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This month the nation's first Community Legal Center will open its doors to the public right here in Utah. The former Morrison and Merrill Building located at 205 North 400 West is the
site of the new Community Legal Center. (See photograph of building on opposite page.) The 30,000 square foot building was recently refurbished by its prior owner the Olafson Group, which
generously donated $400,000 toward the $4 million project. The building was purchased in March of this year by "and Justice for all," a non-profit corporation known by most Utah
lawyers as the joint fund-raiser for the state's three leading providers of free civil legal services to lower-income individuals and families - the Disability Law Center, the Legal Aid
Society of Salt Lake and Utah Legal Services. Their efforts promote economic and family stability, fight injustice, and help people help themselves.
These three agencies, which
have a total of 35 lawyers and 84 staff employees, last year provided legal advice or represented clients in disputes in over 21,000 legal matters. The agencies resolve serious legal
problems for those with no place else to turn - the poor, ethnic minorities, seniors and people with disabilities. The building will also house two smaller volunteer-based programs, the
Multi-Cultural Legal Center and the Senior Lawyer Volunteer Project. Each of these not-for-profit legal service providers has a specific mission or client base: Utah Legal Services
focuses on legal assistance to the state's low income citizens, Legal Aid Society assists clients with domestic relations and domestic violence issues in Salt Lake County, Disability Law
Center focuses on assistance to persons with physical and mental disabilities, the Senior Lawyer Volunteer Project assists elderly individuals with estate planning and end of life issues,
and the Multi-Cultural Legal Center provides a variety of legal aid to Utah's growing ethnic communities. To their credit, the three founding groups have been a model of cooperation and
innovation to improve efficiencies in the delivery of legal services in our state. Four years ago they formed the "and Justice for all" Campaign, which raises money from members
of the private Bar. Utah's lawyers and law firms are among the most generous in the nation - more than $1.6 million has been raised since the annual campaign began.
Co-location
into the Community Legal Center helps the agencies meet three important goals. First, ‘one stop shopping' will make access to legal aid and our nation's system of justice easier for
Utahns. Second, it will allow the agencies to share some staff and services to achieve efficiencies of operation. Third, it will provide greater opportunity for volunteer service by
private attorneys and law students. It should be noted that two of these agencies also have offices in Ogden, Provo, and Cedar City, so that legal needs elsewhere in the State may be
served.
"And Justice for all" already has raised $2.6 million of the $4 million total project cost for the Community Legal Center. Alan Sullivan of Snell &Wilmer
heads the capital campaign and anticipates that commitments for the remainder of the needed funds will be obtained by the end of the year. A number of organizations and individuals
already have made generous contributions, including the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation, the Utah Bar Foundation, the Herbert I. and Else B. Michael Foundation, the Emma
Eccles Jones Foundation, and the cities of Salt Lake and Murray. It is particularly noteworthy that 100% of the agencies' own employees and 100% of their board members have made
donations.
The capital campaign is not specifically directed towards lawyers and law firms since the annual giving campaign that attorneys generously support is essential in
meeting the agencies' operating budgets. Last year more than a third of the members of the Utah State Bar contributed to the "and Justice for all" campaign and more than
$440,000 was raised to help these agencies operate and perform their vital mission. Some individual lawyers and law firms nonetheless have made contributions to the capital campaign and
their support is much appreciated.
During the term of former Bar President Jim Jenkins of Logan, the Bar paved the way by contributing $60,000 in seed money to the agencies to help
them study how they could use technology and joint fund-raising efforts to increase efficiency in their delivery of legal services. In April of this year the Bar Commission approved a
contribution of an additional $40,000, bringing its total contribution to $100,000, to match the appropriation approved by the Utah State Legislature and Governor Leavitt. In a year of
very difficult financial challenges, the Legislature and the Governor made the appropriation towards the purchase of the building in honor of their colleague, the late Senator Pete Suazo,
who was admired for his tireless efforts to assure equal access to justice for all of Utah's citizens.
I salute these agencies, their directors, attorneys, legal assistants and
staffs, all of whom are a credit to our profession. They are highly skilled and deeply committed professionals who labor daily in the trenches to assure that equal access to justice is
realized, not just espoused. I encourage members of the Bar to visit our new Community Legal Center. You will like the physical facility, I am sure, but additionally you will be
impressed, if not moved, by the good work and caring you observe. If you take me up on this invitation, I am confident that the next time you write a check to "and Justice for
all" you will feel that you have contributed to something truly significant.
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