Meeting Minutes - LANC Board of Directors
December 4, 2009
Site/Location: NC Bar Center, Cary, NC
Call to Order and Welcome
Chair Lisa Morgan called the meeting to order at
10:45 a.m. and welcomed all in attendance.
Members Present
|
Glenn Barfield
|
Samuel Johnson
|
Kris Shepard
|
|
Thomas Berkau
|
Shirley Jones
|
Paul Shepard
|
|
Sue Perry Cole
|
Phillip Leigh
|
Jim Talley
|
|
Helen Cook
|
Lisa Morgan
|
Alice Tejada
|
|
Lee Crouch
|
Ray Owens
|
Diana Williams-Cotton
|
|
Celeste Harris
|
Alan Parry
|
Kyle Woosley
|
Members Absent With Prior Notification
|
Sharon Greig
|
Greg McDougal
|
Ellen Sheppard
|
|
Charles Holton
|
Dellarene Myers
|
Mary Ann Tally
|
|
Nellie Kearney
|
Eugene Pridgen
|
|
Approval of Minutes
Chair Morgan directed the Board’s attention to the Board of
Directors general business meeting minutes of December 4, 2009.
Following review and discussion of the minutes, a motion was made,
duly seconded, and the minutes were UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED, as
written.
Chairman’s Report
Chair Morgan recognized Allan Head, Executive
Director of the
North Carolina Bar Association, who gave a warm welcome to the
Board and provided a brief history of the relationship between the
NC Bar Association and Legal Aid of North Carolina.
Chair Morgan encouraged all members of the Board to participate and
donate to the
Access to Justice Campaign, currently underway.
Evelyn Pursley, Executive Director of
IOLTA, reported on the status of the program. She
stated that IOLTA has had its funds reduced as a result of low
interest rates and the economy in general. The situation has
continued to the present and does not expect to improve anytime soon
this year. When reviewing grant requests for 2010, the IOLTA
Board made some very difficult decisions, choosing not to fund any
new programs in 2010. Funding was reduced by approximately 20%
to its remaining grantees. Greater reductions were not
necessary a that time because the Board dipped into its reserve.
Michelle Cofield, Director of Pro Bono Activities
for the NC Bar Association, reported that
4ALL was very
successful this year. She thanked all participants who
contributed adding a special thank you to Celia Pistolis, Assistant
Director of Advocacy and Compliance for LANC, for providing the
manual that the attorneys used during the campaign.
Jennifer Lechner, Executive Director of the
NC
Equal Justice Commission, was recognized to report on the
Commission's activities. The purpose of the Commission is to
coordinate the delivery of legal services and policy issues around
the state. The Commission members are actively participating
in various committees including, fundraising from the community and
pro bono initiatives to increase participation with the larger law
firms.
Chair Morgan announced the passing of Willie Dawson,
the founder and Executive Director of Pamlico Sound Legal Services
and a recent member of the LANC Board of Directors. She
recognized George Hausen who recommended that the LANC Board adopt
the resolution shown on Page 9 of the board book. Following
discussion it was moved duly seconded and
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED to adopt the
resolution recognizing the significant contributions that
Willie Dawson made to the Legal Services community
and low income persons in North Carolina. Mr. Hausen
announced that a fellowship to be named in honor of Willie was being
considered for the New Bern office.
Chair Morgan recognized Bill Rowe from the
NC Justice
Center, to give a legislative report. Mr. Rowe reported
that the legislative short session is scheduled to start in May and
the General Assembly will face significant challenges about how to
fund even basic programs due to a lack of money in the state budget.
In spite of that, there will be efforts to address increased funding
for legal services specially in the area of foreclosure prevention.
The NC Justice Center will focus on the following legislative
issues: enacting an appointment of counsel in civil cases, adding
more consumer protections amending NC Annexation Laws for low wealth
communities, expanding reentry for people with criminal records, and
increasing job opportunities in our state.
President Report
George Hausen, Executive Director of LANC,
presented a summary including 2009 case data and outcomes that
showed LANC is improving the lives of its clients. As part of
his report, he asked LANC staff to report on technology and two
statewide projects, Advocates for Children Services and Mortgage
Foreclosure Project.
Mark Arnold, LANC’s Director of Information
Technology, discussed LANC's current technology systems and its
efforts to expand these systems in order to improve the firm's
efficiencies. His visual presentation provided useful information to
the Board.
Lewis Pitts,
Director of Advocates for Children’s Services, reported that his
small staff was providing legal representation to children facing
education, benefits and foster care placement issues. In
addition to its ongoing cases, ACS is co-counseling two school
suspension cases from Beaufort County with the Education Clinic at
Duke Law School. These cases were recently argued before the
NC Supreme Court on the issue of whether a suspended student can be
completely denied her fundamental right to education without the
school system providing a compelling reasons to do so. The
court is expected to issue its ruling on these cases sometime in
2010.
Hazel Mack, Regional Manager of the Triad and
Consumer Practice Group Manager, reported on the mortgage
foreclosure crisis that exists in North Carolina and the LANC
response by developing a
Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention Project. The MFP includes a team
of attorneys with expertise in handling foreclosures, who review all
foreclosure cases across the state, and provide assistance to LANC
attorneys on how to prevent the foreclosure of the home. They
work on negotiating affordable loan modifications in many of these
cases. Currently, LANC has approximately 864 open mortgage
foreclosure cases.
On January 4, 2010, LANC in conjunction with the City of Raleigh's
Fair Housing Hearing Board broadcast a half hour call-in show on
Fair Housing through WAUG, a local radio station. That show
was so successful, the station offered a weekly, morning half hour
time slot (8:00 -8:30) to address housing and other issues affection
the local community.
Client Affairs/Clients Council
Phillip Leigh, Chair of the LANC Clients
Council, reported that the Clients Council is working on engaging
clients in the census and working on a re-entry program with Blue
Print North Carolina, a coalition of non-profits dedicated to
improving North Carolina.
Committee Reports
Nominating/Board Development Committee
Sue Perry Cole, Chair of the Board Development
Committee, reported that the following attorney members are eligible
for reappointment to the Board of Directors: Charles Holton, Tom
Berkau, Kyle Woosley, Kris Shepard, Alice Tejada, Celeste Harris,
and Sue Perry Cole. All have agreed to serve a second term.
Glenn Barfield's term on the Board is ending and the NC Bar
Association will need to suggest a representative from its
organization to serve. A letter has been sent to the NC Bar
Association soliciting a nominee to fill that seat.
The IOLTA Board has been notified that James Talley's term will
expire and will most likely reappoint Mr. Talley to continue to
serve as its representative.
Ms. Perry Cole reported that two client members are eligible for
reappointment, Sharon Greig and Shirley Jones. The Client
Council has suggested Peggy Ewart, who is LSC eligible, for
appointment to complete the one-year term for a statewide client
representative that came open when Mary Flowers passed away.
This term will end June of 2011.
PAI and Pro BonoCommittee
Glenn Barfield reported that the PAI survey results
are being tallied and will be distribute in the near future.
The committee continues to explore how to increase pro bono
opportunities and to encourage NC attorneys to participate in pro
bono activities. Mr. Barfield announced that he will continue
to work with the PAI committee after his term expires on the Board.
Operations and Personnel Committee
Celeste Harris, Chair of the Operations and
Personnel Committee, recognized Paul Shepard for his pro bono work
and his receipt of the Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award in
Forsyth County.
Ms. Harris directed the Board’s attention to the proposed revisions
to the LANC policies on Family and Medical Leave found on page 31 of
the board notebook. She stated that the committee had met
discussed the proposed revisions and unanimously recommended to ask
the LANC Board to adopt the same. Following discussion it was
moved, duly seconded and UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED to adopt the revisions
to the personnel policies as recommended by the Operations and
Personnel Committee.
Ms. Harris reported that the Local Advisory Subcommittee had met and
are reviewing revisions to the guidelines to the local advisory
councils in order to improve their role locally. There are annual
LAC reports in the board book for informational purposes only.
Resource Development Committee
Paul Shepard, Chair of the Resource Development
Committee, reported that the committee had met numerous times and
discussed the development of a committee charter, succession and
leadership planning. There are 30 or more senior staff
attorneys who are 60 plus in years and who could possibly retire.
The Committee is exploring options to retain and utilize this core
of expertise while allowing younger staff opportunities to advance
within the organization.
Mr. Hausen reported that the Access to Justice Campaign has shown a
70% increase in donations since last year. He recognized Janeen
Gingrich for a job well done.
Finance Committee
Tom Berkau, Chair of the Finance Committee,
reported that due to economic conditions and uncertainty about
continued funding in 2009, LANC was forced to make tough financial
decisions that included not making a contribution to the LANC 401(k)
plan for the 2008 plan year. For the following 2009 plan year,
LANC made its customary contribution. Due to a 10% increase in
funding from LSC, LANC made an additional contribution to the plan
in an amount equal to the contribution that had been withheld for
the 2008 plan year. Self insured medical is doing well and
those expenditures are within budget. A possible one-year VOCA
increase is anticipated, which support our domestic violence work.
LANC has other grants outstanding and hopes to learn whether those
will be funded mid-year.
New Business
Mr. Hausen suggested the creation of an audit committee whose
purpose would be to sign the engagement letter hiring the auditors
and to review the audit. The creation of the audit committee
will need the following: Board approval by majority vote and
the granting of authority to the chair to sign off on the audit.
Following discussion it was moved, duly seconded and UNANIMOUSLY
RESOLVED to create an Audit Committee, as proposed.
Following no further business to be discussed, the meeting was
adjourned at 2:40 p.m.
_______________________________________
Phillip Leigh
Secretary
Disclaimer
The materials contained on this website are for information and
educational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice.
Also please note that Legal Aid of North Carolina does not provide
legal assistance by E-mail. Contact your Legal Aid of North Carolina
office or a private attorney if you need to speak to an attorney
regarding your particular situation.
See our complete disclaimer.
Mission Statement
Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm
that provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income
people in order to ensure equal access to justice and to remove
legal barriers to economic opportunity.