By Sugar Vogel

© 2013 This article was originally published in the printed magazine COMMUNIQUÉ, the official publication of the Clark County Bar Association. (February 2013, Vol. 34, No. 2). All rights reserved. For permission to reprint this article, contact the publisher Clark County Bar Association, Attn: COMMUNIQUÉ Editor-in-Chief, 725 S. 8th St., Las Vegas, NV 89101. Phone: (702) 387-6011.

In the November, 2012 edition of the Communiqué, exciting news was featured about our program. In case you missed it, on July 1, 2012, the Southern Nevada Senior Law Program (SNSLP) transitioned from a City of Las Vegas program to a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, dedicated to providing free legal services to residents of Clark County 60 years and older. The SNSLP is the only legal service provider in Clark County to exclusively serve seniors.

Since our inception as a City of Las Vegas program in 1978, we have provided free legal services to over 100,000 Clark County residents. Seniors receive legal assistance with simple estate planning, wills, advance directives, long term health care, probate, real property, consumer issues, guardianship, public entitlements, elder abuse protection, and document preparation. We also visit seniors in adult day care facilities, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and in their own homes if disabled.

Many of our pro bono efforts are in collaboration with the other two legal service providers in Clark County; Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada (LACSN), and Nevada Legal Services (NLS). Both programs offer many pro bono opportunities for interested members of the Nevada State Bar. We encourage you to contact them. If you would like to provide pro bono services directly to our seniors, some of their legal issues are the following:

• Many seniors are faced with a catastrophic illness or loss of a loved one. Capacity issues are important considerations when working with this population. What may seem like a simple transaction becomes complicated and intimidating.
• Many of our seniors need pro bono help with simple estate planning and probate issues. Presently, we have a waiting list in this area, and seniors cannot always wait. Pro bono attorneys in the area of simple estate planning are always a priority. To safeguard against fraud, duress or undue influence in the preparation of a will, NRS 155.097 (2011) requires a Certificate of Independent Review, prepared by an attorney other than the attorney who prepared the underlying will document. We are seeking pro bono attorneys who would consent to preparation of the Certificate of Independent Reviews for will documents prepared by the SNSLP.
• Consumer issues are another area where seniors need pro bono legal assistance. Whether it is a transaction with their insurance company or home owner association, negotiations can be frustrating and contentious. Some of these cases need not result in litigation. Often, just a phone call or demand letter from a pro bono attorney works wonders in resolving the dispute.
  

Perhaps you are caring for an aging parent, or maybe you are entering that “Golden Age” yourself. If you would like to provide pro bono services to this vulnerable population, please give us a call.

Sugar Vogel, the Executive Director of the SNSLP, also serves on the Nevada Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission. For more information on how you can help, please contact Sugar at (702) 229-6644 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

By Maximiliano D. Couvillier III

© 2013 This article was originally published in the printed magazine COMMUNIQUÉ, the official publication of the Clark County Bar Association. (February 2013, Vol. 34, No. 2). All rights reserved. For permission to reprint this article, contact the publisher Clark County Bar Association, Attn: COMMUNIQUÉ Editor-in-Chief, 725 S. 8th St., Las Vegas, NV 89101. Phone: (702) 387-6011.

Most of us are aware of our responsibility to provide pro bono legal services. Rule 6.1 of the Nevada Rules of Professional Conduct provides that “[a] lawyer should aspire to render at least 20 hours of pro bono publico legal services per year.” Many of us, however, may not be aware of all of the opportunities available to fulfill our pro bono responsibilities. One such opportunity is the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada’s Ask-A-Lawyer Landlord/Tenant Program (LL/T Ask-A-Lawyer Program).

The LL/T Ask-A-Lawyer Program is administered at the Self-Help Center on the first floor of the Regional Justice Center and occurs every Wednesday, with a morning session from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and an afternoon session from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. The program makes attorneys available to unrepresented landlords or tenants seeking legal advice on their rights. Each consultation is limited to 15 minutes. The LL/T Ask-A-Lawyer Program is a perfect option for those who may be too busy to take on a pro bono case from beginning to end.

You can participate in the LL/T Ask-A-Lawyer Program by signing up for one or more of the Wednesday sessions, morning or afternoon. The program is flexible and only takes a couple of hours. When you complete your session, you have fulfilled your commitment. There is no case to shepherd through potentially lengthy litigation. No documents to prepare and file. No court hearings to prepare for and attend. You attend a session when your schedule permits.

Do not be discouraged if you are not familiar with landlord-tenant law. The Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada has excellent training material (which generally can be reviewed during a lunch hour) and periodically conducts CLEs on the subject. Plus, James Berchtold the “Super”vising Attorney at the Self-Help Center and his knowledgeable staff are available during the sessions if you need additional resources or a sounding board. Please contact Kristina Ramos This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or (702) 386-1070 x 168 and sign up for one or more sessions.

As the Pro Bono Coordinator for Lionel Sawyer & Collins, I encourage our attorneys, especially newer attorneys, to participate in the program because it sharpens many essential skills. During each 15 minute session, an attorney must, among other things: (1) interview the client, (2) investigate the facts, (3) apply the facts to the law, (4) assess the client’s position, and (5) advise the client. Talk about honing in your ability to “think on your feet.”

The LL/T Ask-A-Lawyer Program is also very rewarding because you are helping people facing uncertainty with one of life’s greatest necessities—living arrangements. In 2012, the Self Help Center served 48,402 people with various legal issues, including landlord-tenant matters. Of the people served, 48 percent were unemployed and 63 percent had an annual household income of under $20,000.

Maximiliano D. Couvillier III is a Shareholder with Lionel Sawyer & Collins and practices in commercial, intellectual property and entertainment litigation, and civil appeals. Mr. Couvillier is the Pro Bono Coordinator for Lionel Sawyer & Collins and is the General Counsel of the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada.

Mentorship and Pro Bono

By David Olshan

© 2013 This article was originally published in the printed magazine COMMUNIQUÉ, the official publication of the Clark County Bar Association. (February 2013, Vol. 34, No. 2). All rights reserved. For permission to reprint this article, contact the publisher Clark County Bar Association, Attn: COMMUNIQUÉ Editor-in-Chief, 725 S. 8th St., Las Vegas, NV 89101. Phone: (702) 387-6011.

A pro bono attorney helps a low income individual access our court system. An experienced attorney mentors an inexperienced attorney. Two great traditions have merged with the advent of the Transition Into Practice (TIP) program of the State Bar of Nevada. This brief article explores my recent experience as a TIP mentor and why helping the disadvantaged by pairing them with inexperienced attorneys strengthens our profession and our society.

I direct the Las Vegas Office of Nevada Legal Services, a statewide law firm and pro bono program that has served Nevada’s low income population for over 30 years. I have practiced law in Nevada since October of 1990 and I took “Bridge the Gap” my first year. While I appreciated all of the information imparted to me, the training seemed more like a Gravina Island Bridge leading to nowhere.

When I first heard of the TIP program and how it paired new attorneys with seasoned veterans, I could not see the TIP program as accomplishing much more than Bridge the Gap. For me, it was a practical nuisance. An attorney in our office recently passed the bar and needed a mentor. Instead of entrusting her to an outside attorney, I decided to sign up. Since I was the attorney’s supervisor, I felt responsible for her training. I attended the bar’s training and readied for the next six months under the mentoring plan.

A few days later, she resigned and my main motivation for being a mentor left with her. I notified the bar and began withdrawing from the TIP program. Almost the next day, the bar asked if I would mentor another new attorney who happened to be well-known in state government. I could not refuse this offer. That same day, the bar assigned another mentee. Given the newness of the program and the unexpected responsibility of guiding two new attorneys through uncharted waters, I felt slightly overwhelmed.

When I met with my mentees for the first time, I had prepared the first two mentoring plans and felt more confident. I realized that my 20 years of experience as a Nevada attorney provided something useful to impart to my mentees. And best of all, my mentees proved receptive and perspicacious. The process put me in touch with my value as a mentor, exposed me to new attorneys and their difficult plight, and matched these new attorneys with needy pro bono clients. This practical requirement in the TIP program melded nicely with our traditional pro bono model: providing training and backup for any attorney willing to take a pro bono case from us.

After a few short months and the end of our mentoring plans, my mentees both agreed to take two pro bono cases involving public housing tenants who wanted their security deposits back. The bridge between learning and practice had been crossed. On the way, two pro bono attorneys agreed to serve low income clients.

Pro bono does not mean work done for a client who does not pay; it means helping a disadvantaged individual seek redress in our justice system. A non-paying client is a debt owed to you; a pro bono client is a debt you owe to the client, our court system, and an orderly society.

David Olshan manages the Las Vegas Office of Nevada Legal Services, where he has worked for approximately 20 years.