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2009 – A Year of Challenges, Opportunities and Successes
 2010 will mark the 40th anniversary of Memphis Area Legal Services, Inc. as a partner in the quest for equal access and justice for all!
Reflecting on our journey through 2009 will set the stage for our work and activities for 2010. It was a year in which the recessed economy left many of our neighbors in a world of economic hurt. It was a year in which the unemployment rate was the worst in a quarter of a century, when people not only lost their jobs, but also lost their homes. Foreclosures hit record highs in 2009 and predictions for the first half of 2010 don’t paint a brighter picture in the near future for the people of Memphis and Shelby County, Tipton, Fayette and Lauderdale counties.
But all is not bleak at MALS. 2009 brought some great and memorable highlights. Fortunately, that best-of-times list is longer than the worst of times.
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2010 ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
See 2009 Article Highlights
See 2008 Article Highlights
Hundreds of senior citizens received free legal advice Tuesday during a special clinic in Orange Mound. Volunteers with Memphis Area Legal Services held the special event at the Orange Mound Community Center. "I'm here today about my wishes in the event of my death," attendee Billie Winding said. Some seniors, like Winding, needed help making out a will, while others got advice on getting a power of attorney. Still others were interested in setting up an advanced care plan - a document that spells out exactly what they would want doctors and relatives to do if they were unable to make those decisions for themselves. Read More
Memphis Mayor A C Wharton and two Memphis-based bankruptcy judges are among
the witnesses scheduled to testify when a U.S. House Judiciary subcommittee holds a
field hearing Monday Downtown. A third panel, expected to testify about the home foreclosure situation in Memphis from a academic perspective, includes professor Phyllis Betts of the University of Memphis school of urban affairs and public policy; Sapna Raj of Memphis Area Legal Services; Beverly Anderson of the Community Development Council of Greater Memphis; Steve Lockwood of the Frayser Community Development Corporation; and Scott Bernstein of the Center for Neighborhood Technology. Read More
Most of us live in a cocoon of self-importance — or, to put that more gently, self-absorption. And the latter condition is getting to be downright universal, as economic conditions and changes in the world make the business of hanging in there ever more tenuous. Which is one among many reasons that the visit to Our Town this week of Carolyn Lamm, the newly installed president of the American Bar Association (A.B.A.), was so welcome. One of Lamm's missions was to ring the bell on behalf of Memphis Area Legal Services, an agency which exists for the sole purpose of providing access to the legal system — and to justice itself — for low-income citizens who otherwise would be unprotected and at the mercy of events or predators or exploiters. Read More
The president of the American Bar Association says there are “tremendous” ethical implications for the globalization of law practices. Carolyn Lamm spoke this week at the Memphis Rotary Club in what has been an annual ritual for whoever becomes head of the national association. While in the city, Lamm talked with leaders of Memphis Area Legal Services and met with Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. Lamm said there is a growing gap in terms of legal representation for the poor. Read More
Surviving on $606 a month in Social Security disability payments, Tanya Sims owes thousands of dollars to credit card companies and has three payday loans totaling $980, all more than two years old, that she can't pay off. Nine others joined her at the session, part of a MALS-Memphis Bar Association program to provide free bankruptcy legal services for Chapter 7 filings to people who can't afford the lawyers' fees. Read More
A toll-free legal assistance line will be available starting tomorrow at 9 a.m. for victims of recent storms and flooding in the 30 counties that to date have been designated as federal disaster areas. The service, which allows callers to request the assistance of a lawyer, is a partnership between the Tennessee Bar Association, local bar associations and legal organizations in the state. Read More
Ordinarily, Martin, Tate, Morrow & Marston PC attorney Paul Morris would have stepped down in 2010 as president of Memphis Area Legal Services Inc., but he felt compelled to stay for MALS’ 40th anniversary – and the opportunity it presents to promote the cause. “It’s not just a celebration,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to remind the community about the need for justice under the law.” In addition to organizing a celebration this fall, Morris hopes to raise money for more staff attorneys. Because MALS has a limited staff, it has to turn away two out of three eligible people who ask for help. Read More
The Internal Revenue Service has awarded nearly $10 million in matching grants to Low Income Taxpayer Clinics, including over $184,000 to three organizations in Tennessee: Legal Aid Society of Middle Tenn. and The Cumberlands, based in Oak Ridge, Memphis Area Legal Services , Inc., and Conexion Americas in Nashville. LITCs are organizations that represent low-income taxpayers in federal tax controversies with the IRS for free or for a nominal charge, provide tax education and outreach for taxpayers who speak English as a second language, or both. Read More
In my hometown, the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago operates a Home Ownership Preservation Project to handle foreclosure actions, and its intake telephone lines usually shut down in early afternoon on Mondays—for the week. Because of limited staff resources and the complexity of the cases, the foreclosure project staff can only handle 50 such cases per week. With the continuing foreclosure crisis, our challenge is large. I understand that Harrison D. McIver III, executive director of Memphis Area Legal Services, appeared before the Subcommittee last October and clearly laid out the need in Tennessee. Mr. McIver reported that he has seen an increase in the poverty population served by his program and that requests for legal services are on the increase. Read More
The working poor often learn that finding helpful services is only half of the battle, but a nonprofit organization is working to make the connections happen faster. Seedco, a nonprofit based in New York, expanded its capacity to connect disadvantaged families to the services they need in Memphis through a database called EarnBenefits. EarnBenefits is available through Memphis Area Legal Services, Porter-Leath, the Exchange Club Family Center, Christ Community Health Services, and Tennessee Community Services Agency. Read More
Tax time means big business. The Consumer Federation of America says we lost about $800 million in 2008 to "quickie tax refund loans." The IRS plans to regulate the tax preparation industry, but those rules aren't expected to be enforced until next tax season. In the meantime, one consumer advocate wants you to take precautions with the money you're entitled to from the IRS. Memphis Area Legal Services Attorney Frank Cantrell warns, you'll pay for that instant cash with a "Refund Anticipation Loan." Read More
Diana Comes, a student at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphries School of Law, will be honored with the state's top award for law student pro bono work at the Tennessee Bar Association's annual public service luncheon this Saturday. Held each year as part of the association's Leadership Conference, the luncheon features award winners in several categories and a keynote address by former ABA President Robert Grey. Comes receives the Law Student Volunteer of the Year Award for her outstanding work last summer with Memphis Area Legal Services (MALS). Read More
See 2009 Article Highlights
See 2008 Article Highlights
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