is a former president of the WYLD. |