Recession makes legal aid center more important than ever

For Barbara Buckley, the recession is a construction worker thrown off the job by the recession, in the midst of a divorce, losing his home and being sued by a credit card company he can no longer pay, resting his head on a desk at the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada and crying.

The recession has thrown such people -- who previously paid all their bills, played by the rules and stayed out of trouble -- into a legal system that can be frightening.

But thanks to millions in donations and a bill approved during the 2011 Legislature, there will be plenty more room for those desks, staffed with more lawyers whose job is to help the poor -- from abused children to victims of domestic violence to out-of-work residents struggling to pay their bills and stay in their homes.

Buckley, the executive director of the legal aid center and the former speaker of the Nevada Assembly, says the groundbreaking for the new 35,000-square-foot center at Eighth Street and Gass Avenue downtown will take place in August or September.

It's been a long time coming. Planning for the new building started three years ago, before the recession's effects were really known.

The legal aid center had outgrown its current 11,000-square-foot headquarters, which will eventually be imploded to build a parking garage.

Buckley admits she had her doubts. "Of course, the recession hit and we were wondering how that would work out," she said.

Turns out, it worked out very well. The fundraising campaign -- co-chaired by former Boyd Law School Dean Richard Morgan and casino magnate Bill Boyd -- drew generous donations from the Engelstad Family Trust ($3.9 million), the Lied Foundation Trust (a challenge grant that produced a total of $2.5 million) and the Boyd Foundation ($500,000). In addition, the city of Las Vegas and Clark County contributed federal community development block grant funds -- $2.5 million and $3 million, respectively -- that could be used only to build nonprofit facilities.

"We feel so incredibly fortunate in this recession to have so many generous donations," Buckley said.

In addition, Gov. Brian Sandoval signed Assembly Bill 259, which diverts $10 from civil filing fees and $5 from default notice filing fees to the legal aid center. Buckley says that will allow the center to add to the roster of 27 staff attorneys. "It's our goal to finally reach the place where we have an attorney for every abused child," she says.

And the center does even more:

It conducts classes on divorce, foreclosure, child custody, guardianship, bankruptcy and representing yourself in small claims court. It hosts an "Ask a Lawyer" forum for people with legal questions. It takes up the cases of residents fighting foreclosure, or who got in over their heads with payday loans, or who are having trouble with the Social Security Administration. And it offers free legal training for lawyers and law firms interested in pro bono work. (Buckley -- who was known for her tenacity and ability to persuade when she served in the Assembly-- travels to different law firms to recruit volunteer attorneys. And she's been known to get personally involved in high-profile cases, too.)

Many people don't know, Buckley says, that while indigent criminal defendants get lawyers provided by the state, poor people in civil court actions are on their own, or at least they would be, without the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada.

And the work isn't done just yet: Buckley says the center still needs about $500,000 in fixtures and equipment for the expanded building. You know, things such as desks for lawyers to work -- and needy clients to rest their heads.

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist and author of the blog SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/SteveSebelius or reach him at (702) 387-5276 or ssebelius@ reviewjournal.com.