More Turning to Legal Services for Help

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - With home foreclosures in Memphis among the highest in the nation, many families are desperately in search of help in dealing with their dire financial straits. Now, more are in need of the resources Memphis Area Legal Services provides as 'access to justice' for those that can't find a way out of their economic hole.

It's become that scary of a prospect, a dire and crippling reality in an economy gone sour. Millions of Americans are just paychecks away from teetering on the brink of financial disasters. Just ask people like Terry Davis.

"We were in very dire straits. We were facing foreclosure, and thousands and thousands of dollars in back payments that were due."

Davis' harrowing testimonial came during a news conference on the plight of providing legal aid for the poor held at the Memphis Area Legal Services offices downtown. With 9th District Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Carolyn Lamm, President of the American Bar Association, in attendance, the event focused particular light on the increasing home foreclosure problem which jumped dramatically over the last year.

"This year, because of the crisis, there's been a twenty percent increase in those below the poverty guideline," Lamm noted. "We now have sixty-five million people in the United States who are below the poverty guideline and in need of help."

Lamm echoed the message of the need for legal representation in dealing with foreclosure issues, which she asserted can be resolved fifty-five percent more often through the use of legal services lawyers. However, Lamm and Cohen agreed the federal budget allocated nationwide for the programs only amounts to $420 million, with a possible avenue to more funding now stalemated in Congress.

Lamm pointed out, "The funding from other sources for legal services is diminished significantly. So, all we got is what Congress will give them."

Currently, Memphis Legal Services, with 19 lawyers and a staff of 26 encompassing a four county area, deals with an average of 6,500 consumer, family and domestic violence cases a year effecting 14,000 people who qualify for legal assistance.

A grateful Davis concluded, "If it had not been for Legal Services here we would not have a home today and our children as well as ourselves, we would be homeless."