D.C. Bar Foundation: 25th Anniversary
Washington Lawyer, February 2003

This year the D.C. Bar Foundation celebrates its 25th anniversary. Every year since its founding in 1977 the Bar Foundation has awarded grants to nonprofit organizations that provide direct, hands-on legal services to low-income residents in the District of Columbia. Over the past quarter century those grants have totaled several millions of dollars, and the Bar Foundation has played a vital role in the provision of access to justice for those most in need.

Recently the Washington Lawyer was joined by Foundation President Andrew H. Marks and Executive Director Emily J. Spitzer to reflect on the Bar Foundation’s history of charitable giving and its future in a time of tight budget constraints.

Washington Lawyer: What is the primary mission of the Bar Foundation?

Emily J. Spitzer: The core mission of the D.C. Bar Foundation is very straightforward: it’s to fund legal services for those in need in the District of Columbia. We do so by awarding grants to local organizations that provide legal services to low-income clients in a variety of areas. Last year, for example, we gave $740,000 to 25 different organizations. The types of clients those organizations serve run the gamut from the homeless to the elderly, to those with HIV-AIDS legal concerns, to immigrants, victims of domestic violence, people suffering from employment discrimination, and many with housing issues. We try to cover the broad range of problems that commonly arise in underprivileged communities.

Andrew H. Marks: Here in Washington we are particularly blessed to have a wide array of organizations devoted to serving the legal needs of different segments of the population. Some of the organizations that we fund focus on particular issues, while others are more broadly based. The one common thread is that all of them are helping to provide access for the underprivileged in our community to our justice system.

What is the Bar Foundation’s relationship with the D.C. Bar?

AHM: They are two separate entities. The D.C. Bar is a mandatory bar that falls under the jurisdiction of the D.C. Court of Appeals. All of the lawyers practicing law in the District of Columbia are required to be members of the D.C. Bar. Unlike bar organizations in many other states, the D.C. Bar is unable to engage in fundraising for legal service organizations. That restriction is due to member referenda that were passed in the 1970s. Subsequently, the Bar Foundation was established as a separate 501(c)(3) organization that would permit fundraising for and grant making to legal service organizations.

The relationship of the Bar Foundation and the D.C. Bar is limited to two things. The first is that the Board of Governors of the D.C. Bar appoints the board of directors of the Bar Foundation, and the second is that, under the bylaws of the Bar Foundation, only former D.C. Bar presidents can serve as Bar Foundation directors. Aside from that connection, they are totally separate organizations.

Where does your grant-making revenue come from?

EJS: The Bar Foundation was initially created to provide lawyers and law firms with a vehicle for charitable giving. It was created so that lawyers could fulfill their ethical obligation to help make access to justice available to those who cannot afford it. Charitable contributions from the private bar have always constituted a portion of the Bar Foundation’s revenue.

In 1985 the D.C. Court of Appeals mandated that the Bar Foundation would also be responsible for the distribution of revenue derived from the IOLTA [Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts] program, which has been very successful. In fact, IOLTA revenue has been our primary source of funding. In May 2000 the D.C. Bar Foundation Study Committee issued a final report, which looked at what the future of the Bar Foundation should be. Among the committee’s conclusions was that the Bar Foundation was not achieving its full fundraising potential. The committee felt that the Bar Foundation was doing a good job in administering the IOLTA program, but that we could do an even better job if there was someone on the staff who was devoted to increasing fundraising capabilities. I was hired last spring as executive director with that objective in mind.

Have low interest rates had a negative impact on the funding the foundation receives from the IOLTA program?

AHM: Yes, we’ve been hit with a bit of a double whammy: low interest rates and a slow economy. Normally, low interest rates are good for the economy, but in the past couple of years we haven’t seen the full economic recovery that everyone has been hoping for. As a result, there have been fewer transactions of the sort that generate IOLTA interest, in addition to the reduced revenue that those accounts would normally generate due to low interest rates. As a consequence, we are experiencing a significant decline in revenue, which unfortunately means that we’re going to have less to give to legal service providers this year than we have in recent years if law firms do not step up and help close the shortfall. It’s hard to know exactly how steep the loss is going to be, since we’re in the middle of our fiscal year, but a drop of 25 percent in IOLTA funding might be in the cards.

Even though revenues are declining, most likely the needs are not.

AHM: That’s right, needs certainly have not declined with revenues. In fact, a slow economy typically leads to greater needs for legal services. That was very much the case here in Washington after the terrorist attacks of September 11, which had a disproportionate impact on our local economy. There was a drop-off in tourism that led to increased unemployment. We also saw an increase in domestic violence and immigration issues. Whenever you have a rise in unemployment, all the social and legal issues that accompany joblessness go up: you tend to see a rise in substance abuse, higher divorce rates, more domestic violence, and more homelessness. The problems just compound one another. Furthermore, the legal needs of immigrants have multiplied. Our population is getting older, so the legal issues associated with the elderly have increased.

As the need for legal services goes up, and the demands placed on our legal service providers intensify, the role of the Bar Foundation becomes even more important. There are a number of secondary impacts that result from a slowed economy. The fact is that the needs are greater now than they have ever been. The needs are enormous. Despite the great work being done by local legal service providers, it’s estimated that only 10 percent of the legal needs of the underprivileged are currently being met.

Can the loss of IOLTA revenue be made up by an increase in charitable contributions from the private bar?

EJS: We’d certainly like to see that happen and all indications are that it will. Now that I’ve had an opportunity to settle in as executive director and have become familiar with the challenges that are confronting us, I’ve discovered that the Bar Foundation is the best-kept secret in Washington. Many lawyers are not familiar with our work. A lot of lawyers don’t really understand what the Bar Foundation does, who we fund, and the rigorous review process that we undertake before approving grants. So I’m having great fun explaining to people what the Bar Foundation does. I enjoy showing lawyers our list of grantees and telling them about the great work being done. The reaction is always extremely positive. People are invariably impressed.

Our hope is that once law firms and lawyers become more familiar with the work we do, the charitable contributions we receive from the private bar will increase. Last year we raised $127,000 from law firms in the District. Only 14 percent of law firms with 20 or more lawyers made a contribution. So those numbers are low and they need to go up.

AHM: Right now we’re working very hard at fundraising. Fortunately, we’ve recently received some generous leadership grants. The law firms of Williams & Connolly and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom have each pledged $25,000. So we are off to a good start. In the coming weeks we’re going to be meeting with additional law firms. Our hope is that we can build a solid base of charitable giving, so that if the IOLTA funds come back to higher levels, we will be able to surpass the $1 million mark in charitable giving on an annual basis. We may not be able to accomplish that this year, but we’re doing our best.

Have you developed any new strategies?

EJS: In addition to fundraising, we’re always on the lookout for ways to bring more efficiency into the system, and to see if the money we’re dedicating to the provisions of legal services can be spent more wisely. In addition to carefully evaluating our grantees, we also try to find efficiencies that can be introduced into the legal services community. For example, we help fund Probono.net, which provides an online library of training materials, model pleadings, and relevant case law for volunteer pro bono lawyers. This is a program that leads to much greater efficiency within the legal services community. Probono.net is a marvelous tool. So in addition to making grants, we strive to get that extra mile out of a dollar.

This year we started offering challenge grants, where we match the contributions made by others to one of our recipient organizations. We’re leveraging our money and also making it easier for our grantees to go out and do independent fundraising. People are more likely to make a contribution to our grantees when they realize that every dollar they give will result in two dollars going to the organization. Law firms are also more likely to give to our grantees when they know that the legal service provider has passed our rigorous review process. So we’ve found that challenge grants can be an effective tool for those organizations that are set up to do independent fundraising.

How does the Bar Foundation select its grantees?

EJS: We have a very rigorous application process. When an application is submitted, the first question we ask is, Does the organization fulfill our mission? Does the organization serve the legal needs of the poor? If an applicant meets that criterion, then we go on a site visit, which is a standard part of our review process. We visit every organization that we fund at least once a year. We talk to the lawyers who are working in the trenches, and we observe the work that is being done firsthand. We also examine all of the relevant paperwork and the 990 forms. Then, after gathering all of this information, we assess how our money can be best spent, and make very difficult decisions in the awarding of grants.

Why are the decisions difficult?

EJS: The decisions are difficult because all of the organizations that we fund are doing such excellent work, the needs they fill are so vast, and the resources available are so limited. So many organizations are deserving of support. If organizations meet our high standards, then we try to fund them because we know that they need our money and will make good use of it. We want to continue to cover a broad range of problem areas and populations. We’re always open to new organizations if they’re doing the kind of work that meets our criteria and helps us to fulfill our mission.

AHM: I think it’s important to recognize that year in and year out the legal service providers here in the District of Columbia do marvelous work on limited budgets. Many of our grantees have been recipients of funds from the Bar Foundation for two decades or more. Others are newer. One of the things that we have been able to do is provide seed money to new organizations that address needs that are not being filled by the more established providers. Over time the number of organizations to which we make grants has grown, and it may grow more in the future. But every organization is evaluated every year. We take a hard, fresh look at what our grantee organizations are doing, and make our decisions only after a detailed review.

So every organization gets an annual site visit, no matter how well established it is or how long it has been affiliated with the Bar Foundation?

AHM: That’s right. All of our board members participate in the annual site visits, as do many of the members of our advisory committee and our executive director. I’ve gone on a number of the site visits myself, and they are one of the highlights of my year. When you spend time with the lawyers working at these organizations on extremely modest salaries, and you see the great work they are accomplishing, you can’t help but feel inspired. Spending time with these lawyers makes you proud of the legal profession.

EJS: One of the benefits of giving to the Bar Foundation is that contributors can be sure their money is well spent. The site visits give us an opportunity to observe the work being done at close range. They give us an opportunity to assess needs and services, and to evaluate where our money can be best spent. We are very careful about the organizations to which we give our money, and our overhead is very low. All of the officers of the Bar Foundation are volunteers, and our staff consists of only two employees. Lawyers and law firms can be confident that any money they give to the foundation goes directly to the provision of legal services for those in need. We strive to make sure that the money that comes in from our contributors is spent wisely and carefully.

AHM: Some law firms and lawyers here in the city already have established relationships with some of our grantee organizations. They work with them, and they provide them with funding. We think that is great, and we encourage that. We don’t want to suggest that they should divert any of the money that they are already in the habit of giving to our grantee organizations. We want them to keep on giving to these organizations. Our goal is not to shift the money around, or control it ourselves, but to expand the overall pot of money available. For those lawyers and law firms who are not currently helping fund legal services to the needy in our community, but who are interested in making a difference and are committed to their ethical responsibility to make access to justice a reality, the Bar Foundation is the ideal place to make a contribution. We know what the needs are and we know the legal service providers that are working in the community. To the maximum extent possible, we can make sure that the money we receive is money well spent.

Opponents of IOLTA-funded services have brought civil suits attacking the constitutionality of IOLTA programs, and two of those cases are currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. Do those cases concern you?

EJS: Yes, the cases you mention are a cause for concern because it’s hard to predict what the Supreme Court is going to do. We’re hopeful that the Court will uphold the IOLTA programs at issue. Regardless of how the Court rules in those pending cases, we are confident that the IOLTA program here in the District would remain intact because our IOLTA program is a voluntary, not a mandatory, program.
What can individual Bar members do to help?

AHM: I think it’s important for Bar members to appreciate how great the needs are in our community. I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to practice law in the District of Columbia, and I think it’s important for all of us who share that privilege to realize that the majority of the residents of our community cannot afford competent legal services. The only opportunity they have to access the justice system is through the help that is given to them by the organizations to which we make grants.

A number of firms are giving large associate bonuses this year—as high as $50,000 or more. A contribution of the amount of even just one such associate bonus would make an enormous difference. It sometimes is easy to think, well, my firm’s contribution isn’t going to make much of a difference. But when everyone is part of the solution, if every firm contributes at a level that it can comfortably afford, and you multiply that over the number of law firms in the District, it would have a dramatic impact. Even a modest contribution by law firms to the Bar Foundation can make a huge difference in our community.

I just can’t overemphasize the incredible work that is being done day in and day out by the legal service organizations we have in our city. They are truly worthy of our recognition and support.

More news...

From Washington Lawyer, Vol. 17, No. 6, February 2003, p32-36
(Washington, D.C., The District of Columbia Bar),
© 2003 by the District of Columbia Bar. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.