COMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES NEWS

By Nora C. Eidelman, Deputy Director

Honoring CLS Long Standing Partnership with Prince George’s County Police Department

This month we want to highlight our long standing partnership with the Prince George’s County Police Department.  We invited some very special guests to our March CLS Board of Directors meeting, and had the honor of their attendance: Prince George’s County (PGPD) Chief of Police Roberto L. Hylton, Major Daniel Dusseau, and Captain Cesar Pacheco from PGPD District I.  We wanted to express our gratitude for the many years they have provided space to CLS to operate our clinics to do outreach. 

Back 1999 we needed a space to operate a law clinic to reach out to the non-English speaking immigrant community of Prince George’s County but at the time, we did not have the necessary funds to rent a space.  We were already operating a law clinic in the courthouse in Upper Marlboro but this was not easily accessible to persons living in the northern region of the County who only had access to public transportation.  I decided to approach the then PGPD District I Major, Commander James Hunt, and asked him if he would give us an office space to operate a clinic to provide free legal advice to clients two days a week at their Community Oriented Policing satellite office in Langley Park.  This satellite office is located in the heart of the immigrant community in Prince George’s County, bordering Montgomery County immigrant community as well.  He agreed!  Since then, PGPD District I has been led by many Commanders and they have all been equally gracious, including the current commander, Major Daniel Dusseau, to continue allowing CLS to operate its clinics. 

We now use office space at their site five (5) days a week, operating two (2) law clinics: CLS Family Law Clinic (Monday, Wednesday and Friday), and Workers’ Rights Clinic (Tuesday and Thursday).  In fiscal year 2009 we assisted a total of 6,522 persons at this clinics!  One of the special aspects of this story worth mentioning also is that, though this is a Police Department site, different types of members of the community haVE felt free to come over the years to seek our services.  Non-immigrants and immigrants (documented or not), English and non-English speakers from Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, and Washington DC are comfortable seeking our services, and everyone is welcomed to do so!

Coming up:

Family Law Nuts & Bolts Training

Sponsored by CLS and Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service (MVLS)

Speakers: Honorable Julia B. Weatherly, Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, and Barbara Jorgenson, Esq., from Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, P.A.

Maryland attorneys are invited to attend this free legal training on the nuts and bolts of family law.  The training will cover the basics of how to handle a family law case.  A CD with sample pleadings and other helpful documents will be given out to the attendees.  Additionally each attendee will be assigned one pro bono case from CLS or MVLS at the conclusion of the training.  Mentors and malpractice insurance is provided to all the volunteers.  Advanced registration is required.  To register, request a registration form by emailing jocarol@mvlslaw.orgor call 443-451-4061.

Special Funding to Pay for Attorneys Fees
CLS continues to refer cases under our Judicare funding project made available by Maryland Legal Services Corporation.  Attorneys receive $80.00 per hour up to $1,600.00 per case.  Cases referred involve family law matters including guardianship.  We also refer domestic violence cases, except we will reimburse the attorney for a maximum of five (5) hours only.  Attorneys accepting cases under this program are required to participate in our Pro Bono Program as well.  For more information please contact Darielys Pinto at 301-864-4907, ext. 11.

Community Legal Services of Prince George’s County, Inc. is a non-profit organization established to provide quality civil legal services to low-income persons in Prince George's County.  It does this through the generous contribution of legal advice and legal representation by members of the private Bar.  Additionally, CLS operates free legal clinics in the County.  They are located in the in Circuit Court House and Langley Park.  For more information about our services, please contact Nora C. Eidelman, at 301-864-4907, ext. 12.