Maine's Chief Justice Leigh Saufley today announced a new program to recognize attorneys who donate more than 50 hours a year of free legal assistance to people who can't afford lawyers. Attorneys who reach the threshold will be recogized as members of the Katahdin Counsel Recognition Program. Maine attorneys already have the second highest rate in the country for pro bono representation. But because of the ongoing recession the need for their help is greater than ever.

Speaking at a news conference at the State House, Justice Saufley says it's estimated that 70 percent of people who appear in front of a judge in non criminal matters in Maine cannot afford to hire a lawyer. Many of them are poor, elderly or both.

And Saufley says going without representation can carry a high price. "Many of these people face the potential loss of basic human needs. They're confronted with domestic violence, loss of housing and family chaos where custody of--or even contact with--their children is threatened."

Justice Saufley says she's hoping the creation of the Katahdin Counsel Recognition Program for attorneys performing pro bono legal work will raise the profile of what some view as a professional responsibility to preserve integrity of the court system.

Saufley also hopes it will bring more volunteer attorneys on board--attorneys such as Barbara Raimondi of Auburn. "The last case that I spent a lot of time working on I worked on for a year-and-a-half as a pro bono guardian ad litem for a little boy," Raimondi says. "You know, he didn't have anybody to speak for him in the system and that was something that I was able to do."

As a guardian ad litem, Raimondi's job was to represent the boy in his parents' custody dispute over him and to make a recommendation to the court. The boy was just six years old.

"I used my authority, basically, to monitor the situation of both parents and to make sure that the child wasn't in jeopardy and that the child got needed services, got to counseling, got to doctor appointments, you know, that there was a regular visitation schedule and that he made it to school."

In criminal cases when a person is facing jail time and doesn't have enough money to afford an attorney, the state will appoint one. But in non-criminal matters such as bankruptcy, foreclosure, divorce and child custody, that's not the case. That doesn't mean there are no other options.

"We have great legal services in Maine: Pine Tree Legal Assistance, Legal Services for the Elderly, ILAP, which helps people with immigration issues, and they do have attorneys who can help people with low incomes," says Juliet Holmes Smith, the executive director of Maine's Volunteer Lawyer Project, which she says has a database of about a thousand attorneys who are willing to volunteer their expertise and time to help clients in need.

At any given time, VLP has 800 cases referred to attorneys across the state. Some attorneys, such as Ginger Davis with the Pretti Flaherty law firm in Augusta, even volunteer their time in areas that are outside their expertise. Davis is an environmental attorney who often volunteers to take on cases involving protection from abuse. She says she once representated a woman against her husband in a case that lasted several years.

"Probably the most fun I had in that case was when the father's counsel made a motion for counsel's fees, thinking that, well, obviously, the mother has to have some resources because she's represented by a lawyer from Pretti Flaherty. And I stood up and said, 'Your honor, this is a VLP case. I'm doing this pro bono. There is no money. All of a sudden all of the motions stopped and we went on a fast track to resolving."

Davis says the situation illustrates how important it is for people involved in court matters to have a level playing field with both parties represented by counsel.

For more information about how to access pro bono legal services, click here.