Archive of Director's Reflections
Robert A. Oakley, Esq., Executive Director

UP

“The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.”

These words are often used to describe a process in which individuals or groups come together in a collective action that produces a result greater than the sum of their individual efforts. Some experts use the word “synergy” to define this type of human achievement.
As executive director of Northwestern Legal Services (NWLS), I am proud to say that this “synergy” is also a fitting description of our accomplishments during 2007 on behalf of low-income individuals and families who look to us for legal aid in northwestern Pennsylvania.

“Strength Through Community” is the theme for our 2007 annual report and, in the pages that follow, you will get a sense of the many ways our mission takes shape in the ten counties that comprise our service region.

We partnered with senior centers, consumer protection agencies, emergency shelters, state legislators, Career Link centers, Head Start groups, and private attorneys offering pro bono assistance to clients who could not afford legal representation and counsel on their own.
Within Northwestern Legal Services, our accomplishments during 2007 were made possible by a board of directors who guided our efforts, and a team of dedicated staff members who care deeply about the ideals of legal aid.
The collective action of these individuals and groups enabled NWLS to close over 4,800 civil legal cases on behalf of our clients during 2007 – a level of service our organization has not achieved since the early 1990s.
From direct representation and counsel provided by NWLS law workers to poverty-level people, to community outreach and legal education offered to diverse audiences, we help folks both young and old by guiding them through the legal system using advocacy and education to obtain justice, with the goal of improving their quality of life. This goal was enhanced in 2007 by the ways our organization worked cooperatively with a wide array of community groups and individuals who share in our mission of service to the poor. Synergy, though, isn’t just measured by the numbers.
Last December, while leaving a local coffee shop, a waitress came up to thank me about a cable TV show we did on home energy assistance available to low-income residents of Pennsylvania.
Although the woman was employed at a minimum-wage job, she did not realize that she could qualify for these benefits. After watching our TV show, she applied for and received help with her home heating bills. It made a big difference in her life.
Even better, the waitress was talking to a friend about receiving the home energy assistance, and it turns out that this person was unaware that he, too, was eligible for the benefits. Our community outreach was creating a kind of synergy that reaped positive results for these individuals.
I invite you to read our 2007 annual report, and discover the many ways that “strength through community” becomes real in the lives of people who look to us for help.

2003 Reflections:

In 2003 we continued in our mission to provide free legal aid in civil cases to low-income individuals and families who could not afford legal representation on their own. We believe our work is fundamental to the system of justice that has made our nation great, and it is a commitment we undertake each and every day with a sense of pride and responsibility to the communities we call home.

In our annual report you will see an overview of the number and type of client issues we handled last year. While it is always important to view the “bigger picture” when assessing the work of a non-profit organization, I ask that you recognize each case as being a local story about an individual or family in need. Whether we offer direct representation or legal counsel in a landlord/tenant dispute, a disabled person applying for Social Security benefits, a parent seeking child support from a ex-spouse, or a woman trying to escape from domestic violence, our cases are about real people who need our help. Our efforts on their behalf are grounded in the belief that everyone, regardless of how poor they may be, deserves the same degree of access to our legal system.

It is also important to recognize that it takes a team effort to bring legal aid to the people we serve. While our dedicated staff of attorneys and paralegals provides the direct representation and counsel to clients, they could not function without support staff, technical staff, administrative staff, community education professionals, and a board of directors who are actively involved in the goals of our organization. I am proud of the people who work with me at Northwestern Legal Services, and the commitment we all bring to our mission.

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about the important work we do. I hope you find the information in this report both illuminating and interesting.

2002 Reflections:

Thank you for your interest in our legal aid program. In 2002, Northwestern Legal Services assisted many low income families and individuals with various legal problems. Within our annual report, it is clear that we are maximizing our services in as many ways as possible. Assisting low income people in their quest for access to our legal system and education of their rights and responsibilities is not only our goal but our passion. It is unfortunate that we lack adequate resources to meet our goal of 100% access. We strive toward this goal by utilizing monetary as well as "in-kind" resources.  

Monetary resources, such as grants and contracts for services, provide the people and overhead to breathe life into our 6 offices. The in-kind or donated services take the form of pro bono or reduced fee panel attorneys that assist our clients without charge. Both of these types of resources are necessary in striving toward our goal. Further, it is important to maximize these resources in order to maximize our outreach and services as the demand is high. Obviously, the level of our available resources affects our priorities and the services which we provide. Increasingly, we must rely on local community support to assist us.

Justice around the world starts at home. Thank you for your support for Northwestern Legal Services.  

2001 Reflections:

It has been a very busy, and productive, year at Northwestern Legal Services (NWLS) as we took on issues of community education, pro se clinics, and pro bono development as part of our strategic planning. I am happy to report significant progress in these, and other areas, as we look back on our accomplishments as part of our annual review.

    We have expanded our pro se (self-help) clinics to include not only issues of child custody, but also divorce. Eligible clients in Erie, Crawford and Venango Counties can now attend the pro se divorce clinics that are scheduled on a regular basis as part of our program offerings, and we hope to expand these clinics into other counties in our region. We are also looking at other legal issues that could be presented to clients using a "pro se" method as a way of empowering individuals with important information about civil legal problems or concerns.

    Community education and outreach at Northwestern Legal Services were also expanded dramatically during the past year. Our community educator, Sal Parco, continues to provide presentations to thousands of participants, and his efforts have been augmented by computer slide shows on our web site, www.nwls.org. We are also very proud of a weekly program broadcast on Erie Community Access Television, "Access to Justice," that looks at areas of the law that are of concern to our low-income community. The half-hour program is produced, directed and edited by NWLS staff members in the Erie office, and the program is broadcast on Erie Community Access Television (Channel 2) Monday and Wednesday evenings at 9:30 p.m., and each Tuesday and Thursday at noon. After the programs are broadcast on-air, we make tapes available to NWLS branch offices, and to other legal services organizations across the Commonwealth.

    In January 2001, NWLS began administering the pro bono panel in Venango County. This development is a cooperative effort of the Venango County Bar Association, the Venango County Court of Common Pleas, and NWLS, and it should enable us to expand services to low-income clients in that county. The Erie County Bar Association continues to work closely with us through the Legal Aid Volunteer Attorney (LAVA) program that we administer, and we solicited the support of individual attorneys in Erie County as we developed grant proposals to use new technologies to deliver legal services to our low-income community.

    Partnerships with other non-profit organizations that share part of our mission are an important goal in our strategic planning. This year we worked closely with six domestic violence advocacy groups in our region in order to submit a large grant proposal to the United States Department of Justice, Violence Against Women Office, to help provide for the broad range of civil legal needs for victims of domestic violence. Although we will not know if we are awarded the grant until later this Fall, the process of forging the partnerships with the six advocacy groups was, in and of itself, a significant effort that will benefit our clients.

    Another significant accomplishment of the past year is the process, still underway, to identify and establish the most critical legal needs facing the people we serve in our program region. This process includes deciding which type of cases we will accept as part of our case acceptance plan, and the kinds of services that will be provided to our clients. A needs assessment survey was mailed to our low-income community, along with another survey to attorneys, judges and social service organizations, to help develop these program priorities. This process will enable us to develop a case acceptance manual that will serve as the framework for the legal services we will deliver to those who look to us for help.

    Technology remains an essential focus of our mission, and it offers much promise as a means to deliver high quality, efficient, and effective legal services to our clients, as well as a significant resource for legal information on a wide variety of topics. You can read our detailed technology plan on our website, and while you are there please take the time to familiarize yourself with the online options available to you. We have greatly expanded the offerings, and we anticipate doing more in the coming year to create a "client portal" that will be of great benefit to the communities we serve. From the "internal" side of the Internet, we now have an Intranet site for NWLS staff to access information such as our personnel policy, legal management policies, forms, staff news, and other information.

    Finally, we anticipate receiving the results from the 2000 Census this Fall as it relates to the size of the poverty population in the 10 counties we serve. This is important for several reasons. First, our funding is based, for the most part, on the size of the poverty population in our program region. Second, it will assist us in configuring our staffing structure in order to better serve our low-income population.

    I am excited about the strides that our program has made over the last year, and I look forward to the challenges that the future holds for us.

2000 Reflections:

It has been a very busy, and productive, year at Northwestern Legal Services (NWLS) as we took on issues of community education, pro se clinics, and pro bono development as part of our strategic planning. I am happy to report significant progress in these, and other areas, as we look back on our accomplishments as part of our annual review.

We have expanded our pro se (self-help) clinics to include not only issues of child custody, but also divorce. Eligible clients in Erie, Crawford and Venango Counties can now attend the pro se divorce clinics that are scheduled on a regular basis as part of our program offerings, and we hope to expand these clinics into other counties in our region. We are also looking at other legal issues that could be presented to clients using a "pro se" method as a way of empowering individuals with important information about civil legal problems or concerns.

Community education and outreach at Northwestern Legal Services were also expanded dramatically during the past year. Our community educator, Sal Parco, continues to provide presentations to thousands of participants, and his efforts have been augmented by computer slide shows on our web site, www.nwls.org. We are also very proud of a weekly program broadcast on Erie Community Access Television, "Access to Justice," that looks at areas of the law that are of concern to our low-income community. The half-hour program is produced, directed and edited by NWLS staff members in the Erie office, and the program is broadcast on Erie Community Access Television (Channel 2) Monday and Thursday evenings at 9:30 p.m., and each Tuesday and Thursday at noon. After the programs are broadcast on-air, we make tapes available to NWLS branch offices, and to other legal services organizations across the Commonwealth.

In January 2001, NWLS began administering the pro bono panel in Venango County. This development is a cooperative effort of the Venango County Bar Association, the Venango County Court of Common Pleas, and NWLS, and it should enable us to expand services to low-income clients in that county. The Erie County Bar Association continues to work closely with us through the Legal Aid Volunteer Attorney (LAVA) program that we administer, and we solicited the support of individual attorneys in Erie County as we developed grant proposals to use new technologies to deliver legal services to our low-income community.

Partnerships with other non-profit organizations that share part of our mission are an important goal in our strategic planning. This year we worked closely with six domestic violence advocacy groups in our region in order to submit a large grant proposal to the United States Department of Justice, Violence Against Women Office, to help provide for the broad range of civil legal needs for victims of domestic violence. Although we will not know if we are awarded the grant until later this Fall, the process of forging the partnerships with the six advocacy groups was, in and of itself, a significant effort that will benefit our clients.

Another significant accomplishment of the past year is the process, still underway, to identify and establish the most critical legal needs facing the people we serve in our program region. This process includes deciding which type of cases we will accept as part of our case acceptance plan, and the kinds of services that will be provided to our clients. A needs assessment survey was mailed to our low-income community, along with another survey to attorneys, judges and social service organizations, to help develop these program priorities. This process will enable us to develop a case acceptance manual that will serve as the framework for the legal services we will deliver to those who look to us for help.

Technology remains an essential focus of our mission, and it offers much promise as a means to deliver high quality, efficient, and effective legal services to our clients, as well as a significant resource for legal information on a wide variety of topics. You can read our detailed technology plan on our website, and while you are there please take the time to familiarize yourself with the online options available to you. We have greatly expanded the offerings, and we anticipate doing more in the coming year to create a "client portal" that will be of great benefit to the communities we serve. From the "internal" side of the Internet, we now have an Intranet site for NWLS staff to access information such as our personnel policy, legal management policies, forms, staff news, and other information.

Finally, we anticipate receiving the results from the 2000 Census this Fall as it relates to the size of the poverty population in the 10 counties we serve. This is important for several reasons. First, our funding is based, for the most part, on the size of the poverty population in our program region. Second, it will assist us in configuring our staffing structure in order to better serve our low-income population.

I am excited about the strides that our program has made over the last year, and I look forward to the challenges that the future holds for us.

1999 Reflections:

I began my career with legal services during the 1974-1975 school year as a volunteer in the Summit County Legal Aid Society in Akron, Ohio.  At that time, Northwestern  Legal Services was in existence for only five years. At that time, the legal aid societies were in their infancy stage.  There were few staff members and we were able to assist clients in all types of civil legal problems. There were no computers or word processors at the offices. We used manual (not electric) typewriters along with carbon paper for file copies. No copiers existed in our offices in those days.

Over the past 30 years, legal services offices have matured into sophisticated law offices. Technology is the means we have used to attempt to meet the needs of our client communities. Northwestern Legal Services now provides services in all 10 counties. In 1969, we only provided legal assistance in Erie County. Today, all staff members have computers on their desks and make use of them to assist clients in every day situations. Our offices have copiers (no more carbon paper), fax machines and access to the Internet. We macro and merge and do other computer functions as required so that we can maximize our services for clients. We have a client data base on our computer that permits us not only to record client data, but also to view and manage caseloads. This is all necessary as our funding has not kept pace with the needs of our client communities to access the legal system or even kept up with inflation. Accordingly, maximizing efficiency is integral to our mission. As one can see, in the words of Bob Dylan, "the times they are a changin'."

As part of our desire to maximize services to clients and the client communities, we have engaged in strategic planning at local, regional and state levels. Locally, we implemented a central intake and telephone advice delivery system. Regionally, we entered into several projects and joint grant proposals with Keystone Legal Services. We also had two joint training retreats with that program. Keystone Legal Services covers Clearfield, Centre, Mifflin, Juniata, and Huntingdon Counties. Their service area is contiguous with our services area to our southeast. Currently, we are investigating the possibility of merging our two programs. For a variety of reasons, we believe that such a merger would enable us to better serve our combined client communities. As this investigation of merger progresses, our Web Page will be updated with any information.

I would like to express my thanks to the board members of our program for their donated time and energy in serving in that capacity. My thanks to all the attorneys who have donated time to our pro bono panels to assist our clients. I would also like to thank the staff for their untiring commitment to our mission and dedication to serving the low income client population of our service area.

SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to specially acknowledge the work of Caulene Sanford. Without her vision and creativity, our Web Page would only be a dream. Thank you.