SBM Blog

SBM Members: Save 15% on ABA Books!

SBM members can now save 15% on ABA books. The discount applies to all regularly priced book purchases at the ABA web store. Simply use the special discount code MICHBAR at checkout. To start saving 15% on your ABA book purchases visit www.ShopABA.org or call (800) 285-2221 and use the special discount code MICHBAR.

Get a Discount on ABA TECHSHOW

As a member of the State Bar of Michigan, you get a special $150 discount if you register for 2018 ABA TECHSHOW, which will take place March 7-10 at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago. Register online using the discount code EP1812.

SBM Members Get a Discount on ABA TECHSHOW Registration

As a member of the State Bar of Michigan, you get a special $150 discount if you register for 2018 ABA TECHSHOW. Register online using the discount code EP1812. ABA TECHSHOW has brought lawyers and technology together for over 30 years. Network with legal and technology experts from around the world March 7-10 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

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Free Legal Assistance Available for Flood Victims in Midland, Isabella, Bay and Gladwin Counties

A toll-free legal aid hotline is now available to victims of Michigan’s recently declared flood disaster in Midland, Isabella, Bay and Gladwin Counties. The service, which allows callers to request the assistance of a lawyer to aid in flood-related matters, is a partnership between the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, the State Bar of Michigan, the State Bar of Michigan Young Lawyers Section, Lakeshore Legal Aid and Legal Services of Eastern Michigan.

Flood victims facing legal issues who are unable to afford a lawyer may call 1-800-418-8315 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Friday, to request assistance. When connected to the hotline, callers should identify that they are seeking disaster-related legal assistance, brief details of the assistance needed and in which county they are located. Individuals who qualify for assistance will be matched with Michigan lawyers who have volunteered to provide free legal assistance.

The type of legal assistance available includes:

• Assistance securing FEMA and other government benefits available to disaster victims;
• Assistance with life, medical and property insurance claims;
• Help with home repair contracts and contractors;
• Replacement of wills and other important legal documents destroyed in the disaster;
• Assistance in consumer protection matters, remedies and procedures;
• Counseling on mortgage-foreclosure problems; and
• Counseling on landlord-tenant problems.

Flood victims may also visit https://mi.freelegalanswers.org/ to receive free legal assistance online. Individuals who qualify for this service can ask a volunteer attorney questions online and receive a written response.

Background:

When the President declares a major disaster, FEMA, in cooperation with the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, establishes a toll-free number for disaster victims to request legal assistance. Funding for the toll-free line comes from FEMA under the authority of Section 415 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Public Law 100-107). The American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, in turn, partners with state bar associations and other legal organizations to recruit volunteers in affected areas to handle victims’ cases.

Victims should be aware that there are limitations on disaster legal services. For example, assistance is not available for cases that will produce a fee (e.g., those cases where attorneys are paid part of the settlement by a court). Such cases are referred to a local lawyer referral service.

Currently, disaster relief services are available to flood victims in Midland, Isabella, Bay, and Gladwin Counties. Low-income flood victims seeking legal assistance outside and surrounding Midland, Isabella, Bay, and Gladwin Counties may contact Legal Services of Eastern Michigan 1-800-322-4512 to find out if they qualify for free legal assistance. For all other flood victims, contact the State Bar of Michigan lawyer referral service at 1-800-968-0738.

Partner Members:

The following organizations have joined forces to establish a toll-free phone line for Midland, Isabella, Bay and Gladwin, Michigan disaster victims to request free legal assistance and to provide volunteer attorneys to handle cases arising from recent flooding.

American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division: The ABA YLD is the largest national organization of young lawyers that provides leadership in serving the public and the profession, and promotes excellence and fulfillment in the practice of law. Its parent organization, the American Bar Association, is the national voice of the legal profession and is the largest voluntary professional membership group in the world.

State Bar of Michigan: Established in 1935, the State Bar of Michigan is composed of more than 45,000 practicing attorneys and judges. The mission of the State Bar is to improve the administration of justice, promote the legal profession, and build public understanding of our legal system. For more information, visit www.michbar.org. Follow SBM on Facebook and on Twitter @MIStateBar. If you are a member of the State Bar, join our group on LinkedIn.

State Bar of Michigan Young Lawyers Section: The State Bar of Michigan Young Lawyers Section is a professional membership organization. The Section’s mission is to sponsor activities of interest and value to young lawyers in Michigan; coordinate activities of the various local young lawyer groups in Michigan; cooperate with, and serve as an integral part of the State Bar of Michigan; cooperate with various local bar associations in the State of Michigan, and the American Bar Association, including its Young Lawyer Division, in the promotion of their programs.

Lakeshore Legal Aid: Lakeshore Legal Aid takes pride in providing Southeast Michigan with excellence in advocacy and civil legal counsel since 1966. Our attorneys offer professional legal advice and counseling, document review and preparation, negotiation, mediation, and representation in court to improve the legal status of the men, women, and families we serve. 

Legal Services of Eastern Michigan: LSEM delivers free civil legal assistance to people with limited means. Its mission is to use legal skills to address the causes and effects of poverty. Special emphasis is placed on those issues that affect the survival needs of low-income people. LSEM provides services in 14 Mid-Michigan counties including, Arenac, Bay, Clare, Genesee, Gladwin, Gratiot, Huron, Isabella, Lapeer, Midland, Saginaw, Sanilac, St. Clair, and Tuscola.

ABA joins SBM, State Bar Associations and CloudLaw, Inc. to Expand Online Legal Network

The American Bar Association has joined the State Bar of Michigan, CloudLaw, Inc. and several other state bar associations to create a national online legal network that consumers can trust to find lawyers.

By joining together for the first time in this type of effort, the ABA and other state bars will leverage their combined expertise to create a dynamic, comprehensive, national online network. The network will offer easy-to-use lawyer search, topical legal information and quick connections between legal professionals. The lawyer search platform hosts some 90,000+ lawyer profiles and receives half a million quarterly visits. Combined with the ABA partnership and the scheduled participation of additional state bars, the network expects to reach over half a million lawyer-members by the end of 2018.

"While the online market for legal services has been exploding with confusing and in some cases very questionable options for consumers, CloudLaw has been carefully building the foundation for a credible, convenient alternative backed and developed with the collective input of state bar associations," SBM Executive Director Janet Welch said. "The current CloudLaw network has quietly been benefiting Michigan lawyers and the public for over two years, and its value will increase tremendously over time. The addition of the expertise of the American Bar Association is a crucial step forward."

"The American Bar Association is excited by the opportunity to collaborate with state bars to provide consumers with greater access to lawyers," said Linda A. Klein, President of the American Bar Association. "Technology can only do so much and people still need lawyers to help them solve their problems. We believe that the CloudLaw directory will allow potential clients to find the lawyer they need."

The expanded network will function as a central, searchable hub, while offering the same ethically focused and user-friendly features as the current CloudLaw network. In connection with the launch, CloudLaw will also rebrand the site domain name from zeekbeek.com to cloudlawyers.com.

"Today is a significant step forward in bar associations revitalizing their traditional role by providing a credible and ethically compliant marketplace to deliver legal services on the Internet," CloudLaw, Inc. CEO and President Robert Aicher said. "CloudLaw is proud to be the provider facilitating this online evolution."

Low-Income Genesee Residents Can Ask Lawyers Questions for Free

Low-income residents of Genesee County can now get legal help through a new online tool. MI Free Legal Answers operates like an online legal aid clinic, allowing low-income Genesee County residents to get answers to non-criminal legal questions by logging onto the site from any device at any time. The new site was developed and is sponsored nationally by the American Bar Association and is sponsored in Michigan by the State Bar of Michigan, working in collaboration with the Genesee County Bar Association and Legal Services of Eastern Michigan. The site has launched as a pilot program in Genesee County and may eventually be available to all low-income Michigan residents. The website is free for clients to use and mobile friendly. With funding from the ABA and other national sponsors, SBM pays no cost to participate and offer the website to low-income residents of Genesee County.

Visitors to the site who earn less than 200 percent of the federal poverty limit—about $49,200 for a family of four—can post up to three questions per year to the site and receive answers from licensed Michigan attorneys. Visitors can ask about any non-criminal matter, including questions about divorce, child custody, bankruptcy, credit problems, landlords, land contracts, and more. Attorneys in the program will not represent visitors in court or prepare legal documents, but they will direct users to appropriate legal aid clinics, self-help guides, and other resources.

Visitors and attorneys communicate through a secure messaging portal and can upload documents and photos to help facilitate conversations. All visitor questions and attorney answers are kept completely confidential.

For more information, visit MI Free Legal Answers at https://mi.freelegalanswers.org.

Attention Genesee County Attorneys: We Need Your Help

We at the State Bar of Michigan want to help low income people get answers to their pressing legal questions. 

In order to accomplish that goal, we're launching mi.freelegalanswers.org, a pro bono website that is beginning in Genesee County that we hope will expand across the state, and will make it very easy for attorneys to provide quick, correct answers to the important and urgent questions of low income people. 

We're working on this project in collaboration with Legal Services of Eastern Michigan, the Genesee County Bar Association and the American Bar Association. 

In order to get this project up and running we need attorneys in Genesee County to sign up and participate. Once you sign up, you decide where and when you'll participate. You do not have to meet any time commitments. And clients will be given the understanding that you will not go to court with them or prepare any paperwork for them. By participating in the program, you will be provided with free malpractice coverage for legal guidance you provide via mi.freelegalanswers.org. 

To find out more about how mi.freelegalanswers.org works, watch this short video. For more information, visit attorney FAQs or email freelegalanswers@mail.michbar.org. 

If you're ready to join us, visit mi.freelegalanswers.org and click "Get Started." 

ABA Legal Assistance for Military Personnel Committee Hosts Education Program Live-Stream

The American Bar Association Standing Committee on Legal Assistance for Military Personnel will host a live-streaming educational program called "CLE Opportunity for Attorneys: Military Legal Assistance Issues," from 8:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. March 31. 

The program will feature six educational sessions addressing these topics: "Military Pension Division," "Military Child Custody and Support," "SCRA Issues and Consumer Law Hot Topics," "Veterans Law Issues," "Resource Roundtable," "A Look to the Future: The View from the Hill." 

The live-stream is free to attend, but registration is required. Find more information, view the live-stream and download materials at http://ambar.org/lampcle.

SBM Members: You Get a Discount to ABA TECHSHOW

State Bar of Michigan members get a special $150 discount to ABA TECHSHOW, which will take place March 15-18 at the Hilton Chicago. To get the discount, register for ABA TECHSHOW and use this discount code: EP1701. 

For more than 30 years, ABA TECHSHOW has taught lawyers how to make technology work for them. If you attend, you'll network with legal technology experts from around the globe, learn to practice more competently and gain an understanding of how to more effectively provide service to your clients. 

Learn more or sign up for ABA TECHSHOW. 

ABA Center for Innovation Offering Fellowships

The American Bar Association Center for Innovation is now accepting applications for its 2017 fellows program. There are two categories of fellows: NextGen Fellows and Innovation Fellows.

NextGen Fellows are recent law school graduates who will spend one year in-residence at the ABA headquarters in Chicago. They will receive a stipend of $45,000 plus benefits during their time in the program. There are two openings in the NextGen program. 

Innovation Fellows will rotate in and out of Chicago on a nine to 12 week basis, beginning in April. There is no stipend for this fellowship, but sponsorships may be available. 

The deadline to apply for the fellowship programs is January 31. 

View more information and apply.