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port, supervised visitation or exchanges, wills, bankruptcy, landlord/tenant issues, and guardianship cases. After a paralegal or law student intern completes an intake and conflict check for each caller, the caller is then referred to E. Robin Goodrum, the administrator for LEAP, who then consults with one of the HJWT attorneys. When LEAP first began Ms. Goodrum


spent hours on the telephone with call- ins explaining the court process, reviewing forms, and discussing the appropriate way to conduct oneself in the courtroom. Real- izing that her time would be better spent answering specific legal questions and in keeping with the benefits of collaborative efforts, LEAP over the past two years be- gan offering trainings for the staff of those agencies with which it most often shares clients. Now those agencies address the preliminary issues with clients before they are referred to LEAP. HJWT has steadily in- creased the hands-on legal services provid- ed for LEAP clients by offering assistance with more complex legal issues at the initial response stage, including writing motions and responses, interrogatories, proposed stipulations, and with hearing preparation. In recent years, LEAP also started taking advantage of the unbundling rule by reach- ing out to attorneys for pro bono services, on a limited basis, to enter a LEAP case at a crucial point when it was apparent that the client could not represent herself and the HJWT attorneys had conflicts. Both of these collaborations have greatly en- hanced the result of the LEAP experience for clients.


It is when LEAP clients call that HJWT


realizes how important access to justice is for disadvantaged Vermonters. One single mother from the Northeast Kingdom area called asking for assistance with her child support case after being turned away by other pro bono programs that do not han- dle her family law issue. She wrote, “I am very, very grateful for all you have done for me, you are the only help I have had, there is nothing else.” LEAP helped this moth- er complete her financial affidavit and re- viewed the opposing party’s financial affi- davit. LEAP also spent several hours over the telephone and in person assisting her as she prepared for the child support hear- ing.


A single father called LEAP because the mother was refusing him visitation with his newborn son. After weeks of phone calls and faxing many documents, this dad, who lived in southern Vermont, had no idea what his parental rights were, filed a par- entage case, established a parent-child contact schedule, and began paying child support for his son. He wrote that, “You are absolutely wonderful, very helpful with ev- erything, always return calls promptly and answer all my questions.”


28 THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • FALL 2012


Another client wrote, “You showed me what the court needed to know and how to say it in a way the court would listen, you helped with so many things one could not do on her own.” HJWT has received an increasing num- ber of calls from older women. After being abused for over four decades by her hus- band, one 68 year-old woman from Cen- tral Vermont contacted HJWT for legal representation. She quickly went from be- ing a LEAP client to being represented by a HJWT attorney. A relief from abuse was finalized and a divorce on the grounds of intolerable severity was filed. After a few months the husband violated the order, came to her home, and shot himself in front of her. Thankfully, he did not shoot her be- fore he killed himself. Today this woman is flourishing and spends most of her time with her favorite pastime of painting and seeing her grandchildren. She often speaks of HJWT by saying, “You have been like my private angels, I don’t know where I would be without you and HJWT, you saved my life.”


Not all cases that HJWT handles are a matter of life and death—but so many fam- ily and probate cases are filled with trau- ma, anxiety, and emotional stress that it is extremely helpful, especially when chil- dren are involved, for all family members to have complete access to the justice sys- tem as well as legal education and advice to help them navigate the system. HJWT and its clients certainly appreciate the won- derful help that the VBF provides for disad- vantaged Vermonters. ____________________ Wynona I. Ward, Esq., is the director of Have Justice—Will Travel, Inc., and E. Rob- in Goodrum is the administrator of HJWT’s Legal Empowerment Assistance Program.


____________________ 1


vtbarfoundation.org./about. 2


Vermont Bar Foundation website http://www. Id.


Jay Diaz is the 2012-2014 Poverty Law Fellow www.vtbar.org


Access to Justice Can Be a Matter of LIfe or Death for Some


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