2009 Year-End Report

In partnership with Florida Legal Services, CLAE sponsored five core advocacy skills courses for the Florida legal aid community in 2009. Two-hundred twenty-one (221) advocates from twenty-six (26) programs participated in these events as students and faculty.

Advocacy Skills courses sponsored in 2009 include:

• Case Planning and Discovery:  Thirty one advocates from 14 legal aid programs attended the CPD training in March 2009. Four advocates served as faculty and another ten advocates served as deponents in mock depostions. Case Planning and Discovery introduces newer attorneys and paralegals to the basics of legal analysis, discovery planning and fact development. Small group sessions, interactive exercises, demonstrations and role plays all help foster active engagement and a fresh, questioning approach to fundamental skills. Participants leave with practical skills and new insights that they can apply immediately to their day to day work: case plans, written discovery methods, document management, e-discovery and more.
• Essential Skills for Paralegals and Legal Assistants: Forty six paralegals and legal assistants from ten legal aid programs attended ESPLA in April 2009; we were also joined by ten advocates from 5 legal aid programs who served as faculty. Essential Skills for Paralegals and Legal Assistants provides a solid foundation for paralegals and other lay advocates who represent clients on behalf of legal services programs. Recognizing, as its starting point, the vital role that legal assistants and paralegals perform in our community, this course includes skill-building and practical tools in key areas of legal aid practice – client interviewing and counseling, case planning and preparation, administrative hearings, fact development – and is a welcome chance to learn, refresh and practice critical skills in a hands-on and supportive environment. 
• Administrative Hearing Skills: Thirty advocates from twelve legal aid programs attended the AHT training in September; we were also joined by four advocates from 4 programs who served as faculty. Designed as an entry-level training experience for newer attorneys and paralegals, Administrative Hearing Skills introduces participants to the full panoply of skills needed to prepare for and conduct an administrative hearing - from the initial client interview to case planning, witness preparation, proof of facts, direct and cross examination, and more.   
• Basic Lawyering Skills: Thirty one (31) new lawyers from sixteen legal aid programs attended the December BLST training; we were also joined by 4 attorneys from 4 programs who served as faculty. Grounded in the rich history, culture and values of the national legal aid community, and offered as both an in-person and online course, Basic Lawyering Skills is, in many ways, the foundation upon which other, more advanced CLAE trainings are built. The ‘nuts and bolts’ of a lawyer’s trade – from client communication to case analysis, motion practice to counseling – are taught by seasoned practitioners, highly able and eager to impart what they have to share. New advocates are also given the tools they need to develop realistic professional development goals.  
• Community Lawyering: Twenty-five advocates from 13 legal aid programs attended the December CL training; we were also joined by five advocates from five programs who served as faculty. Promoting an expansive view of a legal aid lawyer's role, Community Lawyering stresses the importance of thinking beyond litigation (while retaining litigation as a vital tool) in addressing the kinds of structural problems facing low-income communities. Participants learn the multi-tactice tools of a successful advocacy campaign, including media and outreach skills, facilitative leadership, action research, targeted planning and campaign feasibilitly.

Leadership Development: CLAE approaches leadership development on two levels – through the careful recruitment and support of legal aid staff who serve as course faculty and members of training design teams and through its year-long Leadership Institute. 

• Faculty support and development: In 2009, CLAE worked with the Florida community to develop a diverse cadre of legal aid faculty by:
  • Sponsoring the March 09 Training of Trainers with the support of Practising Law Institute. Sixteen (16) advocates from ten legal aid programs attended this event. 
  • Recruiting and supporting development of thirty-nine (39) advocates from fifteen (15) legal aid programs who served as faculty, judges or deponents for one of five core courses offered in Florida in 2009. Faculty support includes a full-day course-specific “training of trainers” in advance of each course as well as comprehensive faculty manuals with detailed instructions and content for each session and timed outlines to ensure that new faculty can provide a quality learning experience and that each delivery is consistent in content and quality.
• Leadership Institute: Thirty advocates from sixteen (16) legal aid programs have been participating in the Florida community's first year-long Leadership Development Institute.