Dallas Bar Association
HEADNOTES
Focus Business Litigation/Trial Skills
December 2011 Volume 36 Number 12
Champions of Justice: Lisa Blue Baron and Mike Kaeske indicate that one in six Americans or 46.2 million (15.1 percent) people live in poverty. Revised statistics released on November 9 show a poverty high of 49.1 million or 16 percent of Americans living in poverty, with the main causes being rising medical, commuting, and child care costs. In Dallas, the poverty statistics are even more staggering. Twentyfive percent of people living in Dallas County qualify for free legal help from DVAP. “DVAP’s mission is our mission—to open doors, right wrongs, and change lives,” said Mike Kaeske of The Kaeske Law Firm. “First and foremost, we want to help people, but we also hope that our gift will inspire other to help too.” The Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program is the joint pro bono program of the Dallas Bar Association and Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas. For more information on the Campaign for Equal Access or the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program, please contact Alicia Hernandez at (214) 220-7499 or ahernandez@dallasbar.org. Recognition levels and donor benefits are available at www.dvapcampaign.org. All individual donors at the $1000 level and above and all firm and corporate donors at the $5,000 level and above will be recognized in an ad in the Dallas Morning News during the week of December 20, 2011, and in Texas Lawyer in January or Febru HN ary 2012.
by Alicia Hernandez
Lisa Blue Baron and Mike Kaeske, faithful advocates for the less fortunate, are the 2011-2012 Equal Access Campaign’s lead donors with their gift of $50,000 to this year’s campaign benefitting the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program. Equality and justice for all are words to live by for Ms. Blue Baron and Mr. Kaeske. Gifted trial attorneys who could seek any calling within the legal profession, Ms. Blue Baron and Mr. Kaeske have dedicated their professional lives to ensuring that all people receive the respect and dignity they deserve regardless of their ability to pay for a lawyer. Their gift to DVAP extends their helping hands and strong convictions about equal access to the working moms, children, elderly, and veterans who would simply be locked out of the justice system but for programs like DVAP and supporters like Ms. Blue Baron and Mr. Kaeske. Ms. Blue Baron, a long-time supporter of pro bono legal aid to the poor, has donated over $293,000 to DVAP over nearly 20 years. A true believer, financial support is not her only contribution to the program. She uses her Spanish-speaking skills to interview clients at the West Dallas Legal Clinic, teach pro se divorce classes, and help Spanish-speaking clients finalize their family law cases. She also launched Baron & Budd’s pro bono program while she was at the firm. Baron & Budd was where Ms. Blue Baron and colleague and friend Mike Kaeske first joined forces, devoting their professional lives, along with Blue Baron’s late husband, Fred Baron, to representing seriously injured victims and their families. Mr. Kaeske, like Ms. Blue Baron, developed into a nationally recognized trial attorney who secured significant verdicts for clients suffering from radiation exposure, leukemia and other cancers. Teaming up again in more recent years, Ms. Blue Baron and Mr. Kaeske have continued their professional endeavors, and, now, they have chosen to extend their collaboration to include a commitment to legal aid to
Alicia Hernandez is the director of the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program and the DBA director of community services. She can be reached at ahernandez@dallasbar.org.
the poor. “Government funding for legal aid continues to drop while the need for pro bono grows. The poor in our community are counting on lawyers like us to keep access to justice alive,” said Ms. Blue Baron of Baron and Blue. And Ms. Blue Baron is right. The downward economic cycle that plagues us all has
resulted in significant decreases in funding for legal aid to the poor while the poverty population explodes. Federal funding for legal aid was cut last year and additional cuts loom on the horizon while Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts’ funding and other resources spiral downward. U.S. Census figures released on September 13
The Need for Legal Aid is Greater Than Ever Before by Alicia Hernandez
Funding for legal aid to the poor is yet another victim of the ongoing economic struggles facing our world, and these struggles are worsened by the long-standing debate over whether funding for legal services should even exist. For nearly a century, legal aid programs were funded by private donations until federal funding for legal aid was created in the 1960s. These early roots of federal funding for legal aid to the poor evolved into the federally funded, nonprofit organization, the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), which was created in 1974. Under its leadership, legal aid programs expanded, and
legal aid services to the poor increased. Today, funding from the Legal Services Corporation provides a considerable amount of funding for 900 legal aid and pro bono programs throughout the country. In the 1980s, LSC-funded legal aid programs were required to add formal pro bono programs, like the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program, to increase the amount of free legal help available to the poor with the assistance of volunteer attorneys. State-based funding for legal aid was also developed, including funding from Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA) such as the one administered by the Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation. Many dedicated volunteer attorneys and donors have championed
the cause of legal aid to the poor over the years, but, despite this support and dedication, federal funding for legal services has been fraught with controversy throughout its history. Federal funding for legal aid has never been substantial enough to meet the need for legal help. The limited amount of federal funding available, and the much larger concept of access to justice, has typically been tied to the congressional support or lack thereof for legal aid. It has been a hot button topic in congressional circles over the years, and increases and decreases to the bottom line for legal aid programs have resulted in a yo-yo, “now you see it, continued on Page 12
Inside 7 Be Careful On Break: Privilege and the Deposition Recess 9 Making it Stick: Six Tips for a Better Settlement Agreement 13 Navigating Insurance Coverage Issues: What You Need to Know