Page 19 - December 2018 | Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Journal

The Housing Justice Alliance The Housing Justice Alliance will focus be in vain if we cannot stabilize housing. A
Legal Aid is working to invest in the on providing tenants with full legal right to counsel in eviction cases is a way to
community by providing tenants a right to representation in Cleveland housing court to protect not only housing stability, but also the
legal counsel through Legal Aid’s Housing ensure that tenants participate meaningfully hundreds of other community investments to
Justice Alliance. Home is the center of life. in the eviction process. ensure our growth.
And, every tenant at risk of losing their home Our work will tip the scales for those who
should be represented by an attorney. A Community-Wide Effort cannot afford a lawyer when their homes are
The progression of the Housing Justice I am proud to sit on the advisory committee at risk. By establishing a right to free, high-
Alliance is divided into three parts: for the Housing Justice Alliance alongside: quality legal representation, the Housing
the preliminary phase, Phase 1 (partial • Cleveland City Councilman Tony Justice Alliance will secure safe, affordable
implementation) and Phase 2 (full Brancatelli and stable housing for Cleveland families
implementation). • Ian Friedman, Esq., President-Elect, living in poverty. This community effort
In the preliminary phase (pre-phase 1) of Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association will extend justice and help Cleveland grow
the project, Legal Aid housing attorney Hazel • Delores Gray, Community Representative and thrive. LegAL AId COrner
Remesch was chosen to participate in the • Cleveland City Council President Kevin
Sisters of Charity of Cleveland’s Innovation Kelley, Esq.
1 Megan Sandel, Richard Sheward, Stephanie Ettinger de
Mission Fellowship, an initiative to incubate • Jennifer Heinert O’Leary, Esq., Special Cuba, Sharon M. Coleman, Deborah A. Frank, Mariana
and make ready for implementation Counsel, Cleveland City Council Chilton, Maureen Black, Timothy Hereen, Justin Pasquari-
ello, Patrick Casey, Eduardo Ochoa and Diana Cutts, Un-
innovative solutions to improve the lives of • Tom Mlakar, Esq., Legal Aid stable Housing and Caregiver and Child Health in Renter
those living in poverty in Cleveland. • Gladys Reed, Community Representative Families, 2 Pediatrics 2018, Jan. 22, 2018, http://pediat-
rics.aappublications.org/ content/141/2/e20172199.
The research phase of the fellowship • Hazel Remesch, Esq., Legal Aid
has included visits to already active right • Steven Rys, Special Assistant to Council, 2 Matthew Desmond and Carl Gershenson, Housing and
to counsel programs in Washington, Cleveland City Council Employment Insecurity among the Working Poor, 0 Social
Problems 2016, Jan. 11, 2016, https://scholar.harvard.
D.C., and New York City. From those • Abigail Staudt, Esq., Legal Aid edu/files/mdesmond/files/desmondgershenson. sp2016.
viable programs Legal Aid learned how • Ken Surratt, Deputy Director of Housing pdf?m=1452638824.
critical it is that we have a comprehensive and Community Development, Cuyahoga
understanding of the landscape of evictions County Chris Patno is a principal at McCarthy, Lebit,
and the downstream effects of eviction in Our work together will create a right to Crystal & Liffman Co., L.P.A. and President of
our communities in Cleveland. Therefore, counsel which will preserve all of our other the Cleveland Academy of Trial Attorneys for
Legal Aid has initiated a study with Case community investments. New York City is 2018–19. He has been a CMBA member since
Western Reserve University to determine the first city in the country to provide a right 2007. He can be reached at (216) 696-1422 or
the effects of eviction in Cleveland. to counsel for tenants facing eviction. There crp@mccarthylebit.com.
In Phase 1 of the program, anticipated evictions have dropped by 24%. And, the city
to begin in mid-2019, Legal Aid will focus is expected to save $250 million because of an
on providing enhanced legal assistance increase in tenant representation in eviction The Cleveland Academy of Trial Attorneys
to residents facing eviction and whose cases. San Francisco is following suit, by (CATA) is an organization made up of
incomes are below 200% of federal poverty recently passing similar legislation. lawyers representing injured people in all
guidelines. Legal Aid will not be able Now, what if we could do that in areas of personal injury law, including
to represent every tenant and therefore Cleveland? How would the lives and our medical malpractice, workers’ compensation,
will collect data to show the social and community change? That young mother and product liability law. CATA was founded
monetary impact of no-cost legal counsel might be able to maintain a stable home, in 1959 by a dedicated group of Cleveland
as compared to tenants without legal stay out of the shelter system, keep her job, attorneys with the goal of helping trial
assistance. Residents in eviction cases for and keep her children in school. lawyers better represent their clients through
whom we are not able to provide services All of our community investments to educational programs and information. CATA
will have access to a tenant eviction help educate, feed, and employ will continue to remains committed to that goal today.

desk at the housing court, providing
information and resources for pro se
representation.
Evaluation of Phase 1 will help launch EXP3RT1S3
Phase 2 in three to five years. In Phase 2,
the Program will launch an actual right to
counsel in Cleveland Housing Court, where
all residents facing eviction who meet the Here, it’s about more than just numbers.
financial eligibility requirements will have the
option of being represented by an attorney at
their eviction trials.
Studies show that tenants who received
full legal representation in eviction cases 216.831.7171
were more likely to stay in their homes cp-advisors.com
and save on rent or fees. For this reason,
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