Course Description Amendment: Law Firm Management
The second half of the course will meet February 6, 13 and 20, 2009. It will cover the non-profit practice of law from the perspective of a legal services organization. It will include the federal statutory and regulatory restrictions for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) and the interplay between that statute and the Violence Against Women’s Act (VAWA). It will compare this to the reality of practice in a legal services organization, including written policies, case protocols, eligibility limits and restricted activities.
The course will also compare federal frameworks for Medicaid, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Social Security and other programs to the case law actually practiced in a legal services setting. If time allows, similar statutory authority and casework will be covered for practice in a Protection and Advocacy setting will be discussed. The class will provide a basis to compare the private practice of law to the non-profit practice of law, and to encourage representation of low-income clients by all future practitioners.
Syllabus:
The second half of the course will meet February 6, 13 and 20, 2009. It will cover the non-profit practice of law from the perspective of a legal services organization. It will start by analyzing the federal statutory and regulatory restrictions for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), the interplay between that statute and the Violence Against Women’s Act (VAWA) including the history of restrictions for serving undocumented immigrants who are victims of crime, including domestic violence.
The course will then compare this federal framework for legal services to the reality of representing clients in a non-profit law office. This will include the policies and case protocols for Colorado Legal Services and Boulder County Legal Services. It will also consider the actual casework than can be provided, the restricted activities that cannot be provided and how that has changed over the years.
Finally, it will compare the federal statutory and regulatory basis for the areas of law practiced in a legal services office to reported cases completed by legal services. This will include Medicaid, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Social Security, Food Stamps and other benefits, and will include enforcement of federal rights to these programs pursuant to 42 USC §1983.
If time allows, the course will also cover the federal authority and casework by Protection and Advocacy organizations, including The Legal Center for People with Disabilities and Older People. This could include the federal Protection and Advocacy for People with Developmental Disabilities, Protection and Advocacy for People with Mental Illness and Assistive Technology programs.