We are pleased to present Idaho
Legal Aid Services’ 2007 Annual
Report. For thirty-nine years our organiza-
tion has served the legal needs of low income
Idahoans. Every day, we work to protect those who
are less fortunate by providing them access to the judicial
system. We represent the most vulnerable persons in our
society, such as survivors of violence, the elderly, persons
with disabilities, homeless veterans, Native Americans, and
Migrant Farmworkers. In addition to helping our clients re-
solve often complex legal problems, we provide stability and
financial savings to the state of Idaho.
This report is a snapshot of what we have accomplished
over the past year. In 2007 alone, our attorneys served
4,400 clients and impacted the lives of more than 4,994 of
their family members. These remarkable achievements are
the direct result of our extraordinary attorneys and staff. Many of our staff have dedicated their careers to helping
our clients and are experts in various areas of poverty law. Others are fresh out of law school, and despite the bur-
den of school debt have chosen Idaho Legal Aid Services for their life’s work.
Our firm is not resting on its laurels. We have incorporated new technologies and improvements to our legal deliv-
ery model to serve more clients, more efficiently. Idaho Legal Aid Services, in partnership with the Idaho Supreme
Court and Idaho Commission on Aging, is a leader in “automating” legal forms by linking them to document assem-
bly software which enables users to represent themselves by completing complex forms by answering simple
questions in an interview format. Two statewide attorney staffed advice lines serve domestic violence victims and
senior citizens who may not otherwise have access to our offices. Our attorneys receive constant training enabling
them to act as leaders in the Idaho bar on poverty law issues.
Despite our best efforts we cannot serve the civil legal needs of Idaho’s rapidly growing population. Even as the
state’s population has grown our federal funding has stagnated and we depend more and more on unpredictable
soft money grants. To remain effective into the future our only option is to seek funding from the state of Idaho.
Forty-seven other states already fund their legal aid providers. Our job is to demonstrate that providing Idaho’s
citizens access to the third branch of government not only protects the legitimacy of government but pays the state
financial dividends. For example, we estimate that our 2007 family law practice obligated abusers to pay in one
year $1,275,660 in child support, day care, and medical insurance costs for their children, alleviating the state of
Idaho from paying some of those costs. A second example is the program’s Social Security practice which as a
result of our 2007 cases will bring an additional estimated $2,689,200 in federal dollars to Idahoans with disabili-
ties.
Throughout this report you will see that each problem we resolve creates stronger, safer communities for all of us.
We want to thank all of our supporters and friends by re-dedicating ourselves to our clients and work. We will con-
tinue to provide the highest quality services and maintain the high standards of professional and personal integrity
which clients have come to expect from Idaho Legal Aid Services for almost forty years.
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Friends,
Dear
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