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THE LEGAL BRIEF
VOLUME 41, ISSUE 1
Headline: Legal aid is needed now more than ever.
By Larry Jefferson and Lindsey Trakel
Solving legal problems provides immediate relief and long - lasting impacts for individuals and families experiencing poverty – especially for civil legal issues like eviction, domestic violence, and securing unemployment benefits, which all increased during the pandemic. I serve on the board of the Campaign for Equal Justice, which is the fundraising program of the Legal Foundation of Washington, our state ’ s largest private funder of civil legal aid. The annual Campaign for Equal Justice works with people and companies across Washington state to raise critical funds to help low - income people solve civil legal crises. Civil legal aid can make all the difference for a family in crisis. For example, renters with legal representation win their housing cases up to 95% of the time, compared with just a third of self - represented renters. A 2020 study by University of Washington showed that only 8% of eviction defendants in Washington had access to representation, and that Black tenants face dramatically higher rates of eviction. Every year, the Legal Foundation of Washington funds more than 40 legal aid programs like Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, TeamChild, Legal Counsel for Youth & Children, Unemployment Law Project, and 16 pro bono programs connected to county bars across Washington . Each year, programs funded by Legal Foundation and the Campaign for Equal Justice help more than 20,000 families access legal aid .
In our county, the Legal Foundation funds the Thurston County Volunteer Legal Services to provide legal aid that keeps people in our community housed, safe and healthy.
Please be generous and donate what you can before December 31.
Thousands of Washington families need the representation and relief only civil legal aid can provide and your donation will make a big impact in our county.
Even before the pandemic, only one in four low - income people in Washington received the legal help they needed. The 2022 Justice Gap Report by the Legal Services Corporation found that 74% of low - income Americans experienced 1 or more civil legal problems in the past year. In Washington, we are the same high need, up from 70% of low - income families in need of legal aid pre - pandemic. Donate here. Support for the Campaign for Equal Justice from Washington ’ s legal community is critical to help close the justice gap and advance equity and civil justice – particularly for communities of color disproportionately impacted by civil legal issues and most harmed by the COVID - 19 pandemic. We are also in a competition for the Rainier Cup! As Thurston County lawyers , we should set the example for the rest of the state ’ s attorneys by having the highest percentage of attorneys donating to the Campaign for Equal Justice. By doing so we would take home the much - coveted Rainier Cup . Last year, Whatcom County lawyers won with a 26% participation rate. Last year in Thurston County, 296 people in our county gave to the Campaign, which is 17% of practicing attorneys. This support helped Washington ’ s network of legal aid programs respond to an unprecedented wave of needs. But as civil legal challenges continue to grow, we need to do even better this year.
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