1972, April, Pg. 21. Larimer County Legal Aid.

• Author: B. F. Napheys II

1 Colo.Law. 21

Colorado Lawyer

1972.

1972, April, Pg. 21.

Larimer County Legal Aid

211972, April, Pg. 21Larimer County Legal AidB. F. Napheys II and John G. PhippsB. F. Napheys, III, Fort Collins, is a member of Harden and Napheys, Professional Corporation, Fort Collins. John G. Phipps, Loveland, is a member of DeGood, Burton, & Phipps, Love/and. Both are presently closely associated with the legal aid program of Larimer County, which is described in detail in their article.Larimer County is a typical larger non-urban county. There are 89,900 residents, two mid-sized cities, five small towns, one large university, three school districts, several middle-sized industries, numerous farms and a number of persons who have legal problems but are unable to afford a lawyer.

Until five years ago, the poor person with a legal problem was dependent on the good will of some individual lawyer if he wanted his problem resolved. Today, the County has been pointed out by the Colorado Bar Association as an example for others to follow in providing free legal aid on an organized but non-governmental basis.

The purpose of this article is to acquaint the Colorado Bar with the system used in Larimer County so that the system can be adapted for use in other communities if wanted by the bar in other communities. The last phrase is emphasized because the fundamental basis of the system is the voluntary choice of the local bar as a whole and of the individual participating members. No public funds are involved.

There are really three legal aid programs in Larimer County---one for poor persons who live or work in each of the three school districts. Loveland dominates one district and program, Fort Collins another and Estes Park the third. Each of the programs, however, is similar and each is under the auspices of the county bar association. School district lines were chosen as handy divisions corresponding to the three general communities of the county.

Each program involves two lists of volunteer lawyers and a legal aid assignment committee. One list is for counselors; another is for case-handlers. Counselors interview indigent clients at the office of the Welfare Department or of a charitable organization located in the largest town in the school district. Interviews are held on a rotation basis once each week from 2 to 4 on Wednesday afternoons. The legal aid assignment committee (which consists of volunteers selected by the members of the local bar itself in Loveland or appointed by the president of the county bar association in Fort Collins) reviews the indigency of the applicant and assigns applicants to case-handlers. Case-handlers accept assignment of individual clients on a no-fee basis as if the client were a regular paying client, again on a rotation basis.

Basic ProcedureEach program consists of three steps.

22The details of the Fort Collins program are given in the Appendix.

First step: If the person who presents himself at the interview for help qualifies for free legal assistance (as determined by answers to financial statement questions given on an application form) the counselor will give the client advice or otherwise handle the problem if it can be done at that time. If the problem cannot be handled at the interview, the counseling lawyer advises the applicant that the matter will be presented to the legal aid assignment committee. In Loveland the counselor delivers the forms (which now include his notes and recommendations) to the legal aid assignment committee chairman and in Fort Collins the counselor leaves the forms with the person on duty at the charitable organization who, in turn, delivers the forms to the legal aid assignment committee.

Second step: The legal aid assignment committee meets (the same day of the interview in Loveland and usually a day or two after the initial interview in Fort Collins) and determines whether the applicant indeed qualifies for further free legal services and, if he does, assigns the case to a lawyer on the case-handler list. If the applicant does not qualify, he is so informed and advised to contact an attorney on a regular basis. Either way, the applicant is informed of the committee's action by an individualized form letter. If a lawyer is assigned, the lawyer is also informed by a form letter. In Fort Collins both the assigned applicant and lawyer are told to contact each other and in Loveland the applicant is told to contact the lawyer.

Third step: The applicant contacts the assigned lawyer and the lawyer treats him or her exactly as a paying client. Except for the fee of one-half of the bar association recommended minimum fee in bankruptcy matters in Fort Collins, the client incurs no attorney fee. (If the client is a woman seeking a divorce, the attorney is authorized to collect a fee from the husband.)

The client has been advised from the start that he or she is expected to pay the costs of the action; the mere fact of acceptance for legal aid representation is not sufficient to waive costs. Court costs, however, can be moved to be waived if the client is poor enough.

In Fort Collins there is a fourth step. The case-handling lawyer reports by letter to the legal aid assignment committee when the case is completed. The purpose of the report is merely to keep track of the matters for statistical purposes.

Plaintiff's personal injury and most criminal cases are not handled. Personal injury cases can be handled on a contingent fee basis so the poor person is as able to secure representation as a rich one. Most indigent criminal cases are handled by the public defender's office so there is no need for a separate program; however, some minor misdemeanor and traffic cases which the public defender cannot enter are handled, in Loveland only by counseling at the initial interview and in Fort Collins either by counseling or, rarely, by assignment.

There are two major differences between the Loveland and Fort Collins programs. Loveland handles dissolution of marriage (formerly divorce) cases on a fairly restrictive basis and does not handle any bankruptcy matters. Fort Collins handles dissolution of marriage and bankruptcy cases (bankruptcy on a reduced fee basis of one-half the recommended bar minimum)...