G reater D ayton V olunteer L awyers
In These Times...
W
e are certainly living in interesting and difficult times. Like you and your law practice, the Greater Dayton By Kelly A. Henrici Esq. Volunteer Lawyers Project (GDVLP) has been navigating Executive Director, GDVLP the COVID-19 pandemic. kelly@gdvlp.org The GDVLP has thrived historically when large groups of people 937.461.3857 are in our offices or at a remote location connecting volunteers, clients and staff to engage in service delivery. Sometimes those interWe have worked out all of the processes required to engage in actions result in individualized representation, as when the volunteers remote services delivery in each of the seven counties in our sergo to Domestic Relations Court for final divorce hearings. At other vice area and we are now serving almost all clients remotely. We times, these gatherings result in the production of paperwork for may never return to the “good old days” of bringing large groups of the clients to take to Court to file pro se. In peak times, like when individuals together but if we do, it is nice to have this spectrum of children need to be registered for school, we in past years have had up service delivery options available. to 25 clients at a clinic, and an additional 10 or more volunteers and We are so extremely grateful to our volunteers in 2020. You, too, staff members to support the clinic. The days of providing services were navigating troubled waters in a COVID world yet you carved in this manner came to a halt at the beginning of the pandemic and out time to serve those less fortunate. October is Celebrate Pro Bono we suspect we will not return to this model of service delivery in the month and we have something special in store for our 2020 volunforeseeable future. teers! When Governor DeWine issued his initial order related to COVID-19 in midMarch, the GDVLP staff of four grabbed laptops and headed home to weather the COVID storm and to develop processes to engage volunteer attorneys for service delivery in a way that was effective and designed to ensure the safety of volunteers, clients and DAYTON staff. Thanks to the generosity of CareSource, which Bar Association shares the GDVLP’s mission to serve the low-income population in our community, laptops, dual monitors, and printer/scanner/copier units were donated to help GDVLP staff remain productive while working remotely. We also explored other required technology and became proficient not only with Skype, but also with Zoom and Cisco Webex to connect volunteers, clients and staff for service delivery. We also explored options for getting documents signed remotely and settled on PandaDoc for the electronic signing of paperwork. GDLVP staff also studied and passed the test required to become an online notary public, further What is The Eikenbary Trust? eliminating the need for in-person interaction to complete service delivery. The late Herbert M. Eikenbary granted the bulk of his While some volunteers fear technology more than estate to fund Grants and Loans to lawyers under the age the virus and continue to prefer in-person interactions of 35 who practice/reside in Montgomery County. These (provided social distancing and other safety measures Grants and Loans are to aid young, deserving lawyers who are in place), we are finding that many volunteers are are in need of financial assistance. willing to assist more individuals overall as remote service delivery eliminates travel and other efforts not Individual loans, are available up to $6,000 at 4% directly related to delivering service. Likewise, many interest, while grants up to $4,000 are also available. clients were already tech savvy in terms of what they could accomplish using their telephone and during To Apply: Jennifer Otchy,DBA Chief Executive Officer this pandemic, even more clients are learning the skills Dayton Bar Association | 109 N. Main St., Suite 600 | Dayton, OH 45402-1129 needed to gain access to services remotely.
HERBERT M. EIKENBARY
Trust
jotchy@daybar.org | 937.222.7902 | www.daybar.org
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Dayton Bar Briefs September 2020
937.222.7902
