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Legal advice can be costly, and therefore intimidating for those without deep pockets. But not seeking legal help when it is needed can be like trying to save money by not changing the oil in a car.
A new East Hampton-based nonprofit is now offering to help disadvantaged East End residents get help with legal problems that they might otherwise have been unable or hesitant to tackle on their own, before things get out of hand.
From a battered woman seeking shelter at The Retreat who needs a divorce, to elderly homeowners who don’t know if they can sue for shoddy workmanship, to a poor family without wills or health care proxies in place, the attorneys and aides who formed East End For Opportunity are hoping to be able to guide disadvantaged residents to the legal help they need.
“The Legal Services Corporation says 80 percent of all the legal needs of the disadvantaged in this country are unmet,” said Mark Butler, an attorney and founder of East End For Opportunity, or EEFO. “You come across a lot of sad stories. A lot of people are being taken advantage of and end up having no recourse, because they did not take action when they could have. The problem is basically a marketing issue, which is what we are trying to address.”
Walking into an attorney’s office to inquire about whether legal assistance is necessary can be an almost impossible thing to fathom for many, because of the fear of high fees.
But in many instances, the people EEFO is seeking to help, its staff said, really just need experienced clerical assistance, not an attorney at all, to navigate bureaucratic paperwork labyrinths.
“Often, they just need help, not an attorney,” said Diana Walker, one of the group’s founding members. “What I have learned is, in a small town, it is very often about relationships and having people you trust who you can ask for advice. That is what we want to be.”
The group, which was formed last March, has enlisted Erika Padilla to be its front-person, the one who fields requests for help and figures out whether the person asking needs an attorney or just a little legwork by someone who understands how to handle red tape.
“We have divorce cases. We have a woman who is applying for citizenship, and I am helping her with that, instead of her having to pay a lawyer $1,200,” Ms. Padilla said. “We are getting more and more phone calls every week. The word is spreading.”
Explanations of elder law, health care proxies and non-payment of wages, largely to undocumented immigrants, have been issues that repeatedly have come up for the group. EEFO, though founded by attorneys, does not dispense legal advice itself.
Rather, another founder, the attorney Zachary Cohen, said, the role the group is seeking to play is more that of a guidance counselor, examining a certain individual’s needs and, if an attorney is required, helping to find one and negotiate a rate the person can afford.
Several local lawyers have pledged to work with the group, like Chris Kelley, Susan Menu and Carl Irace, and they have offered reductions from their usual rates for people brought to them by the EEFO.
“And then we will monitor how their case is going,” Mr. Cohen said. “We had an instance where an employer failed to pay wages—Mark actually went and saw the employer at a job site.”
Mr. Butler said he is hoping that the group will continue to attract attorneys and local professionals who are willing to help its cause, because he knows it will continue to attract residents in need of assistance.
“Once people understand that there is someone local who can help them figure out what help they need, and it won’t cost them hundreds of dollars, we think it will be something that will be a great benefit to this community,” he said. “We’re just trying to help people who wouldn’t otherwise come forward, and then their situation would just get worse. But if they know what they can do, or should do, at the outset, they may find a very different outcome.”
27east on Jan 19, 2018