Full Circle
Sometimes life really does come full circle. When one comes “full circle,” it means that a series of developments have led one back to their original position. Beginning my legal career at St. Andrew Legal Clinic as a Staff Attorney and then returning to the Clinic now as the Executive Director, really feels full circle.
During my time away from the Clinic, I was a private practice family law attorney. My experience in a private law practice confirmed to me how costly attorney services really are and that there continues to be great need for what the legal community calls “low bono” legal services. In Oregon, there is no right to a free “public defender” in a civil matter. And most clients do not qualify for or cannot secure a pro-bono attorney, where there are zero associated legal fees. However, most clients also cannot afford to hire a private, market-rate attorney. That’s what makes SALC such one-of-a-kind resource in our community. We provide reduced legal fees, using a sliding scale based on household income, with full client representation from the beginning to the end of any family law matter. Full representation ensures that a client is educated about the legal process and advised about their legal rights every step of the way, including having an attorney by their side at a hearing in front of a judge.
This past month, I invited a judge and friend of SALC to share their knowledge with our staff attorneys. One of our Clinic founders, the Honorable Judge Keith Raines, provided his perspectives from the bench on contested family law cases. Talk about truly coming “full circle.” Judge Raines worked to start the Clinic over 40 years ago, acting as the Associate Director from 1979 to 1985, then as the Director from 1985 to 2001, when he took the bench as a Washington County Circuit Court Judge. This was an amazing moment for our staff to hear firsthand about the history of the Clinic and how his initial hard work continues today at SALC.
As I approach the end of my first full month as the Executive Director of St. Andrew Legal Clinic, the key takeaway for me is how urgent and seemingly endless the need is for low-cost family law representation. Every month, the Clinic receives over 100 inquiries from individuals seeking legal representation on a family law matter. In this past month, the Clinic has scheduled over fifty clients to speak to a Staff Attorney about their family law issue. Of those cases, approximately twenty were for dissolution of marriage, ten were for initial custody, parenting time, and child support, and the remainder were for a combination of modification, contempt, or protective order proceeding.
It is clear that the legal needs of potential clients who contact us outpace the Clinic’s current resources. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, it would take 82 work hours per week at minimum wage to afford a 2-bedroom rental home in the Portland metropolitan area. As many of our clients earn minimum wage, it is difficult to imagine how they could afford to hire a private attorney in addition to paying for their monthly necessities. That is why the Clinic is so important.
It’s been a really good first month! Coming full circle and being back at the original organization where my career began, I am more committed than ever to ensuring that the Clinic thrives.
Warmly,
Maxine Tuan