2010 Annual Statewide Legal Aid Conference

THERE IS STILL TIME TO REGISTER - DEADLINE extended to 10/25

Welcome to our town! Join us in Richmond, Virginia for our Annual Statewide Legal Aid Conference (ASC)!  The ASC is a three-day event that provides comprehensive training on poverty law issues.  This year’s conference will consist of more than 30 workshops on topics including foreclosure prevention and rescue, attorneys fees, car title lending, health care reform, protective orders, consumer arbitration and of course, Ethics. Exceptional speakers have already been confirmed!

This year our keynote speaker is none other than Virginia’s own Senator A. Donald McEachin!

REGISTRATION

This project is made possible by a grant from the Virginia Law Foundation.

The registration fee is only $200!  Click here for complete agenda. 

12.5 (2.0 Ethics) CLE Credit hours are available, pending approval by the VA State Bar's MCLE Board.

[As with last year, in our efforts to be environmentally conscious, we will be providing all session materials on a CD Rom. Participants will have all the documents from every session.  In addition to the CD Rom, all session materials will be made available to attendees in early October.]

The deadline for conference registration is October 15th!

Hotel Information

Join us as we explore the many opportunities afforded by Holiday Inn Koger Conference Center located in

suburban Richmond, only one mile from the nationally recognized, award winning community of Midlothian,

VA. This hotel is the recipient of the “Torchbearer Award” and Nine time recipient of the “Quality Excellence

Award” for outstanding service. This hotel is the home of Richmond’s most exciting nightclub, Visions.

Rooms:  Rooms are available at our negotiated rate of $92 single or double! Please reference ‘Virginia

Poverty Law Center’ in order to get this special rate. Wired and wireless internet access is provided in ALL

guestrooms and public areas Free of Charge! Rooms include refrigerators and microwaves. $2

Telecommunications fee per room per night for unlimited free local calls and dataport use for high speed

internet access. Please reserve your room as soon as possible because they are not guaranteed to last

until the reservations deadline!

For Reservations:  800-397-1034; $92 single  $92 double  Reference the Virginia Poverty Law Center for

the special rate, before October 19th.

 WORKSHOPS

Wednesday, November 3

1:30 - 3:15

Loan Modifications* – Trainer: Paula Sherman, Housing Opportunities Made Equal, Richmond, VA

School as a Safety Net: The Educational Rights of Students Experiencing Homelessness* – Trainer: Patricia A. Popp, Ph.D., Clinical Associate Professor, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg VA

How to Win a Case Under SSR-02-1p* - Dr. Robert Brown, Jr., Charlottesville, VA

Representing Clients Accused of Intentional Program Violations (IPVs)* - Clients who apply for or receive TANF benefits or SNAP benefits (aka Food Stamps) are sometimes contacted by a DSS fraud investigator or formally charged with fraud by DSS (aka an IPV).  This workshop will help you advise and represent clients in these contexts.  Advocating on behalf of clients under investigation for, or accused of, an IPV presents a number of procedural and substantive challenges, as local fraud investigators frequently overreach and, for a variety of reasons, clients are sometimes afraid to contest fraud claims.  The consequences of an IPV are severe:  clients can be disqualified from receiving benefits anywhere from one year to life.  Advocates must also be mindful of the criminal law implications of IPVs for clients.  The workshop will cover a number of topics, including how to help clients avoid fraud accusations in the first place, how to advise clients who have received an initial fraud investigation letter, and how to represent clients in Administrative Disqualification Hearings. Trainer:  Dan Nagin, UVA Director, Legal Aid Justice Center, Charlottesville VA

Administrative Roundtable –  Join other administrators and directors to discuss administrative issues and share new ideas and concerns around Virginia. Everyone welcome.   Moderators: Margaret Parson, Deputy Director, Southwest VA Legal Aid Society, Marion, VA; Kelly Shuptrine, Deputy Director, VA Legal Aid Society, Lynchburg VA
 
3:30 - 5:15

Attorney’s Fees* - Now that LSC programs have been unleashed, you can
multiply  your litigation impact for clients by adding attorney fees to the judgments you seek against bad actors!  This workshop will give you the legal background and practical nuts & bolts for making effective fee claims in domestic, consumer, housing, sanctions, and other cases.  Trainers: Timothy Beason, Managing Atty, Legal Services of Northern VA, Arlington, VA; Henry Woodward, General Counsel, Legal Aid Society of Roanoke Valley, Roanoke VA

Baby, You Can Take My Car* - This workshop will delve into the details of the new, finely-crafted Virginia motor vehicle title loan law and regulations that take effect October 1, 2010.  Will the new law help borrowers?  Will it slow down the car title lenders?  Will it lead to a flood of statutory violations by the car title lenders?  Trainer:  Jay Speer, Executive Director, VA Poverty Law Center, Richmond VA

Using the VA Administrative Process Act To Protect the Rights of Low Income Clients* - The workshop will examine both the opportunities and hurdles to get state agencies to provide the rights in VAPA when pursuing administrative redress of statutory claims.  One example to be highlighted is the Department of Labor and Industry’s hesitancy to process wage theft claims. We will also examine the positive aspects and pitfalls of challenging local DSS decisions in circuit court using the VAPA.  Trainers:  Daniel Nagin,  Associate Professor, Univ. of VA School of Law, Family Resource Clinic at Legal Aid Justice Center; Phillip T. Storey, Attorney and Powell Fellow, Legal Aid Justice Center, Charlottesville, VA

Customizing Your KEMPS Program - Not happy with how the Kemp case management screens look? You can easily customize the program to only show the information you actually collect. This session is for those who have administrative privileges in Kemps. In this session you’ll learn to how to go into the backend of the program to customize your Eligibility Page, Intake Pages, Timekeeping, Special Programs, Client Trust Reports, Error Reports and more. You’ll learn how to put custom queries and reports into a table so all staff can see and use them, as well as how staff can use the Dashboard’s Frequent Reports. We’ll share SVLAS’s Tips to Staff list and if time permits we’ll demonstrate VLAS’s new online intake.    Margaret Parson, Deputy Director, Southwest VA Legal Aid Society, Marion, VA; Kelly Shuptrine, Deputy Director, VA Legal Aid Society, Lynchburg VA

Financial Freedom - Learn about the 6-week financial literacy program that has helped VLAS to educate clients on how to avoid problems; build new coalitions; and obtain new funding for community education and case work.  Trainers: Sherry Jones,  David Neumeyer, Director, VA Legal Aid Society, Lynchburg VA.

Effective Tactics for Working with the Media - TBA

Thursday, November 4

8:30 - 10:15
How to Get Lucky Every Time: Basic Eviction Defenses* - Procedural & substantive defenses under the Landlord & Tenant Law, the Virginia Residential Landlord-Tenant Act, the Virginia Manufactured Housing Lot Rental Act and in federally subsidized housing.  Trainer: Marty Wegbreit, Senior Managing Attorney, Central VA Legal Aid Society, Richmond VA

Zero Tolerance for Zero Knowledge: Basic Education Law for Non-Education Lawyers and Paralegals * - Whether you think you’ve seen it all or haven’t seen a thing, this session is designed to help you feel comfortable spotting issues, giving advice, and delivering brief services on a broad range of common problems presented by legal aid clients requesting help with an education issue.  We’ll help you identify violations of state and federal education law and discuss basic legal strategies for troubleshooting problems.  Topics covered will include requesting school records, enrollment issues for special populations (youth who are homeless, in foster care, in transition from commitment, or under disciplinary removal), SOLs, truancy, disciplinary appeals, school-based arrest, special education, and more.  Trainer: Angela Ciolfi, Director, JustChildren Program, Legal Aid Justice Center, Charlottesville VA

12.05 & More Ways to Win Disability Benefits Before Getting to the ALJ Hearing * -  With initial disability claims taking 6 or more months to process and more than a year to get an ALJ hearing, this panel will focus on strategies for winning cases earlier in the administrative process. This will include a discussion on taking and developing cases at the initial application stage, getting consultative reports ordered early in the process, how to decide whether to ask for an on the record decision, "let's make a deal" with the ALJ and other tips for advocates representing claimants in Social Security cases. Trainers:  Bill Botts, Executive Director, Rappahannock Legal Services,  Fredericksburg VA; Randi Blumenson,  Managing Atty, VA Legal Aid Society, Suffolk VA; Lewis Gelobter, Managing Atty, Legal Services of Northern VA, Falls Church VA

Measuring & Improving Program Performance – Basic principles behind Kaplan and Norton’s Balanced Scorecard Methodology; Benefits of implementing this best practice for the not- for-profit industry; Development of long-term strategic focus to support intangible assets, value creation processes, and value management processes; Integration with ABA Standards and LSC Performance Criteria.   Trainer: Elizabeth Scott, President/CEO, Brighter Strategies LLC., Alexandria VA

Dealing with Difficult Clients – Trainer: Darryl Cunningham, Legal Aid Society of Eastern VA

10:30 - 12:15
Foreclosure Prevention & Rescue * - Trainers: James Thornton, Thorton & Associates PLC, Glen Allen, VA;  Henry McLaughlin, Henry McLaughlin PLC, Richmond, VA

National Health Care Reform * - Trainer: Jill Hanken, Staff Attorney, VA Poverty Law Center, Richmond VA

You Don’t Have to Prove Anything: Basic Unemployment Compensation* - The top 80 things you need to know about VA Unemployment Compensation. Trainer:  Marty Wegbreit, Senior Managing Attorney, Central VA Legal Aid Society, Richmond VA

“But I Don’t Want to Leave!”: Challenging an Involuntary Nursing Home Discharge* - What legal protections does a vulnerable nursing home resident have if the nursing home decides to evict him?  What procedures must a facility follow before it can legitimately force someone to move?  This session will cover federal and state law protections for nursing home residents, various technical and substantive defenses to an involuntary discharge, practical approaches to handling a discharge appeal at the hearing and post-hearing levels, and discussion of common scenarios and case examples.  Come learn how you can be an effective advocate to safeguard a nursing home resident’s right to remain in his or her home. Trainer: Kathy Pryor, Staff Attorney, VA Poverty Law Center, Richmond VA

Measuring & Improving Individual Performance - What individual performance looks like in the context of an organization; The BRLS model; How to use data, pinpoint performance behavior, reinforce performance; Integration with ABA Standards and LSC Performance Criteria.  Trainer:  Elizabeth Scott, President/CEO, Brighter Strategies LLC., Alexandria VA
 
1:30 -3:15
How to Make Arbitration Work for the Consumer* - Trainer: James Boykin, Associate, Hughes Hubbard & Reed, LLP, Washington DC

Hot Docs & LawHelp Interactive for Legal Aid Attorneys* - Trainer:  Kate Bladow, Interactive Project Coordinator, LawHelp,  Baltimore MD

Settlements for Clients Receiving Public Benefits (Pub Ben 101)* - Trainer: Jill Hanken, Staff Attorney, VA Poverty Law Center, Richmond VA; Ty Jones, Staff Attorney, Center on Budget & Policy Priorities, Washington DC

Supervising Legal Work Part I:  Providing Feedback- Through case scenarios participants will practice how to provide constructive feedback to supervisees and manage reactions to the feedback.  Trainer:  Jennifer Berger, Legal Counsel for the Elderly, AARP, Washington DC

What We Can Do to Protect & Improve Community-Based Services: VA’s Revenue Future – Michael J. Cassidy, President & CEO, The Commonwealth Institute, Richmond VA

Friday, November 5

8:30 - 10:15
Debt Collection Suits & Zombie Debt*  - Trainer: Tom Domonoske, The Law Offices of Dale Pittman, Harrisonburg, VA;  Henry Woodward, General Counsel, Legal Aid Society of Roanoke Valley, Roanoke VA

Basic TANF* -  This workshop will focus on Virginia’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.  In this session, participants will learn the basics of the TANF program, as well as more in depth information about the policy rules governing the TANF program.  This session will also cover issues such as representation at a fair hearing, overpayments, the VIEW program, and child support issues.  Although most legal aid offices do not receive TANF cases, this session will help advocates gain knowledge to assess an individual’s eligibility and rights in the TANF program.  This workshop is geared towards individuals who have little knowledge of the TANF program and also advocates who want a refresher.  Trainer: Ty Jones, Staff Attorney, Center on Budget & Policy Priorities, Washington DC

Basic Protective Orders* - Trainer: Susheela Varky, Staff Attorney, VA Poverty Law Center, Richmond VA

Elder Law Aspects of Health Care Reform* - The new health care reform law has many important provisions that impact access to care for older adults.  This session will highlight relevant elements of the new law with a particular emphasis on Medicaid coverage of long-term supports and services (LTSS), other provisions that impact dual eligibles, and the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports ("CLASS") program. Trainer: Gene Coffey, Staff Attorney, National Senior Citizens Law Center, Washington DC

Supervising Legal Work Part II:  Time Management – Trainer: This interactive session will explore time management techniques for managers and their supervisees. Jennifer Berger, Legal Counsel for the Elderly, AARP, Washington DC

Recent Success in Changing VA’s Policies Affecting Low-Income People - TBA
 
10:45 - 12:30
The Ethics of Advising Pro Se Litigants* -  A discussion of common dilemmas faced when advising clients who are or will be representing themselves in court.  Discussion of questions such as: What do you do when the answer is due tomorrow but you don’t want to take the case?  How much can you coach a pro-se litigant who returns to ask advice about court?  Can you ghost-write pleadings or letters?  We will explore the current state of ethics rules in Virginia with regard to the unbundling of legal services.Trainers: John Whitfield, Executive Director, Blue Ridge Legal Services, Harrisonburg VA; Brenda Castaneda, Staff Attorney, Legal Aid Justice Centre, Charlottesville VA

Intake Roundtable* - Moderators: Information, issues and collaborations brought by participants.  Larry Nordick, VA Legal Aid Society, Lynchburg, VA; Michele Peters, Legal Aid Society of Eastern VA, Norfolk, VA & Margaret Schenck, Southwest VA Legal Aid Society, Castlewood, VA

Hot Topics for our Communities: Public Housing, Juvenile Justice & more… - TBD