LASNEM Newsletter - December 2021 |
|
Thank you for your support of Legal Aid Service of Northeastern Minnesota in 2021. LASNEM has continued delivering essential legal services to those who need them most, while also ensuring the health and wellbeing of our staff and the communities we serve.
We continue to see an increased need for civil legal services as we navigate the public health crisis, and the civil legal problems which have arisen because of it. As the end of the year approaches, we hope you will consider making a donation to LASNEM.
Thank you to everyone involved in the delivery of crucial civil legal services in our region, including our Board of Directors, colleagues in the private profession, PAI volunteers, staff, donors, community partners, community funders and supporters of Legal Aid Service of Northeastern Minnesota.
|
|
New Reporting Requirement for Minnesota Attorneys |
|
|
In the Spring of 2021, the Minnesota Supreme Court adopted Lawyer Registration Rule 25, requiring attorneys to report their approximate pro bono hours completed in the prior calendar year. In addition, the attorney must indicate by a checkbox if they made a donation to a legal services organization that provides free services to low-income Minnesotans.
If you haven’t yet donated, you have time to do so before the end of the year. You can support our mission by donating at any time or setting up recurring monthly donations here. When you donate to Legal Aid Services of Northeastern MN today, you can “check the box” and help our neighbors protect their livelihoods, their health and their families.
|
|
Expanded tax benefits for charitable giving in 2021 |
|
|
Deduction for individuals who don't itemize
Usually taxpayers who take the standard deduction cannot deduct their charitable contributions. The law now permits taxpayers to claim a limited deduction on their 2021 federal income tax returns for cash contributions they made to certain qualifying charitable organizations.
These taxpayers, including married individuals filing separate returns, can claim a deduction of up to $300 for cash contributions to qualifying charities during 2021. The maximum deduction is $600 for married individuals filing joint returns.
|
|
|
Legal aid in a pandemic: Notes from the front lines |
|
|
Legal aid in a pandemic: Notes from the front lines
BY LILO SCHLUENDER Working in civil legal aid is challenging in good times; working as a civil legal aid attorney in a global pandemic has felt like a Sisyphean undertaking. For the past 12 months, our practice has evolved from poverty lawyers to ...
Read more
www.mnbar.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lilo Schluender, former LASNEM PAI Director, authored an article published in Bench & Bar of Minnesota in April 2021. She provides an inside look at civil legal services along with excellent tips we all can use to avoid poverty-shaming.
How to avoid poverty-shaming in a pandemic
- Offer technology options, but do not assume access or technology literacy. Ask a client or litigant their preference: Would they rather have a phone conference or a Zoom hearing?
- Stop sharing stories of people appearing in court from cars or from their beds. Private space in a pandemic is a luxury many cannot afford.
- Stop saying “get a lawyer” to people who cannot afford one. Being poor is not a voluntary condition.
- Stay up to date on community resources for food and housing assistance and share with all. The more you share, the less you stigmatize poverty.
- Be aware of how burdensome it is to print, sign, scan and file documents for someone without a printer or access to a copier.
- Send love to your law librarian. Law libraries and self-help centers are critical to ensuring access to justice in our state. They have been doing the heavy lifting of supporting self-represented litigants, and they will continue to do so.
- Help your neighbors! Recognize that in times of human crisis, those experiencing poverty suffer the most and for the longest. Contact your local legal aid office and lend a hand.
|
|
LASNEM is a non-profit law firm that seeks to open the doors of the justice system to the most vulnerable in our community. Our staff provide critical legal representation to low-income individuals in civil legal matters that impact their security, safety, and well-being. We have offices located in Brainerd, Duluth, Grand Rapids, Pine City, and Virginia. LASNEM’s service area encompasses Aitkin, Carlton, Cass, Cook, Crow Wing, Itasca, Kanabec, Koochiching, Lake, Pine, and St. Louis Counties. To learn more about us, visit us at LASNEM.org or call us at (800) 933-1112.
|
|
|
|
Legal Aid Service of Northeastern Minnesota
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
