Colorado Lawyers Committee 33rd Annual Lunch
The 33rd Annual Colorado Lawyers Committee Luncheon will be held on May 21, 2012 from 11:30 to 1:30 at the Marriott Denver Center. For details on the luncheon click here.
Pro Bono Lawyers Serve 12,000 Families at Legal Night
Congratulations to all the volunteers and interpreters who have participated in the Denver Legal Night Clinics at Mi Casa and Centro San Juan Diego. Since the Colorado Lawyers Committee started Legal Night in 2006, we have served more than 12,000 families, providing legal advice and information primarily in the areas of family law, immigration, real estate/housing, credit/consumer/bankruptcy, employment, criminal, SSI/worker’s comp, and disability.
After Five-Week trial, Judge Rules Low Funding for Colorado’s Schools is Unconscionable
Congratulations to the School Finance Litigation Team. Last Friday, Denver District Court Judge Sheila Rappaport issued an order in the school finance litigation holding that Colorado’s system of financing K-12 education does not meet the “thorough and uniform” requirement of the Colorado Constitution. The case was a massive undertaking that involved a 5-week trial, 180 depositions and trial testimony from 80 witnesses. More than 20 lawyers from 10 different law firms participated in the case. Click here for a copy of the order.
Court Approves Settlement Granting Access to La Sierra
Congratulations to Larry Treece and his team of volunteers at Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber, and Schreck, LLP for successfully settling the Torcido Creek Road litigation. The settlement restores the right of the plaintiffs to use Torcido Creek Road to access La Sierra, a parcel of land in and around San Luis, Colorado that has been the subject of a decades-long “Taylor Ranch” litigation (Lobato v. Taylor). Click here for a copy of the order.
Lawyers Committee Welcomes New Associate Director
The Colorado Lawyers Committee is pleased to introduce the new Associate Director of the Colorado Lawyers Committee, Liza Prado (pronounced Lisa). Liza received her law degree from Stanford Law School in 1999 and practiced law for three years at Cooley Godward LLP in San Francisco. She left the firm to pursue a travel writing opportunity, which led to her authoring over a dozen guidebooks, and living and working for five years in Latin America. Liza moved to Denver in 2009, where she continued to work as a freelance writer. Most recently, she has written feature articles for DU Law School’s alumni magazine. We are delighted Liza has joined the Colorado Lawyers Committee staff. She brings a high level of skill and enthusiasm to the position and we are sure she will make a tremendous contribution to the Lawyers Committee and the communities we serve.
Jail Wait Complaint Filed
Volunteers from the Mental Health Task Force filed a complaint in Federal District Court in late August, challenging the failure of the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo to provide timely evaluations and treatment for individuals in jail. Currently, individuals charged with a crime and awaiting competency evaluations remain incarcerated, often without restorative treatment, for periods of time that can exceed the possible sentences for their crime. Click here for a copy of the complaint.
Pro Bono Lawyers Represent 100 Small Nonprofits Since May 2009
Hearty congratulations to the Nonprofit Working Group. In less than two years, working closely with the Colorado Nonprofit Association, the pro bono lawyers on this Task Force have provided transactional type assistance to more than 100 nonprofit organizations that would not otherwise be able to afford legal services.
Settlements Approved in Public Benefits Cases
The Court recently approved settlements between public benefits applicants and two State agencies responsible for processing federal benefits. The settlements grew out of a lawsuit originally filed in 2004 on behalf of individuals whose essential public benefits were improperly denied or whose applications and redeterminations for public benefits were slowly processed by the State. The settlements require the State to take steps to improve benefit processing and report on its progress. Click here for the settlement with DHS. Click here for the HCPF settlement.
Task Force Members File Lawsuit to Protect Sixth Amendment Rights
Members of the Colorado Lawyers Committee Sixth Amendment Task Force filed suit in U.S. District Court on December 2, 2010, challenging the constitutionality of the Colorado statute that requires misdemeanor defendants to meet with the prosecutor before counsel is appointed. During this meeting, the prosecutor often engages the defendant in plea discussions and many defendants agree to a plea agreement without requesting or benefiting from the appointment of counsel. The complaint alleges that the statute violates the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Click here for a copy of the complaint. Click here for a copy of the Amended Complaint filed on February 25, 2011.
Colorado Lawyers Committee to Co-Sponsor a Legal Audit Clinic for Nonprofit Organizations
The Colorado Lawyers Committee Nonprofit Working Group has partnered with the Pro Bono Institute at Georgetown University Law Center, the Colorado Association of Corporate Counsel, the Colorado Nonprofit Association, the Community Resource Center, and Hogan Lovells U.S. LLP to sponsor a legal audit clinic for nonprofits that support low income or underserved communities. The Clinic will be held on Tuesday, February 1, 2011, from 8:00 am to 12:30 pm at the Community Resource Center in Denver. The purpose of the clinic is for attorneys to work with participating nonprofits to complete a legal audit checklist (to be provided). The event will begin with a short CLE for the attorneys on nonprofit issues. The training will be provided by attorneys from Hogan Lovells U.S. LLP and information on the nonprofits will be distributed to the attorneys before the clinic. For more information, click here
