CAPITAL AREA IMMIGRANTS’ RIGHTS COALITION – $65,000
The newest programmatic initiative of the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition (CAIR), the Virginia Justice Program (VJP), strives to ensure that non-citizens receive equal justice in Virginia criminal courts. It provides support to members of Virginia’s criminal defense bar in their representation of non-citizen defendants, including training on the immigration consequences of Virginia offenses, individual case consultations, and regularly updated legal resource materials regarding the immigration consequences of Virginia offenses.
HILL TUCKER PRE-LAW INSTITUTE – $15,000
Named for legendary civil rights attorneys Oliver Hill and Samuel Tucker, the Oliver Hill/Samuel Tucker Pre-Law Institute reaches future lawyers at an early age to provide them with exposure to and the opportunity to explore the legal profession, all at no cost to the participants.
For one week, high school students from all over Virginia are introduced to the legal profession by living on a college campus and attending mock classes and seminars on career opportunities in the law, test taking strategies, and the college admissions process. The students meet with law school professors, judges, guest lecturers, and state and local bar association members. The students participate in other programs geared to developing them as all-around professional individuals, such as a networking social and an etiquette dinner. At the end of the week, the students participate in a mock trial. The Institute culminates in a graduation banquet, where a prominent minority member of the bar is the featured speaker.
LAWYERS HELPING LAWYERS – $22,000
Lawyers Helping Lawyers helps Virginia’s legal professionals with debilitating addiction or mental health conditions take the first steps toward recovery with confidential, 24-hour assistance. The program provides many services, including verification of a problem, planning and implementing interventions, referral to treatment providers, support from and for peers, support for family members, establishing and monitoring rehabilitation contracts, and assisting and identifying financial resources for treatment.
The Lawyers Helping Lawyers Strategic Initiative will help the organization formulate a strategic plan to generate the necessary resources to support broader educational outreach to the legal community and additional mental health and substance abuse services to those in need.
LEGAL INFORMATION NETWORK FOR CANCER – $10,000
The Central Virginia-based Legal Information Network for Cancer (LINC) has been linking people with resources that ease the day-to-day challenges of cancer for 20 years, envisioning a community where no cancer patient goes without needed support services.
LINC connects cancer patients and their families with legal assistance, financial guidance, and community resources, and by doing so, to the efforts of some of Virginia’s most dedicated volunteer attorneys. These attorneys, as well as accountants and other professionals who work for LINC on a pro bono basis, can help cancer patients solve many of the problems they face – eviction, bankruptcy, custody battles, employment security, and similar worries.
PUBLIC SERVICE INTERNSHIPS – $50,000
Supported by the Virginia Law Foundation since 1989, public service internships for first- and second-year law students help bring to light the importance of public interest and pro bono work. Each of Virginia’s eight American Bar Association-accredited law schools receives funding for public service internships during the summer.
The students work under the supervision of an attorney. The work they complete varies widely, depending on the missions and caseloads of their host organizations. Some students gain experience working on individual client matters, and some work on projects affecting many clients in the organization’s service area.
TAHIRIH JUSTICE CENTER – $25,000
Tahirih Justice Center’s Falls Church office meets the urgent and emerging legal needs of low‐income immigrant women and children throughout Northern Virginia facing gender-based violence, including domestic violence and sexual assault, female genital mutilation, trafficking, and forced marriage. The Holistic Legal Services for Immigrant Women and Girls in the Wake of Extreme Violence Project provides access to justice for low-income immigrant women and girls to enable them to obtain the legal protections that form the foundation of a safe, self-sufficient life, including legal status, work authorization, and family reunification.
VBA CAPITAL DEFENSE WORKSHOP – $23,400
The only educational program that covers both the forensics and litigation training requirements for Virginia lawyers representing defendants charged with capital murder, the goals of this workshop are to (1) maintain/increase the current level of qualified lawyers certified to accept capital cases; (2) provide attendees additional insight regarding national developments in death penalty litigation; and (3) enhance participants’ overall level of skills and productivity as representatives of capital defendants.
This is the 21st year of the Virginia Law Foundation’s financial support, which allows the workshop to be presented with only a nominal charge to registrants. Each year, up to 250 lawyers receive the training to help them meet standards set by the Virginia Supreme Court and the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission, in conjunction with the Virginia State Bar, for the defense of capital cases in Virginia.
VIRGINIA HOLOCAUST MUSEUM – $10,000
In 2016, the Virginia Holocaust Museum will host a traveling exhibit, “Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race.” The exhibit traces the eugenics movement from the early 20th century to the Third Reich’s genocidal ambitions. Also examined through supplemental programs, seminars, and guided tours will be Virginia’s role in U.S. legislation, medical ethics, legal responsibilities, an individual’s rights, and the role society played in the pseudo-science movement.
VIRGINIA POVERTY LAW CENTER – $20,000
For over three decades, Virginia Poverty Law Center (VPLC) has been providing leadership, support, training, public education, and advocacy to address the civil legal needs of Virginia’s low-income population.
VPLC holds an annual conference on legal issues relating to poverty. The three-day conference is comprised of approximately thirty training sessions on issues including consumer, health, family, housing, and other areas of civil poverty law. The project serves all of Virginia with the goal of educating legal aid attorneys and staff on those issues that most impact low-income Virginians. It also provides attorneys with the opportunity to earn the required number of CLE credits at little or no cost and provides a meeting ground for legal aid attorneys and staff to discuss the latest developments in the valuable work they do.
VLF / VBA RULE OF LAW PROJECT- $75,000
The Rule of Law Project seeks to fundamentally change the way the rule of law is taught in America’s schools. It is a unique educational program that pairs members of local bar associations with middle school civics teachers to educate students about the origin, meaning, and applicability of the rule of law as the basis of democratic ideals and institutions. This collaboration among teachers, lawyers, and judges empowers students at a formative age to become active and engaged citizens as adults and serves as a model program easily adaptable to social studies classes at any grade level.
