Community Legal Center Changes at Community Legal Center

CHANGES AT COMMUNITY LEGAL CENTER

By DIANA M. COMES, ESQ.

As I write this, it's 8:00 in the morning and quiet in the Community Legal Center's office on Adams Ave. Soon, our space will be filled with attorneys, clients, and other staff. Phones will be ringing, clients will be consulting with attorneys and paralegals, and attorneys will be attending court over Zoom. The office will come alive with the busy work of helping our community solve their legal problems. But for now, it's quiet, and I have some time to reflect.

Today marks 100 days since I joined the Community Legal Center as its Executive Director, having left my position as a partner with Butler Snow LLP in June 2021. Things look very different for the CLC than they did back in the spring of 2009, when I was a law student volunteer answering phones and handling intake. We've moved out of a corner of the MIFA building into our own beautiful, light-filled space Downtown, we've more than doubled our staff, and we've entered into formed dozens of successful new partnerships and programs. The credit for this incredible transformation goes to our previous Executive Director, Anne Mathes, who led this organization for 6 six years, followed by the capable leadership of Interim Executive Director Jerri Green. I'm indebted to all of their work.

When friends and colleagues ask me how my new gig is going, I tell them I love it. My days are full of meetings with community partners and stakeholders, brainstorming with our staff on new initiatives, and seeking and reporting on grants to keep our office humming. I get to support an incredible group of people, all of whom care deeply about the work we do for working families and individuals in Memphis. Every day is a privilege.

Like other law firms, we have overcome our share of obstacles during the global pandemic. We now consult with clients remotely, conduct necessary in-person meetings in masks, and Zoom into some courts while waiting for them to re-open in person. But our staff have never wavered in their commitment to delivering access to justice for all. As of this writing, in 2021 alone, we have fielded 3,680 calls for help and assisted helped 1,346 individuals. Our Civil and Pro Se attorneys have helped 59 clients obtain divorces in that time and are also kept busy with clients who face eviction, landlord disputes, and housing scams. Our Elder Law attorney has accepted 18 referrals from the Coordinated Response to Elder Abuse coalition, helping those families protect and remove their loved ones from abusive situations. Our Immigrant Justice Program has seen a dramatic uptick in need, as refugees (including some coming from Afghanistan that we expect to arrive soon) seek our assistance and sponsors of unaccompanied minors are fingerprinted. In fact, the demand for fingerprinting sponsors is so great that we recently added a staffer to provide this service on nights and weekends.

I'm also very lucky to have an incredible board of directors and leadership team. In July, we added four

new board members: Liz McKee, Director of Internal Communications for Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz; Mary Morris, professor of legal writing at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law; Van Turner, attorney and Shelby County Commissioner; and Danielle Woods, attorney with Bourland Heflin Alvarez Minor & Matthews. These four impressive and accomplished individuals join our board from different sectors and bring new perspectives and energy to our work. Rounding out the CLC's new leadership team is our Associate Executive Director, Gortria Banks, who served for more than 30 years with the Shelby County General Sessions Court Clerk's Office, and our Director of Development and Communication, Jonathan Ealy, who served for over a decade in development with Opera Memphis. All of us are looking forward to advancing the CLC's mission and expanding its reach.

Although this is a challenging time for the legal profession and our clients, it is an exciting time for the CLC. We are working on new ways to serve our clients safely as the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus continues to spread in our community. We are exploring new partnerships to reach more clients who need our help. We are connecting with our donors to show them the tremendous impact that their financial support makes. And we are working on innovative fundraising ideas in the absence of large in-person gatherings.

We cannot do this alone. We are profoundly grateful for all of the help from the legal community that we receive, be it attending our virtual events, volunteering with us in-office, providing pro bono legal assistance, or making a donation. If you are interested in getting involved in any of these ways, please contact us at 901543-3395.

As I write this, COVID-19 case counts are slowly decreasing from late-summer highs. And drugmaker Pfizer has announced that its vaccine appears to work well in children ages 5-11. We are not out of the woods yet, but I remain hopeful that we will eventually emerge from the depths of the pandemic. The CLC has not gone anywhere, and we continue to serve those who are essential workers and never stopped serving our community. We remain steadfast in our mission to provide quality legal care for the thousands of people in Shelby County who would otherwise go unrepresented. I invite you to join in our mission. 

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