By: Kenneth A. Smith, Kelly Thayer, and Kathy Garwold. Published by: Marin Community Foundation. Published on October 14, 2013 Link to PDF Founded in 1982, Canal Alliance’s Immigration Legal Services program (CA-ILS) offers the only affordable, comprehensive immigration legal assistance… Read More ›
Practice Areas
Medical-Legal Partnership: Evolution or Revolution
They examine why so many lawyers–especially those associated with legal aid, law schools, the private bar, and hospital general counsel–are collaborating with health care providers to deliver health-promoting legal services to low-income persons.
The Importance of Representation in Eviction Cases and Homelessness Prevention
Two randomized pilot projects in Massachusetts in 2009 involving eviction cases showed prevented evictions, protected the rights of tenants, and maintained shelter in a high rate of cases.
Foreclosures: A Crisis in Legal Representation
This is a review of the foreclosure crisis including the number of persons without legal representation in selected counties with high rates of foreclosure, why having a lawyer matters, the barriers to legal representation, concluding with recommendations.
Randomized Evaluation in Legal Assistance: What Difference Does Representation (Offer and Actual Use) Make?
The randomized evaluation found that the offers of representation from the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau (HLAB) clinic had no statistically significant effect on the probability that an unemployment claimant would prevail in the “appeal”.
The Impact of Legal Counsel on Outcomes for Poor Tenants in New York City’s Housing Court: Results of a Randomized Experiment
Tenants with pro bono representation from the program did significantly better than tenants that did not have representation. Representation did not significantly impair the court system’s efficiency.
Expungement of Criminal Convictions: An Empirical Study
J.J. Prescott and Sonja B. Starr of University of Michigan published a study on expungement uptake, recidivism rates, and employment outcomes among people who obtained set-asides (which is similar to expungement) in Michigan.
The Opioid Crisis in America & the Role Medical-Legal Partnership Can Play in Recovery
This brief presents four case studies of medical-legal partnerships (MLPs) with projects dedicated to assisting those with opioid use or substance use disorder in Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Portsmouth (Ohio) and Reno. It finds that MLPs are successful at reducing barriers to employment, stabilizing families, and improving health.
Effects of an Interdisciplinary Approach to Parental Representation in Child Welfare
Researchers analyzed the impact of interdisciplinary representation (i.e., having a legal team which incorporates other professionals for parents in child welfare proceedings. They found that when parents received interdisciplinary representation, children spent an average of 118 fewer days in foster care during the four years following the abuse or neglect case filing. Children whose parents received interdisciplinary representation achieved overall permanency, reunification, and guardianship more quickly.
Practical Implications of Current Domestic Violence Research: For Law Enforcement, Prosecutors and Judges
This report gives practitioners the research on perpetrators and victims of domestic violence, the impact of current responses to such violence, and the implications of that research for day-to-day, real-world responses to domestic violence by law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges.
Legal Aid Research 