Page 36 - Pierce County Lawyer Novemer December 2024

TACOMAPROBONO COMMUNITY LAWYERS By Laurie Davenport
HOW WE GOT HERE, PART 2 (1984-2004) –
A short history of Tacomaprobono Community
Lawyers and Legal Aid in Pierce County
RECAP -- 1984 –
The Washington
State Supreme Court
passed the IOLTA
(Interest on Lawyers
Trust Accounts)
rule, establishing the
Legal Foundation
of Washington to
administer IOLTA
funds.
1984-1994 -- Legal aid
in Pierce County was
coordinated through
the Puget Sound Legal
Assistance Foundation
which received some IOLTA and LSC funding. The Access
to Justice Board (ATJ Board) was established in 1994 by the
Washington State Supreme Court. The 104th Congress moved
to eliminate all LSC funding, and the Washington State House
drastically cut civil legal services funding based on grower
organization and legislator opposition to representation of
migrant workers.
1995 -- The TPCBA took ownership of the VLS Program and
hired part-time staff to administer it. Attorney Elsie Ackerman
Powell was the first VLS Program Director. Programs offered
by VLS included the Neighborhood Legal Clinic, a Pro Se
Dissolution Clinic, and referral for full representation. LSC
required state planning processes in every state to prepare for
imminent federal funding cuts and new regulations. The ATJ
Board undertook the state planning process for Washington;
its recommendations resulted in Puget Sound Legal Assistance
Foundation, Spokane Legal Services and Evergreen Legal
Services merging to form Columbia Legal Services. A new
entity, Northwest Justice Project, was created to bid for the
1996 federal legal services dollars. Some state funding was
restored to replace lost federal dollars. In 1995 the annual
budget for the TPCBA’s new VLS program totaled $37,500, with
$7,500 provided by the TPCBA, $10,000 by LFW and $20,000
in LSC funding coming through PSLAF.
1995-2000 – The Pierce County Bar Foundation (PCBF)
was incorporated in Washington. The structure of the PCBF
included an “adjunct associated group,” the President’s Council,
for the purpose of supporting PCBF activities, i.e. the TPCBA’s
VLS Program. Members of the President’s Council were to
contribute $200 a year up to a total of $1,000, when they
would become a life member. The PCBF Board consisted of
members nominated by the Foundation Board, President’s
Council, TPCBA and Young Lawyers Section. In 1997, the
board consisted of Henry Haas, Don Powell, Gary Jacobson,
David Little, Joseph Quinn, Ron Thompson, Tom Cena, Jack
Connelly, Marywave Van Deren, and Thomas Quinlan.
2001 - The TPCBA VLS Program
was threatened with loss of its IOLTA
funding. Laurie Davenport was hired
as a temporary part-time director
with no support personnel and later
in the year was formally hired by the
TPCBA as the full-time permanent
VLS Program Director. Program
budget increased by $20,000 due to
contributions from the President’s Council plus revenue from
other local fundraising including sales of the Pro Se Dissolution
Clinic ‘how-to’ manual, Night at the Theatre tickets/advertising,
raffles and contributions from the Young Lawyers and Family
Law Sections.
2002-2003 – Discovering that the PCBF incorporated in
Washington in 1996 had never applied to the IRS for 501(c)
(3) nonprofit status, TPCBA President John Miller undertook
to properly incorporate it as the Tacoma-Pierce County Bar
Foundation. The mission of the Foundation was the same as
the original PCBF: to support the TPCBA VLS Program and
also other associated programs, including the Pierce County
Law Library. Board members included Terry McCarthy, Tom
Cena, Henry Haas, Dale Carlisle, John Purbaugh and Ron
Thompson. John Miller’s original goal for the Foundation was
to raise a total of $500,000 over five years, $250,000 from the
legal community and $250,000 from outside businesses and
individuals. 501(c)(3) status was granted by the IRS in April
2002 and the TPCBF held a kickoff celebration/fundraiser at
the Museum of Glass on November 1, 2002. The Foundation
instituted a Major Gifts Campaign to solicit 5-year pledges
from local law firms to support the VLS program, which now
had two full-time employees. The campaign, led by Henry
Haas, raised a total of approximately $42,000 per year
through 2007.
2004 – The VLS Program and the Foundation offices moved
into the building located at 715 Tacoma Ave S, which also
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