Legal Aid of North Carolina

Meeting Minutes - LANC Board of Directors
September 14, 2007

Site/Location: Durham Marriott at the Civic Center
                      Durham, NC

Call to Order and Welcome

Chairman Glenn Barfield called the meeting to order at 9:40 a.m.  to discuss Board committees, committee assignments and committee structure.  The Board will address its agenda items after the committee discussion.

Traditionally, the LANC Board committee structure has had approximately five or six standing committees through which the Board’s work is generally done.  The committees consider specific issues presented by staff or board members and present recommendations to the full Board as needed.  Each committee has approximately eight or nine members, who primarily meet by conference call and operate on a quorum basis. Reports for each committee are presented at the Board meetings.  The most active committees are the finance committee, which handles the budget issues; the operations committee, which reviews the delivery of legal services to the clients; and the personnel committee, which addresses employment and related personnel issues. 

Chairman Barfield revised the standing committees as follows: Operations Committee will address the delivery of legal services as well as personnel issues; Finance Committee will review budgetary matters; Strategic Planning will develop a five to ten year long range plan for increasing funding and expanding client services; Nominating Committee will nominate individuals to serve on the Board and a new Private Attorney Involvement Committee will address how to increase private attorney participation in the delivery of services to clients.   The remaining standing committees, such as Grievance and Client Affairs, will be constituted on an as needed basis. Chairman Barfield announced that Reid “Cal” Adams will chair the Strategic Planning Committee.   Board members were asked to contact the Chair regarding the committee assignments.

Chairman Barfield called the regular public business meeting to order at 10:35 a.m. and welcomed all in attendance.    

Members Present

Members Absent With Prior Notification

Approval of Minutes

Chairman Barfield directed the Board’s attention to the minutes of June 15, 2007.  Following review and discussion of the minutes, the minutes with corrections as attached were approved.   A motion was made, duly seconded, and the minutes with corrections noted were UNAMANIMOUSLY APPROVED. 

Chairman’s Report

Chairman Barfield attended the NCBA Annual Meeting in Asheville in June and gave a report to the Board of Governors.  At that meeting, Attorney Charlie Dixon from Hickory, North Carolina gave LANC a gift of $100,000 to kick off the newly established NCBA Foundation LANC Endowment fund.   He further reported that Janet Ward Black was elected President of the NCBA, and that she is committed to enhancing the private attorney involvement through the “4All Commission” and the NCBA.  Chairman Barfield stated that he will work with Mrs. Ward Black and the 4All Commission on this mission.  Also, he recognized and congratulated Charles Becton, the newly elected President-Elect of the NCBA who was in attendance.

Recently, LANC staff presented a day long orientation for the new LANC Board members, that was well attended. Chairman expects that the new members bring a myriad of talents to the Board and will be very active.

Chairman Barfield attended a meeting of the Chief Justice’s Equal Access to Justice Commission and recognized Cal Adams to report on the Commission’s work.   Mr. Adams reported that the Equal Access to Justice Commission was formed by former Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake in November of 2005 to ensure that access to justice is provided to all indigent persons who live in North Carolina.  The Commission meets quarterly and its members are representative of legal services organizations in the state. The Commission is hosting a summit on October 12 in Cary to discuss how to improve legal services to the poor.  Approximately 200 people are expected to attend the event, which will include lunch, a keynote speaker and breakout sessions with presentations on the needs in the legal services community.

North Carolina Bar Association (NCBA) Report

Chairman Barfield asked Alan Head, Executive Director of the NCBA, to report on the NCBA.  Mr. Head reported that the NCBA is working closely with LANC and other legal services organizations.  NCBA President Janet Ward Black, has initiated the “4ALL” campaign, which has four components, educate (NCBA membership will inform its attorneys about poverty issues); legislate (a grassroots lobbying efforts will solicit the continued support of legislators for legal services); donate (NCBA members will support LANC by giving to the NC Bar Foundation’s endowment) and participate (NCBA membership will be encouraged to provide more pro bono services)  On April 4, 2008 a statewide Public Service Day will take place and feature a call in event for persons to discuss legal questions with lawyers).  Further, a video, “Waiting for Justice” will be shown at each NCBA CLE held this year to educate attorneys about the poverty issues facing low income individuals living in North Carolina.   

President’s Report

George Hausen reported that LANC is in the process of moving the Centralized Intake Unit because it has outgrown its space on Dawson Street, Raleigh. The Centralized Intake Unit continues to expand its services providing intake using a toll free number and he expects that this service will be in place for all LANC office by the end of 2008.  The structure of LANC has changed and has gradually become a highly integrated law firm, with approximately 150 lawyers if you include CIU part-time attorneys.

Mr. Hausen reported that the NC General Assembly increased LANC’s funding by approximately one million by increasing court fees and fines.   Increased funding has allowed LANC to raise attorneys starting salaries to $39,000 which translates into a 50% increase in the last five years.

Mr. Hausen directed the board’s attention to page 28 in the board book to an annual grant to LANC from the City of Raleigh.  Following discussion, it was moved, duly seconded and UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED to accept the grant from the City of Raleigh as it appears in the board book.

Celia Pistolis was asked to report on compliance issues and priorities.   Priorities are set and reviewed annually by the LANC Board.  The Board determines how resources are used in terms of staff and funding.  The Board also determines the types of cases to be handled, such as housing, family law, domestic violence, and consumer.  The field offices through its local advisory councils determine the case acceptance criteria for each office.  Locally they decide which types of case within those broad areas will be handled at the field level.  Three surveys were conducted of clients, judges, and the private bar.  Information from these surveys will assist the Board in setting the priorities.  Generally, the operations committee will recommend priorities for full consideration by the Board at its next meeting.  

Ms. Pistolis presented the annually Equal Employment Opportunity Report provided as a handout to the Board.  The report reflects that LANC staff is becoming more diverse. Also, Ms. Pistolis asked the Board to review the Local Advisory Reports found on pages 40-51.

Mr. Hausen reported that Legal Aid of North Carolina is now the sole provider of legal services in the Winston-Salem area.  He stated that Legal Aid Society employees have been hired by LANC, allowing us to create the largest Legal Aid office in the organization.   Hazel Mack-Hilliard was promoted and is now the Regional Manager for the Triad. Janet McAuley-Blue was recently named and has assumed the duties of Managing Attorney in the Greensboro office. 

Legislative Update

Bill Rowe from the NC Justice Center presented highlights from the 2007 legislative session.  Some of the highlights included a tax break for working families, increased access to health care, improved educational opportunities, fiscal improvements for counties, foreclosure prevention, and migrant housing improvements.  He also reported on the approved budget and its effects on housing, workforce issues, consumer rights and protections, access to health care for children and adults, tax fairness, public education, access to the courts, ethics and election reforms, community development and immigration issues.

Access to Justice Campaign

AP Carlton, Willis Whichard and Dennis Dorgan presented the Access to Justice Campaign report.    Mr. Carlton reported that he and Justice Willis Whichard are co-chairs of the 30 member Triangle Committee, which consists of four subcommittees, Cy Pres, Law Firms, Individual Attorneys, and Corporate Development.  The target of the Triangle Access to Justice Campaign is to raise $1 million over a three year period. He explained that two videos, a lawyer version and a corporate version, were produced by LANC to be used for educating the public and especially legal professionals about the need for funding and severity of poverty in the state of North Carolina.  The campaign will observe the United Way blackout dates. 

Dennis Dorgan reported on the Triad Access to Justice Campaign. Andrew Spainhour is doing an outstanding job leading the effort in the Triad.  He further reported that the leadership in the Triangle and Triad has demonstrated a tremendous amount of dedication and commitment to the campaign, and that an environment is being created to make people want to give and be supportive of the fundraising efforts.  Mr. Dorgan stated that there has been some press that has come from the efforts of the leadership and it members who are working hard to achieve the goals of the campaign.   

NCLEAP

Milan Pham from NC LEAP gave an overview of the NC LEAP program and its benefits to Legal Aid and legal professionals.   She shared handouts with information regarding eligibility guidelines for the program.

Client Council Report

Willis Williams gave the Clients Council report.  He reported that the client council is planning its next meeting in Little Rock Arkansas in conjunction with the Region IV Conference which coincides with the anniversary of the desegregation of Little Rock schools.  Also, the Clients Council is co-hosting with the UNC Center on Civil Rights, an event to discuss “excluded communities.” This event will be held in Greenville on October 6 and all are invited to attend.  

Cedar Grove Institute Report

Ann Joyner of Cedar Grove Institute shared a PowerPoint presentation “Using GIS and Public Data to Fight Institutionalized Discrimination.”

Adjournment

As there was no further business before the Board, Chair Barfield adjourned the meeting at 12:50 p.m.

___________________________

Phillip Leigh, Secretary
LANC Board of Directors