The extra $1 tacked on to the cost of filing civil cases in Indiana state courts will continue to be charged for at least another three years, helping bolster the funds appropriated to provide legal assistance to low-income Hoosiers.
More than 120 attorneys and judicial officers gathered at the BASH venue in Carmel on June 24 to celebrate the Indiana Bar Foundation’s civic education milestones and civil legal assistance during its inaugural Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon.
The Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic has hired Erin Hall, an Indianapolis attorney who has spent the bulk of her career in state government, as the nonprofit’s new executive director. She will join the clinic June 1.
Getting legal resources to low-income litigants is a major struggle both nationally and on Hoosier soil. According to the Legal Services Corporation 2022 Justice Gap Report, low-income Americans do not get any or enough legal help for 92% of their substantial civil legal problems.
Wabash College junior Cooper Smith, who has interned with legal organizations and has plans to become an attorney, has earned a Harry S. Truman Scholarship, one of just 58 undergraduates across the country selected for the national fellowship award.
Stenciled on the back wall of the Expungement Help Desk run by the Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic is a reminder that many who come looking to move forward with their lives often photograph and post on their Facebook pages. The message reads: “Don’t look back, you’re not going that way.” As it begins another search for a new executive director almost two years after hiring its previous leader, Amy Horton, the clinic may need to keep that affirmation in mind.