City Bar Justice Center Federal Pro Se Legal Assistance Project Nine-Month Report: December 31, 2015 Introduction The Federal Pro Se Legal Assistance Project ( the Project ) of the City Bar Justice Center (CBJC) opened its doors to litigants on March 26, 2015 and is pleased to submit this cumulative report to the Court on the first nine months of operations. The Project Attorney has now provided limited-scope legal assistance, advice, or consultation in 290 matters, to low-income litigants and prospective litigants on a range of federal civil issues. In addition to assisting a large number of low-income pro se plaintiffs and defendants litigating in the Eastern District, the Project Attorney has been successful in providing legal counseling and making referrals for a number of people who would benefit from addressing their issues in a forum other than the federal courts. The City Bar Justice Center has also implemented a robust pro bono attorney volunteer program to further leverage the resources committed to the Project, and has conducted two rounds of client satisfaction surveys. This report provides a summary of the services offered in the first nine months of the Project s operation, and highlights new developments. Office Hours and Staffing The Project Attorney, an experienced civil litigator, is on-site at the courthouse during business hours, Mondays through Thursdays. The CBJC employed a summer college student intern during the summer of 2015 to provide administrative support to the Project Attorney, anda group of law school seminar students specializing in public service will work with the Project during the coming semester. Litigants meet with the Project Attorney by appointment, and the Project also makes room for walk-ins whenever possible. There are three to four available appointment slots per day, and we are usually able to schedule appointments for the same week, if not the same day. After the initial consultation, a significant number of clients follow up with additional meetings in person or by phone or e-mail. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New Yorkprovides office space for the Project in the district courthouse in Brooklyn, along with two public access PACER terminals located in the Project s waiting area. The CBJC has purchased and set up a client PC with limited-access internet capability in the waiting area, which affords clients access to the Court s website, forms and information packets, and sites for legal services providers and other pertinent legal information. Clients who are able to do so can work on their documents on the PC and save files to flash drives which the CBJC has purchased to provide to clients so they can work on their files outside of the courthouse.
ASSISTANCE PROVIDED In its first nine months of operation, 290 clients or prospective clients sought assistance from the Project. CLIENTS SERVED/ APPOINTMENTS PER CLIENT Continuing the trend observed in our first quarter of operations, a significant number of clients have more than one consultation with the Project Attorney. The Project Attorney also counsels the many clients who call or e-mail with follow-up questions in addition to formal appointments. Table 1 Number of appointments Number of Clients Percentage of all Clients per client 1 84 29% More than one visit 206 71% DEMOGRAPHICS Table 2 Race Number of Clients Percentage of Clients Asian or Pacific Islander 21 7% Black 130 45% Latino/Hispanic 25 9% White 50 17% Other/unknown 64 22% Gender Number of Clients Percentage of Clients Female 122 42% Male 162 56% Unknown 6 2% 2
LEGAL ISSUES Of the litigants whom the Project has served, most have been pro se plaintiffs or prospective plaintiffs, although some have been pro se defendants. Their legal issues cover a wide range, with a heavy representation of employment-related and civil rights cases, a trend that reflects the Eastern District s non-prisoner civil docket generally and also may highlight the scarcity of free or low-cost legal services for these types of cases. Table 3 shows the legal issues presented by the Project s clients thus far. Table 3 Case Type Number of Clients Percentage of Clients Civil Rights 64 22% Employment Discrimination 75 26% Other Employment 25 9% State Law Matters 32 11% Foreclosure-related 19 7% Suing Federal Agency 12 4% Social Security Appeal 17 6% Consumer Issue 10 3% Other 12% 36 (debt collection, expungement, RICO, torts, etc.) REFERRAL SOURCE As Table 4 shows, we continue to have an excellent relationship with the Eastern District s Clerk s Office, including the pro se clerks, and the Courts pro se staff attorneys. Most referrals to the Project originate in the Clerk s Office, and a substantial number come from Magistrate Judges and District Judges. Table 4 Referral Source, Where Known Percentage Magistrate Judge 15% District Judge 5% Clerk s Office EDNY 51% Court (unspecified) 11% Friend or family 2.5% Internet 1% CBJC Legal Hotline 2.5% Previously Served 11% NYC 311 1% Total 100 3
PROCEDURAL STATUS AT INTAKE A significant number of people have taken advantage of the Project s services before filing civil cases in the Eastern District. As Table 5 illustrates and the Project s experience bears out, pro se litigants face particular challenges which cause many to consult with the Project Attorney at the amended complaint, motion to dismiss, and discovery phases of litigation as well. Table 5 Procedural Status at Intake Number of Clients Percentage of Clients Pre-filing 96 33% Post-filing, initial steps 80 28% (includes amending complaint) Post-disposition 39 13.5% ADR 6 2% Motion to dismiss pending 24 8% Discovery 29 10% Motion for summary judgment 12 4% pending Pre-trial 4 1.5% TYPES OF SERVICES PROVIDED The Project has provided brief services including review of papers, research, drafting assistance, strategy discussion, and other advice and counsel to 148 clients, and advice-only to 46. We have advised and referred 76 litigants to nonprofit legal services providers, the City Bar s Legal Referral Service and/or pro bono counsel. CLIENT SATISFACTION SURVEYS As part of the CBJC s broader client survey process, the Project surveyed clients whose cases were opened during the most recent quarter (October through December 2015). Because the CBJC lacks administrative support for this Project, we omitted mail surveys during this quarter and surveyed only those clients with email addresses. We received a response rate of 15%, as compared with the 22% response rate when we surveyed this Project s clients over the summer by both by email and paper mail. Regarding the ways in which the Project s assistance was most helpful (with the option to check multiple boxes), 83% of survey respondents emphasized receiving answers to their legal questions, and 83% also stated that the assistance relieved some of the stress and/or anxiety they felt about their legal issues. When asked about the CBJC representative s manner during interactions with the client, 100% strongly agreed that the CBJC representative was courteous and respectful. 4
Comments from this Project s surveyed clients, when asked, What was the most helpful thing the City Bar Justice Center did for you? include: They listen to your issues! Assisting me with writing legal responses to defendant s counsel. Thank you. Empathizing with the sensitive issue at hand. Very professional. [I received] help writing a response letter. It would be an injustice to say this or that was the most helpful thing City Bar Justice Center did for me. City Bar was helpful in many ways. I was helped with discovery, settlement, and ramifications of doing this as opposed to that. I guess the most helpful thing was just being available to get complex and often vexing questions answered. PRO BONO PARTNERSHIPS During the past quarter, the Project has deepened the experience offered through our structured and carefully-supervised pro bono attorney component. Working with the pro bono coordinators from Cleary Gottlieb, Davis Polk, and Sullivan & Cromwell, the CBJC now has the of counsel assistance of an expanding group of attorney volunteers from the private bar, who are on-site two mornings per week. After an orientation and training session, the volunteers many of whom have returned multiple times assist the Project Attorney with litigant interviews, drafting projects, and legal research. Supervision occurs on-site by the Project Attorney and off-site by a partner or other senior lawyer at each volunteer s firm. The CBJC has accommodated the pro bono lawyers appetite for more substantive work, to the benefit of the clients, volunteers, the CBJC and the Court. CONSULTING The Project Director has provided information and analysis of the CBJC s Pro Se Legal Assistance Project to other courts interested in undertaking similar efforts. We have recently consulted with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, and have met along with EDNY Magistrate Judge Bloom and Central District of California Chief Magistrate Judge Suzanne Segal with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. LAW SCHOOL INVOLVEMENT The CBJC has created experiential learning opportunities for law students working under faculty supervision. We have posted a semester-long internship opportunity with area law schools, and plan to work with a small group of Fordham Law students from the Stein Scholars academic and service program in the semester that begins in January 2016. 5
RESULTS: Examples The Project helped a client obtain a full discharge of a student loan debt that was more than 25 years old. Our client, as a young person who had not completed high school, enrolled in a trade school for paralegal studies in the late 1980 s. With the promise of a GED program and a paralegal certificate, the school enticed him to enroll and take out a federal student loan of approximately $2,500 dollars. The school falsely certified that they would assist our client with earning the high school equivalency diploma that was prerequisite to the paralegal studies program. The school then told him they did not offer a GED program, withdrew him from enrollment, and kept the loan money. Our client did not receive even one day of educational benefit. In 2015, the U.S. government began to garnish our client s wages and pursued a lawsuit to collect more than $11,000 in principal and accumulated interest. After our client appeared in court pro se, the U.S. District Judge referred him to the Project. The Project Attorney conducted an investigation, did legal research with the help of an attorney volunteer, wrote a strong legal advocacy letter, and negotiated with the lawyer representing the U.S. Department of Education. The government agreed to discharge the debt including all remaining principal and interest, withdrew the writ of garnishment, and stipulated to vacating the previously-entered judgment against our client. A client, who is being sued by a large corporation as one of many defendants who are allegedly involved in fraud, was able to file a pre-motion letter and then a motion to dismiss the claims against her with the assistance of the Project. After interviews, consultation and research, the Project Attorney assisted this client with expressing the legal basis for her motion and organizing the factual information in her supporting affidavit. The motion is now pending. In a pro se employment discrimination case based on race discrimination, sex discrimination and retaliatory firing, our client did not assert his facts with sufficient specificity, and the U.S. District Judge granted the plaintiff time to amend his Complaint. The Project Attorney provided legal and strategic advice regarding this client s claims, and suggested an organizational structure for the Amended Complaint. The client then successfully wrote his own pleading and filed it after minimal editorial suggestions from the Project Attorney. CONCLUSION The Federal Pro Se Legal Assistance Project is making important strides toward addressing the justice gap faced by low-income pro se litigants in the federal courts, and has attracted the notice of other federal court districts interested in establishing similar projects. The City Bar Justice Center has expanded the pro bono attorney component of the Project, and looks forward to working with law schools and law students in the coming months. In recent months the Project has been able to provide a greater depth of assistance to certain clients. In these ways, the Project continues to further the needs of our clients and the Court. 6