Advancing Justice Initiative: LAD meets with Oakland County officials

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 Legal Aid and Defender Association, Inc. (LAD) held the second in its series of Advancing Justice Initiative (AJI) breakfasts to introduce itself to federal, state and county government officials on Monday, Nov. 21, at the Oakland County Board of Commissioners in Pontiac.

 
LAD is Michigan’s largest provider of free civil legal services to low-income residents.  It serves metropolitan Detroit through its offices in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties.
 
LAD also represents criminal defendants in Wayne County and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.  Including brief consultations and comprehensive legal services, the public law firm handles some 15,000 legal matters yearly.
 
LAD developed the AJI following a reduction in funding by the federal Legal Services Corp. that forced it to lay off 13 attorneys from the staff of its Civil Law Group.
 
Oakland County commissioners, state legislators and representatives of U.S. Reps. Sander Levin, D- 12th District, and Gary Peters, D-9th District, attended the meeting.
 
Dennis Archer, former mayor of Detroit and chairman emeritus of Detroit-based law firm Dickinson Wright PLLC, was the keynote speaker.  “You have in Legal Aid and Defender an outstanding organization with a staff of dedicated attorneys,” he told the assembled officials.  “They care and want to make a difference in people’s lives.”
 
“What you do makes a difference,” said James V. Jackson, an aide to Levin.  “I see it every day.”
 
Speakers from LAD included Joan Glanton Howard, chief counsel of the Civil Law Group; Miriam Siefer, chief counsel of the Federal Defender Office; and Kelly L. Bidelman, managing attorney of the LAD’s offices in Oakland and Macomb counties.  They described the roles of their practice groups and the clients they serve.
 
“We also like to help with policy work,” Howard said, including the drafting of legislation that affects poor people.
 
Bidelman said that LAD’s work in Oakland County includes the Free Legal Information Help Desk for pro se litigants at the Oakland County Courthouse staffed by LAD attorneys and pro bono private attorneys from the Oakland County Bar Association, the bar association’s Mentor Program for new attorneys, and the Lawyer of the Day program at 43rd District Court in Ferndale.
 
The breakfast was catered by a successful restaurateur who had been a client of LAD.
 
“We work with clients in a comprehensive manner, so that as we solve their legal problems, we help solve other problems as well,” says Deierdre L. Weir, president and CEO of LAD.  “We help people rebuild their lives and help families stay together.”
 
Anyone seeking legal services can call (877) 964-4700 or visit http://www.ladadetroit.org. 

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