University of Michigan Law School - Quad Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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I s LEGAL AID. . has its omce on Fourth Ave. interviews clients. H-, -,Li'1 goes on a tom' of Milan State Prison 1... files papers at County C1erk's Office. 41

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LEGAL AID SOCIETY FIRST ROW: E. Feldstein, R. Glotta, L. Marsh, 1. Boerner, S. Phelps, L. Berkowitz. SECOND ROW: E. Hendon, R. Mc- Sweeny, G. Newman, C. Patterson. Last spring the Michigan Supreme Court promulgated Rule 921 which provided for the establishment of Legal Aid Clinics in the state of Michigan. The ruling, one of the most liberal in all states that has thus far established such a system, permits students who have successfully completed a minimum of twenty eight hours in an accredited law school to represent indignent people. The rule authorizes student attorneys to advise indignent people, and negotiate and appear in all courts in Michigan on their behalf in certain civil and criminal matters. Since September the Clinic has been operating at 201 N. Fourth Ave. in downtown Ann Arbor under the sponsor- ship of the Washtenaw County Bar Assoc. In its first four months of operation the Clinic has disposed of over one hundred and fifty cases, many of which resulted in litigation. The general areas with which have dealt most frequently are family relations, vendor-vendee relations, landlord-tenat relations, and criminal misdimeanors. While we have not kept a won-lost record it may fairly be said that there is general community and personal satisfaction with the dis- position of our cases. The structure of the Legal Aid Society is presently in a state of change, as is true with many new organizations. The present structure consists of a nine member Executive Board composed of senior law students who supervise the operation of the Clinic. An eight member Board of Trustees is composed of six members selected by the county Bar Association, one member by the community to be served fpoverty communityl, and one faculty member Professor James White. The Board of Trustees determines the standards of indigency, the types of cases students may handle both with and without the direct supervision of a practicing attorney, and proceedural rules of the clinic. There also exists an advisory committee of nine persons, selected by the Washtenaw County Citizens Committee for Economic Opportunity, whose function is to advise the Board of Trustees of the needs and special problems of the community to be served. The future of Legal Aid looks bright. Negotiations are under way to adjust the composition of the Board of Trustees to more adequately accommodate the needs of the poor. With the receipt of federal aid the Clinic intends to acquire the services of a full time attorney and make permanent the physical facilities of the clinic. There has been agrowing awareness of the services provided by the clinic not only among the poverty community which we serve but with the community as a whole with whom we closely cooperate. The quality of legal services rendered by our student attorneys has been note worthy. On many occasions clients with small cases have been better served by a student whose high degree of preparedness ,and imaginative de- fenses has not been discouraged by a heavy case load and the promise of small remuneration. The benefits your Legal Aid program have not entirely occurred to the poor, for the experience to the student attorneys will prove invaluable. 'x George Newman, Chairman Prof. White, Faculty Advisor 40

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RES GESTAE W W li ig 5' L George Cooney, Sports Editorg lay Witkin, Weekender Art Duiembai Editor This was a year of growth for Res Gestae, the weekly law school newspaper. Editor-in-chief Art Dulemba assemble.. the largest staff in over a decade and published a total of over 150 pages of All the News Fit to Print, Plus a Little More. A new multilith printing process, and a redesigned masthead complemented six regular weekly columns, student letters, and an occasional ode. Newsbeat editors Wm. H. Conner and Steve Petix scooped every paper in the cotmtry by reporting the appointment of Francis Allen as Dean-elect, hours before the Board of Regents released the news of their formal approval. George A. Cooney called the grid pix correctly 9 out of 10 times in his sports column, which nearly motivated him to cross over to the other side of the law. Chris Cohen serialized the first chapter of his book Cohen's Corner in 28 installments, discussing a range of topics from female law students to faculty views on Vietnam demonstrations. Mixers and movies received the once-over by Jay Witkin and Robert Pyle, who would often boast of having first seen the fihns they reviewed. Both Pyle and Brian Eisenberg, circulation managers, personally delivered door to door 950 Res Gestaes each week. Setting some sort of endurance record, Lynn Bartlett attended Board of Directors meetings and made his findings public in Report from the Board, while John Chamberlain covered the tracks of the legal aid society in Legal Aid Briefs. Behind every historic venture there stands a womang and Res Gestae was thrice blessed with the assistance of typlst Gay Ford, rnultilith specialist Shirley Jolmson, and steno-pool director Dolores Fisher who oh so often soothed the newspapers growing pains. Bill Conner and Steve Petix, News Beat 42 B1-ian Eisenberg