Presidential Interview: President Methvin Reflects on a Year of Accomplishments and Service
| Publication year | 2010 |
| Pages | 0265 |
| Citation | Vol. 71 No. 4 Pg. 0265 |
In a wide-ranging interview with The Alabama Lawyer editor, Robert Huffaker, ASB President Tom Methvin relives the year of his presidency. Tom's administration focused on access to justice and his efforts have yielded outstanding results. As he proudly notes, more than 1,450 new lawyers have pledged their support for the needy of this state by joining the Volunteer Lawyers Program. Moreover, lawyers have donated over 23,000 hours this year to either volunteer lawyers programs or service at the Alabama State Bar.
Robert A. Huffaker, editor: Tom, the theme of your administration has been access to justice. Why is that so important to you?
Tom Methvin: Robert, when I became the president in 2009, I wondered what the issues were facing our very first bar president in the 1870s. What were the major issues during the civil rights movement? Then I wondered, what are the major issues today? In 2009, we were in the midst of one of the worst economic times in the history of America and I had to take that into consideration. We've got a huge problem with poverty in Alabama any-way-and it's growing now because of the economy. When I surveyed how other states deal with legal needs for the poor and how we deal with it, I thought this is just a no-brainer. The number one issue for us needs to be access to justice for the poor. The Alabama legislature spends the least amount on access to justice for the poor of any state in America. Even Puerto Rico spends more than we do. I felt that was shocking, wrong, immoral and I wanted to try to do something about it.
RAH: What were the methods that you used to accomplish that?
TM: The average state spends $4.1 million dollars a year while Alabama only spends $300,000-and I'm talking about the civil legal needs for the poor. So, I thought we should go to the legislature and try to get them to increase funding (what a terrible year to do that with pro ration and other problems). We gave it a try at the legislature anyway. We went to lawyers and asked them to make voluntary donations to help with this and then we tried to fill the justice gap by getting lawyers to volunteer to represent the poor for free. It was a three-pronged approach. Thankfully, we were able to raise the amount the legislature gave us by 12 percent, which is wonderful in a bad budget year like this. Even though a lot of lawyers are hurting financially right now, they agreed to donate $800,000 for access to justice. And they also donated their time. We've got 1,450 new lawyers who agreed to join our Volunteer Lawyers Program and take two cases a year for free.
Pictured with Gov. Bob Riley as he signs legislation setting minimum experience requirements for judges are, left to right, ASB President Tom Methvin, ASB Past President Mark White, ASB Legislative Counsel Suzanne Edwards, Rep. Paul DeMarco, ASB Past President Sam Crosby, Scott Mitchell (representing Chief Justice Sue...
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