2008 Year End Report

The Consortium’s activities in 2008 reflect the full range of its extensive services and programming.

Design & Delivery of Core Courses: In 2008, the Consortium sponsored five skills training programs for its New England members. These include:

• Whole Client/Whole Advocate (delivered April 08). Twenty-one advocates from seven member programs attended this course. We invested considerable time in revising and expanding the course to include new learning resources on issues of difference by race and class as well as revised session designs and resources on working with clients with mental illness and limited English proficiency. 
• Designing and Delivering Great Training (formerly Training of Trainers; delivered May 08 and May 09). Thirty five advocates from fifteen member programs attended these courses; these were the eighth and ninth consecutive years that we have offered these program with support from Practising Law Institute. 
• Essential Skills for Non-Attorney Advocates (delivered May 08).  Thirty-one advocates from nine member programs attended the course. Designed specifically for non-attorney advocates – both case handlers as well as litigation support paralegals – the course includes sessions on: client interviewing and counseling; fundamentals of legal reasoning and analysis; case planning and preparation; basic administrative hearing skills; fact development and investigation; document and information management; time management; and tools for enhancing teamwork and managing relationships with lawyer colleagues. 
• Trial Skills (delivered June 08). Thirty-one attorneys from eleven member programs attended this course. We are very appreciative of ongoing support from the American College of Trial Lawyers and particularly Richard Zielinski of Goulston & Storrs who serves as lead trainer. We were joined this year by twenty ACTL fellows and four legal aid attorneys: Jack McCullough, VLA; Liz Segovis, RILS; Stephanie Balandis, GBLS; and Betsy Soule, SMLS. We were also fortunate this year to be able to sponsor the Trial Skills program at Boston University School of Law where we had access to courtrooms and judges robes!
• Basic Lawyering Skills (October 21-24, 2008). Twenty-seven legal aid lawyers from ten member programs attended BLST. We were also joined by fourteen attorneys serving as faculty and judges.

Leadership Institute: With support from representatives from the 2006-07 Leadership Institute class, we conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the initial Leadership Institute and identified and implemented a range of upgrades to ensure the success of the 08-09 Institute. The new class of 28 twenty-eight fellows and mentors represents eleven legal aid programs from four states.[1] 

Already off to a good start, the 08-09 Institute began with a three day Mentor Orientation in September. The first Institute retreat will take place on October 28-30.

Advocacy Symposia: The Consortium’s 2007 two Advocacy Symposia on Structural Racism were successful on many levels. Through these, advocates, program directors and advocacy coordinators identified and explored policies, institutions and practices that result in economic and social inequalities for communities of color; shared practical tools and approaches for addressing and overcoming these; and, made great strides toward further intellectual and community consensus.

However, these Advocacy Symposia were not simply academic exercises. Rather, they resulted in the creation of a New England Coalition on Structural Racism with whom CLAE staff have been working since spring 2007. Over the last year, CLAE has sponsored an active web-based discussion group through which coalition members share ideas and engage in collaborative work. We also designed training curriculum that Coalition members can use within their organizations to deepen staff members’ understanding of structural racism issues, and reinforce the importance of this work. With other Coalition members, we sponsored a Structural Racism track at the June 2008 NLADA Advocacy Directors conference, and most recently, we sponsored a day-long retreat to help Coalition members identify strategic goals to continue their work in the coming year.

1] Programs represented in 08-09 Leadership Institute include: Connecticut Legal Services, Greater Boston Legal Services, Greater Hartford Legal Aid, Legal Assistance Corporation of Central MA, Medical Legal Partnership for Children, Neighborhood Legal Services, New Hampshire Legal Assistance, New Haven Legal Assistance Association, Rhode Island Legal Services, South Coastal Counties Legal Service, & Western Massachusetts Legal Services