Lawyers Clearinghouse on Affordable Housing and Homelessness, Inc.
7 Winthrop Square, 2nd Floor
Boston, MA 02110	 [P] (617) 544-3434 x 101
www.lawyersclearinghouse.org
Maribeth Perry
Lawyers Clearinghouse
Lawyers Clearinghouse improves the lives of people facing social and economic hardship by engaging the legal community in pro bono service to nonprofit organizations and their homeless and low-income clients.
Sept	01, 2018	to Aug	30, 2019
Access to Justice Fellows Program
Educational Program for Nonprofits
Legal Referral Program
Massachusetts Legal Clinic for the Homeless
The Lawyers Clearinghouse was founded in 1988 by the Boston and Massachusetts Bar Associations and has been bringing parties together since then. Its formation united lawyers from top Boston law firms to work for a common cause and marked the first time the Massachusetts Bar Association (MBA) and the Boston Bar Association (BBA) co-sponsored a project.
The Clearinghouse mission was bold: Tap into the reservoir of talented Massachusetts lawyers to help address homelessness and the lack of affordable housing through pro bono work. It was to act as a matchmaker, bridging attorneys with expertise in real estate, corporate law and tax law with nonprofit clients that dealt with matters of housing and homelessness.
Thirty years later, the Clearinghouse has adapted its mission and expanded the scope of its services while retaining key characteristics that have made it a successful model for similar organizations throughout the United States.
The Clearinghouse is now the primary provider of legal services to Massachusetts nonprofits. It provides a unique pro bono opportunity to non-litigators and in-house counsel, matches nonprofits with pro bono lawyers, puts on about two dozen nonprofit legal workshops each year, and sponsors a legal clinic for the homeless at 10 area shelters. Through these activities, the Clearinghouse leverages more than $7 million in donated legal services annually.
Accomplishments in 2018
1. Provided pro bono legal referrals to 136 nonprofit organizations, pro bono brief legal assistance to 51 nonprofit organizations, and legal intakes to 256 homeless men and women.
2. Presented 21 legal workshops for nonprofits with 438 attendees. Also presented 5 trainings for pro bono lawyers with 100+ lawyer attendees.
3. Engaged 19 Access to Justice Fellows (retired lawyers and judges) in one year fellowships with 16 legal services offices and nonprofit organizations.
4. A new Strategic Plan was developed, a new mission was updated and adopted to better reflect our goals and objectives, and new expanded office space was secured.
5. The Legal Clinic for the Homeless Program was expanded and improved on several fronts. With new funding secured, staff time was increased and resources for volunteer attorneys were expanded including the capacity to mentor and supervise attorneys in the areas of housing and immigration law. This increased capacity enabled us to serve more clients than ever before, 256, at 9 shelter locations.
1. Further improve our Massachusetts Legal Clinic for the Homeless program by expanding to new shelter locations, especially those serving women.
2. Increase pro bono engagements outside of the Greater Boston area by 25%.
3. Focus on and improve board development, diversity, and evaluation.
The Lawyers Clearinghouse seeks to:
1. Secure funding to maintain the full-time director position for the Massachusetts Legal Clinic for the Homeless ($50,000) to allow us to improve and expand the program as follows:
recruit more attorneys to participate
offer services outside of Boston
enhance pro bono attorney training
create supportive networks and materials for pro bono attorneys
provide advice and consultation on pro bono cases
provide expert mentoring and supervision on pro bono cases
take on cases when inappropriate for pro bono representation
collect and monitor data on cases and outcomes
2. Secure funding to support the continuation of Access to Justice Fellows (ATJF) Program which matches senior and retiring lawyers with legal services and other nonprofit organizations ($25,000).
The Lawyers Clearinghouse has been the primary provider of pro bono legal services to the nonprofit community in the Commonwealth since 1988. We are extremely efficient in our operations and last year coordinated the delivery of more than $7,000,000 in pro bono legal services on a budget of only $50,000. With a staff of 4 FTE, we provided pro bono legal services to 187 nonprofit organizations, 256 homeless men and women, and offered 21 legal workshops for nonprofits and 5 for volunteer attorneys.
Massachusetts-All Regions
City of Boston- Citywide (please select all areas as well)
City of Boston- Allston/ Brighton
City of Boston- Back Bay
City of Boston- Beacon Hill/ West End
City of Boston- Charlestown
City of Boston- Chinatown/ Leather District
City of Boston- North Dorchester
City of Boston- South Dorchester
City of Boston- Downtown
City of Boston- East Boston
City of Boston- Fenway/ Kenmore
City of Boston- Hyde Park
City of Boston- Jamaica Plain
City of Boston- Mattapan
City of Boston- Mission Hill
City of Boston- North End
City of Boston- Roslindale
City of Boston- Roxbury
City of Boston- South Boston
City of Boston- South End/Bay Village
City of Boston- Harbor Islands
City of Boston- West Roxbury
BERKSHIRE REGION, MA
CAPE &ISLANDS REGION, MA
CENTRAL REGION, MA
METROWEST REGION, MA
NORTHEAST REGION, MA
PIONEER VALLEY REGION, MA
SOUTHEAST REGION, MA
Crime & Legal - Related - Legal Services
Housing, Shelter - Homeless Shelters
Community Improvement, Capacity Building - Management & Technical Assistance
The Access to Justice Program engaged nineteen (19) Fellows who provided legal services to increase access to justice in Massachusetts at sixteen (16) Partner Organizations: Appleseed Foundation; Boston CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates); Citizen Schools; Conservation Law Foundation; Greater Boston Legal Services*; Jewish Family & Children's Services; Justice Bridge Legal Center*; KIND (Kids In Need of Defense); Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission; Massachusetts Rivers Alliance; MetroWest Legal Services; PAIR Project (Political Asylum/Immigration Representation); SERV (Settlement & Early Resolution Volunteers); SouthCoast Chamber; Veterans Legal Services; Volunteer Lawyers Project*. A total of ninety (93) Fellows and sixty-one (61) partner organizations have participated in the program since 2012.
The Fellows Program continues to have a rich, lively, and growing alumni community with nearly 100 former Fellows, the large majority of whom continue with their fellowship projects and/or become engaged in other pro bono work. The program continues to support these Fellows by offering resources including malpractice insurance, business cards, and free Social Law Library membership; managing an online forum through Google Groups; holding periodic alumni events; and publishing a newsletter.
Human Services, General/Other
More legal services will be available to the underserved.
Senior attorneys will provide nonprofits, legal services organizations, and the courts with critical legal assistance to underserved populations.
End of fellowship year reports and surveys.
One Fellow worked as pro bono lawyer at Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) representing undocumented, unaccompanied minors seeking the right to remain in the U.S. through asylum and Special Juvenile Immigrant proceedings. KIND serves as the leading organization for the protection of children who enter the U.S. immigration system alone and strives to ensure that no such child appears in immigration court without representation. New to immigration law, the Fellow represented three juvenile clients. She had 10 meetings with clients and appeared in court or before immigration officials 11 times. On each case, she was able to obtain special findings in Probate and Family Court which formed the basis of the petitions she later filed with the USCIS.
The Clearinghouse provides an array of educational programs for nonprofit organizations, often in collaboration with other groups and entities, including Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and Goodwin Procter on the Nonprofit Incorporation Project; DLA Piper and Pfizer on a series of legal seminars for nonprofits; DC Bar and Lawyers Alliance for New York on a series of legal seminars for nonprofits; Jericho Road Projects in Lawrence and Lowell; and Boston Private on their Social Investing educational series for nonprofits. Most recently, workshops were offered on the following topics:
· corporate governance for nonprofit executives and board members
· nonprofit incorporation and filing for federal tax-exempt status
· tax credits for affordable housing developers
· Massachusetts data security law and WISP development for nonprofits
· new Massachusetts lobbying and ethics rules for nonprofits
· fundraising and related regulatory issues for nonprofits
· personnel handbook issues in challenging financial times for nonprofits
· new reporting requirements for 403(b) plans for nonprofits
· ADA overview for nonprofits
In FY2018, twenty-one (21) legal workshops were presented for nonprofits with four hundred thirty-eight (438) attendees, four (4) webinars for nonprofits with thirty-four (34) attendees, and five (5) lawyer trainings serving more than one hundred (100) prospective pro bono lawyers.
Education, General/Other Educational Programs
To offer educational programs on topics of interest to the nonprofit community.
To educate as many nonprofit employees as possible to enable a more productive and compliant nonprofit sector.
Attendees fill out surveys at the conclusion of each program.
"Thank you again for the seminar yesterday! I've been reading through the materials you provided us and they've been extremely helpful (it's great to have all the materials you need in one place). If I had this book in the beginning, my life would have been a lot easier!"
The Nonprofit Assistance Program (formerly the Legal Referral Program) received two hundred four (204) requests for assistance from nonprofit organizations. The Clearinghouse successfully matched eighty-seven (87) organizations with attorneys providing pro bono full-representation legal assistance. Fifty-one (51) additional organizations received on-site representation on matters with finite scopes, such as lease reviews and bylaws updates, through six (6) clinic-style consultation programs staffed by corporate counsel and firm attorneys. Our goal was one hundred (100) cases placed. Staff provided in-house brief counsel to forty-nine (49) clients. Three hundred eleven (311) volunteer attorneys were recruited for this program and three (3) non-lawyer volunteers. Our goal was two hundred (200) pro bono attorneys.
This program also offers a preventive "legal checkup" where lawyers review and evaluate the corporate governance of nonprofit organizations to ensure that the organization meets legal requirements and follows best practices in business conduct. Corporate governance issues may include: legal formation and governance (articles of organization, bylaws, minutes, board training), internal controls and procedures (record retention, code of ethics, conflicts of interest, whistle blower policy), insurance (directors & officers insurance general liability insurance, and other appropriate insurance), IRS and state filing compliance, data security and intellectual property (collection and storing of client and staff personal information), and employment policies (employee manual or handbook).
Human Services, General/Other Information & Referral
General/Unspecified
Nonprofits will be able to address pressing legal issues at no cost.
100 nonprofits will get pro bono legal assistance and 50 will get brief legal advice and referral.
Case closure forms are submitted and firms report on value of donated services.
A Dorchester nonprofit sought assistance with delineating the property line of their office building and site. An adjacent neighbor has been utilizing part of the nonprofit's property. The organization obtained assistance to clarify their property lines and handle the situation so as to prevent a claim for adverse possession. Founded in 1979 and incorporated in 1982, their mission is to provide Latina girls and women with limited education or English proficiency with the means to effect social, political, and liberating changes in their families and communities.
The Massachusetts Legal Clinic for the Homeless provided legal assistance to two hundred fifty-six (256) homeless and very low income men and women. The target was two hundred (200). The Clearinghouse recruited and trained one hundred eighty-four (184) attorneys and paralegals who provided direct legal services at nineteen (19) clinics which were held throughout the period. The target was eighteen (18). Data on the value of the legal services provided is still being collected but we estimate the value to be $3,500,000. Our goal was $2,500,000.
Individual clients served through the program were all low income and homeless guests of the Pine Street Inn, St. Francis House, Bridge, Metro Housing Boston, Medeiros Center, Southampton Shelter, Woods Mullen Shelter, and Women's Lunch Place, or otherwise using shelter services.
Crime & Legal, General/Other Legal Services
Homeless Poor,Economically Disadvantaged,Indigent Adults
In FY19, 250 homeless men and women will meet with pro bono attorneys and be provided with pro bono legal assistance as needed.
Homeless men and women will have access to justice and the chance to remove legal barriers that prevent them from escaping homelessness through free legal services.
Case closure forms are submitted by lawyers and firms report on the value of donated services.
Our client was homeless and living at Pine Street Inn. She suffers from chronic physical disabilities that prevent her from obtaining full-time work, and had previously lived for many years in Section 8 housing with her adult son. In recent months, she struggled to cover the rent and eventually received an eviction notice. She was under the impression that, due to the notice, she was no longer expected to pay her rent, which ultimately caused her landlord to file an eviction action in court. The client defaulted and lost not only her housing, but also her Section 8 housing voucher. She then moved to Pine Street Inn, where the instability of shelter living exacerbated her physical disabilities.
Our volunteer attorney worked with the client to document the events leading up to her eviction and assisted her to collect letters that would explain her particular situation and the reasons why such circumstances would not repeat in the future. At the hearing for reinstatement of her housing voucher, the attorney emphasized that the client now better understood the parameters of her housing voucher, and would be sure not to violate its terms if the Section 8 voucher was reinstated. The hearing officer agreed to reinstate the voucher on the condition that the client pay arrears to her former landlord. The client had been saving money from a part-time job and was recently able to settle her debt. She expects to have her voucher reinstated soon and looks forward to moving out of the shelter and into a small apartment.
Ms. Maribeth Perry Esq.
Maribeth joined the Clearinghouse as its Executive Director in 1996. She is responsible for the overall administration of the organization. Maribeth is the former Co-Executive Director of the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance, Inc., and Executive Director of the Housing Information Center, Inc., multi service housing agencies providing services to landlords, tenants, homeless seeking shelter, elder homeowners, and first time homebuyers.
Maribeth graduated from Hofstra University School of Law in New York and the University of Utah. She is the author of The Successful Landlord, a guide to the rights and responsibilities of owning and managing rental property in Massachusetts.
Mia Friedman Esq.	 Legal Clinic Director	 --
Susan Gedrick Esq.	 Development and Fellows Director	 --
Machiko Sano Hewitt Esq.	 Legal Referral Director
Machiko joined the Clearinghouse as the Legal Referral Director in 2004. She is responsible for the Community Legal Referral Program, which matches pro bono attorneys with nonprofit housing, homelessness and economic development agencies in need of legal services. Machiko also administers the Boston Bar Association Business Law Pro Bono Project.
Prior to joining the Clearinghouse, Machiko worked at the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts of Massachusetts as a staff attorney and coordinator of its legal referral program. Machiko is a graduate of Northeastern University School of Law and Hokkaido University School of Law in Sapporo, Japan.
Board Excellence	 Massachusetts Nonprofit Network	 2012
Hero Award	 hopeFound	 2009
The Clearinghouse works collaboratively on various projects with the following partners:
Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and Goodwin on bi-monthly seminars for nonprofits seeking incorporation and federal tax-exempt status.
Boston Private, Jericho Road Lawrence, MACDC Mel King Institute, Pfizer, DLA Piper, DC Bar and NY Lawyers Alliance to provide numerous legal seminars for nonprofits.
VLP, GBLS, ten law firms and several in-house counsel to provide legal services to homeless clients.
Pro Bono Institute, Association of Corporate Counsel, and Mintz Levin on the Clinic in a Box program to engage in-house counsel in pro bono activities.
The Lenny Zakim Fund to educate and offer our legal resources to their grantees, who tend to be small, urban, and youth or education-focused.
Law schools, for legal referral of conflict cases.
Small Business Administration, SCORE Boston, CHAPA, MACDC, Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, Secretary of State's Office, MA Attorney General's Office, City of Boston Office of Business Development, Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, Essex Community Foundation, Brookline Community Foundation, Community Foundation of Nantucket, National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, and the American Islamic Congress as outreach and referral sources.
Mr. Christopher Lindstrom Esq.
Sept 2018 - Sept 2019
Ms. Leslie Cook Esq.	 Chicago Title Insurance Company	 Voting
Mr. Donald Deng Esq.	 State Street Voting
Mr. Douglas Henry Esq.	 Sherin and Lodgen	 Voting
Ms. Emily Hodge Esq.	 Choate Hall & Stewart	 Voting
Mr. Kurt James Esq.	 Rackemann, Sawyer & Brewster	 Voting
Mr. Christopher Lindstrom Esq.	 Nutter McClennan & Fish LLP	 Voting
Ms. Elizabeth Lintz Esq.	 Gouston & Storrs	 Voting
Ms. Jessica Lisak Esq.	 WilmerHale	 Voting
Ms. Kathleen McGrath Esq.	 Liberty Mutual	 Voting
Ms. Josephine McNeil Esq.	 CAN-DO	 Voting
Mr. George Mykulak Esq.	 WilmerHale	 Voting
Ms. Rosalyn Nasdor Esq.	 Ropes & Gray	 Voting
Mr. Stephen Nolan Esq.	 Nolan Sheehan Patten	 Voting
Ms. Kathleen Phelps Esq.	 Bingham McCutchen	 Voting
Ms. Cindy Rowe Esq.	 Rowe Resources	 Voting
Mr. Jeffrey Sacks Esq.	 Nixon Peabody	 Voting
Ms. Teresa Santalucia Esq.	 Klein Horning	 Voting
Ms. Kathleen Sheehan Esq.	 Beacon Communities	 Voting
Mr. Andrew Stern Esq.	 Foley & Lardner	 Voting
Mr. Paul Tremblay Esq.	 Boston College Law School	 Voting
Governance and Nominating
Strategic Planning / Strategic Direction
The Lawyers Clearinghouse completed a Legal Assessment of its operations and best practices are followed in all facets of governance.
Total Revenue $490,586 $574,894 $319,662
Total Expenses $415,001 $381,018 $311,269
Corporation Contributions -- -- $75,500
Unspecified -- $0 --
Indirect Public Support -- $0 --
Earned Revenue $8,350 $9,805 $12,445
Investment Income, Net of Losses -- $0 --
Membership Dues -- $0 --
Special Events -- $0 --
Other -- $0 $309
Program Expense $348,508 $320,504 $258,230
Administration Expense $66,493 $60,514 $53,039
Fundraising Expense -- $0 --
Total Assets $509,332 $417,794 $231,333
Current Assets $509,332 $417,794 $231,333
Current Liabilities $58,410 $42,457 $49,872
Total Net Assets $450,922 $375,337 $181,461
Financial summary data in the charts and graphs above is per the organization's IRS Form 990s. Contributions from foundations and corporations are listed under individuals when the breakout was not available. The breakout of funding from foundation and corporations was obtained from the 990 Schedule B for fiscal year 2015.