Houston Bar Association Equal Access Initiative Increases Legal Services To Low-Income Houstonians

By Tara Shockley

When Glenn Ballard became president of the Houston Bar Association last year, he knew that the focus he chose for his administration was one of the most ambitious in many years. Ballard wanted to make a direct impact on the provision of legal services to the poor in Harris County. He wanted to see a big increase in the number of lawyers handling pro bono cases through the HBA’s Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program. He wanted to increase the number of people helped by at least 25 percent. And, he wanted to effect permanent change in the culture of the legal community, so that contributing pro bono legal services became an expected part of a lawyer’s practice.
A mountain climber and marathon runner, Ballard knew he faced his biggest uphill trek. Like any good athlete, he relied on the most important tenet of winning: teamwork.
Ballard created the Equal Access to Justice Initiative. The program’s goal was to increase the number of cases handled through the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program by 25 percent – from 1,000 to 1,250 this first bar year – and to continue to increase each year. To accomplish that goal, he obtained the support of the boards of directors of the Houston Bar Association, the Houston Bar Foundation and the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program. He put together teams comprised of members of all three boards, and charged them with identifying, recruiting and committing law firms of all sizes, corporate law departments and individuals to handle specific numbers of pro bono cases each year, for five years.
“We hoped to get five year commitments from them, and hopefully, they would take more cases than they had ever handled before,” said Ballard. “The program would be self-perpetuating as a result of their commitments. It’s the program that keeps on giving.”
The case commitments range from 50 cases per year for large firms to three cases per year for boutique firms and one case for individuals. Once a firm or corporation signs a commitment form, the volunteer coordinator at the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program works with a designated pro bono coordinator in each office to make sure cases are assigned and completed.
In July 2006, letters went out to all managing partners of Houston law firms and corporations, signed by members of the HBA, HBF and HVLP boards. The letters outlined the need for more legal services and explained the Equal Access Initiative. The teams then began the intense business of following up with their assigned contacts by making personal phone calls and visits.
Ballard appeared on several public affairs television shows and on radio shows to talk about the great need for legal services in Harris County and to outline the bar’s new effort. The entire front page of the July Houston Bar Bulletin was devoted to announcing the initiative, with supporting quotes from Texas Supreme Court Justice Harriet O’Neill, Texas Access to Justice Commission Chair James B. Sales, and HVLP Chair Peggy Montgomery of ExxonMobil Corporation.
Mid-way through the bar year, recruiting got a boost when Justice O’Neill wrote a letter of support for the program, and the HBA sent it to law firms and corporations that had not yet committed. “Justice O’Neill’s contribution to the program was of vital importance,” said Ballard. “Indeed, the entire program was a response to the aspirational challenge issued by the Supreme Court of Texas back in March of 2006, asking each Texas lawyer to devote at least 50 hours of his or her time to pro bono work.”
To date, 87 law firms, corporations and individuals have signed commitment forms and become “Equal Access Champions.” They are recognized in each HBA publication, as well as on the homepage of the Web site and on displays in the HBA office. Each champion also receives a plaque for permanent display, recognizing their organization’s participation.
The repeated, highly visible recognition of Equal Access Champions has brought the issue into the forefront of the legal community. A number of firms that did not previously participate in organized pro bono programs through HVLP have now become involved and are accepting cases. The initiative also galvanized participation by a number of corporate legal departments.
Twenty law firms, corporations and individuals have gone far beyond their original commitment by accepting more than twice the number of cases to which they committed for the year. They were recognized at the HBA’s Annual Dinner Meeting in May as “Equal Access Grand Champions.”
“With the help of our Grand Champions and all of the Equal Access Champions, we will handle approximately 1,400 cases this year, which is actually a 40 percent increase over last year and an all-time record,” said Ballard. “The program seems to be having its intended result.”
For more information and a list of Equal Access Champions, visit the HBA Web site, www.hba.org.

Tara Shockley is the communications director for the Houston Bar Association.

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