Hello and happy autumn, friends!

This month's client story highlights one of our housing lawyers working on a tight time frame to help our client advocate for herself and keep her home. And since October is "Pro Bono Month" in the legal community, our next two items relate to our volunteer lawyer program:

Finally, help us share Spanish-language criminal record expungement resources for people who committed a crime, "did their time," and are ready to move on with their lives.

Here is an example of Legal Aid’s ability to act quickly, even after someone’s court case has reached a critical stage, and of the valuable role we play in local court systems.

When “Rose's” landlord filed court papers to evict her for not paying rent, the judge directed her to contact us. With only days until a hearing, Rose walked into our office. She had records showing that she was paying rent, and suggesting there may be accounting errors on the landlord’s end.

In less than a day’s work we reviewed Rose's records and advised her on advocating for herself. The result: Rose and her landlord settled the case and Rose stayed in her home.

Legal Aid of Western Michigan is delighted to honor attorney David C. Sarnacki, of The Sarnacki Law Firm, with the 2023 Michael S. Barnes Award. Dave has, for decades, performed exemplary pro bono service, volunteering nearly 800 hours on cases which he accepted from our pro bono program.

Our Executive Director Pamela Hoekwater says about Dave: “One mark of an excellent pro bono volunteer is their willingness to take difficult...cases which offer no promise of a fast or simple resolution. Without questions or hesitancy, Dave has taken cases and offered top-notch representation to clients who felt powerless and vulnerable, and he gave those clients a strong voice."

The Michael S. Barnes Award recognizes an attorney or law firm for making significant pro bono contributions which benefit legal aid clients. Michael S. Barnes, a partner with the law firm Smith Haughey Rice & Roegge, was a dominant force in providing legal aid and pro bono service to LAWM’s client communities.

For nearly 40 years our volunteer lawyer (or "pro bono") program has referred LAWM cases to local attorneys who agree to represent our clients for free. This is especially helpful when our own attorneys' caseloads are full - as they often are - and when our clients have problems that need special expertise that a volunteer may have.

This month, one of our main funders, the Legal Services Corporation, awarded our pro bono program a "transformation grant" to build on the program's years of success in collaborating with private attorneys. The grant will help us:

We're excited to begin the transformation, and we will keep you posted! And hey, what the heck, let's start right now: if you're a lawyer who'd like to volunteer, click this link!