Stories about Legal Aid Clients

On the brink of ruin, a rescue
Liz Morgan Hitt of Martinsburg, W.Va., faced cancer and financial disaster after her divorce. That's when her legal aid lawyer, Ryan Poe-Gavlinski, came to the rescue

Click here to view the National Law Journal article by Jenna Greene.  Click here for the PDF version.  Click here for the video.

SSI and Housing Security
“Mary” contacted ATLAS needing assistance with her Social Security disability claim and the looming possibility of losing her marital home, after her husband passed away. Mary had been turned down twice on her Social Security claim. Mary suffers from depression, kidney disease, diabetes, bleeding disorder, suicidal attempts and back problems. At the time she was waiting on her disability decision. With house payments 15-months past due, the landlord filed suit to void the rent-to-own contract and evict Mary. When she did not file an answer, he then filed for default judgment. The ATLAS Attorney helped Mary prepare an answer to prevent a default judgment asserting significant performance and equity. The involvement of the ATLAS Attorney ensured that Mary kept her home until she began receiving Social Security Income and Widow’s benefits. The ATLAS Attorney also mediated an agreement with the landlord, who agreed to again work with Mary on the purchase of her marital home. “Without your help I would have no income, and would have lost my home. I would have lost everything without the help of Legal Aid,” Mary told the ATLAS attorney.

Unjust Expulsion
A student with AD/HD was suspended from school, and the school administration subsequently pursued expulsion, for an incident that occurred at school. It turns out that the student has been diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, but the school was never given this information. The FAST Project Attorney represented the student at a manifestation meeting, and the incident was determined to be a manifestation of the student’s disability. The school withdrew the recommendation for expulsion, and the student returned to school and was provided a more structured schedule. The child’s mom recently reported to the Attorney that the student has been successful and is now enjoying school more.

Detecting Fraud
A BHA Program Advocate intervened to help a MRDD Waiver client, whose father and primary caretaker passed away suddenly. The client’s mother was struggling to leave him long enough to plan for her husband’s funeral when she contacted our advocate. Staff spoke with the MRDD Waiver provider to ensure that they were providing the services for which they were contracted. Our advocate then helped the mother find her son an emergency bed so that she could bury her husband and address some health problems of her own. As the case continued, BHA Program staff investigated the waiver provider and in coordination with Adult Protective Services determined that fraud had occurred with this client’s waiver services and the client’s case manager was disciplined appropriately.

Protecting Resident Dignity
During a routine monitoring visit at a nursing home, an ombudsman observed three female residents standing in a line in the main hallway. One of the women had visibly wet herself. The ombudsman gently whispered to the woman that she might want to go back to her room and request to be changed. The resident told her she was waiting in the hall with the other women because they all needed to be changed. The ombudsman spoke to the administrator and explained that lining the residents up in the hallway where they could be observed by other residents and visitors was embarrassing and violated their dignity. The nursing home staff had not thought about the public line-up as a dignity issue and quickly changed their practices, permitting the residents to wait in the privacy of their own rooms.

Bankruptcy
“Frank” left West Virginia as a young man and moved to a larger city. He worked in a factory all his life, and accumulated a little money. After he retired, his wife became ill with cancer, and by the time she passed away, their life savings were depleted. Frank was left with a mountain of doctor bills, his small pension and Social Security. Before she died, Frank’s wife had told him to go back to the rural county where they had been raised, and he did. Soon after moving home he started singing in the choir at a local church and met a childhood sweetheart. They were both now widowed. A beautiful, late-in-life romance developed. They were together for just a short while until she, too, became ill with cancer. Once again Frank took care of the woman he loved until she died. Still trying to pay off his wife’s hospital bills and now ill himself, Frank needed help. A local volunteer attorney, recruited by the Pro Bono Referral Project, took care of his bankruptcy. After the bankruptcy was complete, Frank wrote both the pro bono attorney and the local Legal Aid office touching thank you notes, explaining what it meant to him to be freed from harassing collection agencies and finally be debt-free. Less than a year later, Frank passed away. It was very gratifying to the local Legal Aid staff, and to the volunteer attorney and his staff, who had fallen in love with this gracious, gentle man, to be able to make his last days easier.

Domestic Violence
“Natalie” was referred to LAWV from the Women’s Resource Center, a local domestic violence program in Beckley, WV. Natalie had been successful at securing a Domestic Violence Protective Order, after her husband had brutally beaten her. Natalie was now ready to take the next step towards freedom and file for divorce. As the LAWV paralegal reviewed Natalie’s in-take information, she realized there was much more to the case than domestic violence. Natalie had a multitude of financial issues. Her husband owned a company and had her on the payroll as the Secretary, although she officially never received a paycheck. There was a lien on her house, along with a long list of outstanding bills. The LAWV Paralegal enrolled Natalie in a Bankruptcy Clinic, conducted by local attorneys through the LAWV Pro Bono Referral Program. Due to the complexity of the case, a local pro bono attorney was recruited to handle both Natalie’s divorce and bankruptcy. The pro bono attorney worked closely with Natalie for several months, ensuring that the issues were successfully resolved to Natalie’s satisfaction.

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