Around the Bar

AROUND THE BAR By: Mark Stephens

Executive Director, The Justice Initiative

THE JUSTICE INITIATIVE’S HOLISTIC LEGAL INCUBATOR

I think we would all agree that the transition from law student to practicing attorney is significant. For me - and probably many like me - the transition was difficult. Fortunately, I had caring mentors to guide and advise me in my professional development. Lawyers such as Bob Ritchie, Ray Cate, Doug Trant and Don Coffey (and others) all generously gave of their time and talent to help me mature in the practice of law. This past April marked my forty-first year of practice. I’m thankful for what the profession has offered me, and I frequently find myself thinking of those four men and wonder how different my career might have been had they not taken an interest in my professional development.

A few years ago, I was introduced to the concept of a legal incubator. The concept is a short (eighteen to twenty-four month) program that allows newly licensed attorneys who want to start their own practice to do so while learning from - and being mentored by - colleagues. I started a 501(c)(3) - The Justice Initiative - and applied for a grant from the Tennessee Bar Foundation to begin what we call the Holistic Legal Incubator (HLI). In short, the idea was to provide new lawyers with this opportunity while at the same time attempt to replicate and incorporate the successful representation model practiced at the Community Law Office (client-centered, holistic representation) in a private practice setting.

While many are familiar with the concepts of client-centered, holistic representation, for those who aren’t, “client-centered representation,” in short, refers to the power, ability and right of the client to decide what direction s/he wants to take in their case once given the information s/he needs. It means that the lawyer attempts to understand the client’s situation from the client’s perspective, respecting the client’s right to choose the course to pursue. “Holistic representation” embodies the belief that addressing only a client’s criminal behavior, and not the consequences of poverty and other risk factors that lead to criminal activity, is shortsighted. Holistic representation can be characterized as an ecological perspective, recognizing the interaction of legal representation with factors ranging from individual conditions to socio-economic structure and environmental circumstances.

Holistic representation includes, at a minimum, lawyers partnering with social service providers (social workers) to address both the legal issues confronting the client, as well as those ‘other’ factors that serve as barriers to the client’s functioning in the community and achieving life goals. Social work differs from other helping professions in the fact that it utilizes a person-in-environment approach to practice. This means that social workers look at a person in their environmental context, encompassing all the different structures and systems enacting on an individual’s life- whether that be family systems, community structures or governmental systems and policies. Social Work practice requires knowledge of human development and behavior; social, economic, and cultural institutions; and how all these factors intersect with one another to contribute to a client’s life circumstances. Therefore, social workers are imperative to implementing a holistic, clientcentered approach.

Using a client-centered approach, the individual’s legal problems, as well as personal and environmental issues, are addressed, a plan of action is developed, and together the client and his legal team begin the process of implementing the plan for change. In the criminal defense context, a client-centered, holistic model of representation, combining quality legal representation and comprehensive social services, has been shown to reduce criminal activity and recidivism by offering individuals solutions to debilitating problems in clients’ lives.

Greyson Dulaney, a master’s level social worker, serves as the program director for the HLI. In addition, the HLI has both masters and bachelor level students working with participating attorneys providing the ecological perspective to the client’s case.

The Holistic Legal Incubator operates out of what I refer to as The Ritchie Building at 606 W. Main Street, Suite 100. The HLI provides new lawyers an opportunity to establish a practice while learning from practicing attorneys, marketing professionals, tax practitioners, judges, social workers, bankers, investment and insurance counselors, and more through weekly conversations. If you have volunteered for one (or more) of these sessions, thank you. And thank you to the Tennessee Bar Foundation for the generous grant that allows us to operate this program. If you would like to get involved in this program, feel free to call me (865-224-8111) or Greyson (865-309-5571). We start a new cohort every September.

If you are a newly licensed attorney in Knoxville and would like to know more about HLI, feel free to call me or Greyson - or feel free to stop by the office - and we’ll be glad to talk with you.