2008 Grant Awards

Grants awarded are:

Immigration Counseling Services ($25,000) - Refugee and Immigration Services of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond will provide immigration counseling to low-income individuals at several locations in Virginia.

Law-Related Education Project of the Page County Bar ($2,000) – Attorney-presenters will deliver classroom lectures and presentations to public school students of Page County in grades K-12 and at the Vocational Technical Center.

Public Service Internship Program ($72,000) - Grant funds will provide a minimum of three public-interest internships at the following law schools: George Mason University School of Law, Regent University School of Law, University of Richmond T C Williams School of Law, University of Virginia School of Law, William and Mary School of Law, Appalachian School of Law, and Liberty University School of Law. Internships will be awarded to selected students who will have completed one or two years of law school by the summer of 2009 and want to work with a public interest legal employer in Virginia.

Hiring of Professional Investigators ($13,000) - The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project will hire a professional investigator to look into the validity of wrongful imprisonment cases.

Virginia Institutionalized Persons' Project of the Legal Aid Justice Center ($15,000) – This project will examine issues pervasive in the institutions in which persons are incarcerated, by focusing on issues such as timely access to medical, dental, and mental healthcare for inmates; use of isolation and other restsrictive confinement; and protection from attacks by inmates.

Community Training to Protect Victims of Domestic Violence ($6,000) – In the fall of 2008, the Southwest Virginia Legal Aid Society will hold two training conferences for volunteers who serve victims of domestic violence.

Capital Defense Workshop ($19,000) – This program of the Virginia Bar Association Foundation covers training requirements (forensics and litigation) for attorneys appointed to represent defendants charged with capital murder.

Virginia Capital Trial Manual -4th Edition ($11,000) - This project of the Virginia State Bar Criminial Law Section, is to update the 3rd edition published in 2003. The manual is a balanced publication on capital litigation.The 4th Edition will be available at no cost to attorneys qualified to work on capital cases in Virginia, and to judges throughout the Commonwealth. It is expected to be ready for distribution in 2009.

Minority Pre-Law Conference ($10,050) - The Virginia State Bar Young Lawyers Conference will sponsor a two-day conference for Virginia undergraduate students with a potential interest in a legal career. The conference is open to all interested undergraduates and is intended to increase awareness of law school opportunities and ultimately increase enrollment by female and minority students in law school.

Law Day Activities ($7,500) - Funds were provided to support programming of Law Day activities on May 1, 2008 in conjunction with the presentation of the VLF Rule of Law Award and the dedication of the permanent Nuremberg Courtroom Exhibit at the Virginia Holocaust Museum (Richmond)

Nuremberg Courtroom Exhibit at the Virginia Holocaust Museum - Richmond ($100,000) –Grant funds assisted with construction of the Nuremberg Courtroom exhibit at the Virginia Holocaust Museum.

Indigent Defense Resource Study ($12,950) – The Virginia Bar Association Foundation will undertake a comprehensive study of resources and experts currently available to court-appointed counsel and public defenders in Virginia..

Statewide Legal Aid Conference 2008 ($20,000) – The Virginia Poverty Law Center will hold a three-day conference in the fall of 2008. Training sessions are offered in all areas of poverty law (many offering CLE credit).