Power Play

• Author: Rhonda McMillion
• Pages: 70-70

70 || ABA JOURNAL DECEMBER 2018

Your ABA

||

REPORT FROM GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

SHUTTERSTOCK

Power Play

New act aims to build an army of pro bono lawyers

By Rhonda McMillion

The ABA is applauding the enact-

ment this past fall of legislation

to help survivors of domestic vio-

lence gain access to pro bono legal

services.

The Pro bono Work to Empower

and Represent Act of 2018 moved

through Congress with strong bipar-

tisan support. The new law requires

the chief judge from each judicial

district to host at least one public

event annually for the next four years

to promote free legal services to

empower survivors of domestic

violence, dating violence, sexual

assault and stalking. Every two years

during the next four years, the chief

judges must host events in areas

with high populations of Native

Americans and Alaska Natives.

The new law also requires each

chief judge to submit a report on

each event to the director of the

Administrative O ce of the U.S.

Courts, who will provide an annual

compilation and summary of the

reports to Congress.

The idea for the POWER Act grew

out of pro bono summits established

in Alaska in 2010 by Sen. Dan

Sullivan, R-Alaska, when he was

the state’s attorney general. Sullivan

introduced the legislation with Sen.

Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., also a for-

mer state attorney general. Reps. Joe

Kennedy, D-Mass., and Don Young,

R-Alaska, sponsored a companion

bill in the House. While the original

version of the legislation called on

the U.S. attorney in each judicial dis-

trict to host the pro bono events, the

fi nal version included an amendment

shifting that role to the chief judge.

Citing “horrifi c” statistics, Sullivan

emphasized that “we must get seri-

ous about reducing the rate of sex-

ual assault and domestic violence in

Alaska and across the country.” He

said Department of Justice research

shows that about 25 percent of

American women will be victims of

domestic assault in their lifetimes,

and three women on average are

killed by a current or former partner

each day in the United States.

He also explained that research

has shown that “when abused vic-

tims are represented by an attorney,

their ability to break out of the cycle

of violence increases dramatically.”

One study funded by the National

Institute of Justice found that 83

percent of victims represented by

an attorney were able to obtain a

protective order, compared to just

32 percent of victims without an

attorney.

The POWER Act cites the com-

ment on Model Rule 6.1 of the

ABA Model Rules of Professional

Conduct, stating “every lawyer,

regardless of professional promi-

nence or professional workload, has

a responsibility to provide legal ser-

vices to those unable to pay, and per-

sonal involvement in the problems of

the disadvantaged can be one of the

most rewarding experiences in the life

of a lawyer.”

In a statement commending the

enactment of the POWER Act, ABA

President Bob Carlson said: “An

underlying goal of this law is to let

victims know that legal assistance is

available to them and empower them

to move forward with their lives.”

Carlson emphasized the ABA “has

long promoted access to justice for

victims of domestic and sexual vio-

lence and urges every lawyer to pro-

vide legal services to those who have

a limited ability to pay.” Policies

adopted by the ABA’s House of

Delegates in 2006 urge all lawyers to

engage in community service activi-

ties—including delivering pro bono

legal services—and support the devel-

opment of programs by the courts in

collaboration with bar associations

to encourage, facilitate and recognize

pro bono representation of indigent

parties in civil cases.

Carlson issued a call to action for

the legal profession and state and

local bar associations to work with

the chief judges in their districts to

implement the new law.

Encouraged by the success of pro

bono assistance e orts in Alaska and

other states, the sponsors hope that

the POWER Act, as a tool at the fed-

eral level, will create “an army of law-

yers to defend victims and survivors

of abuse.” Q

This report is writ ten by the ABA

Governmental A airs O ce and discusses

advocacy e o rts by the ABA relating to

issues being address ed by Congress and the

executive branch of the fed eral government.

Rhonda McMilli on is editor of ABA

Washington Letter, a Governmental A airs

O ce publication.