The Coffin Family Law Fellowship provides legal representation in family law matters to clients who have qualified for pro bono assistance through the Volunteer Lawyers Project. Named after Frank M. Coffin, Senior Judge on the First Circuit Court of Appeals, the Project supports attorneys based in the Portland, Maine offices of Pine Tree Legal Assistance. …
Civil Legal Aid in Danger
The Trump Administration proposed to eliminate the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) and zero out federal funding for civil legal aid.
Click here to read an editorial that ran recently in the Portland Press Herald and Kennebec Journal, reiterating the huge economic impact of legal aid in Maine.
If this draconian cut is implemented, Pine Tree …
Trump plan to gut civil legal aid would have devastating impact on Mainers
Maine Justice Foundation Board President William Robitzek wrote the following Op Ed piece in the 3/29/17 issue of the Portland Press Herald.
Former Maine Justice Foundation Board President, Arnold Macdonald, Esq., also wrote an article that ran in the April 2017 Maine Lawyers Review, on the impact of civil legal aid in Maine. Click the …
Economic Impact of Civil Legal Aid Services in Maine
A new study shows services provided by six core legal aid providers to low-income individuals and households in Maine have a positive economic impact on the State.
The providers include the Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic of the University of Maine School of Law, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, Legal Services for the Elderly, Maine Equal Justice …
Legal Services Corporation Funding At Risk
The Maine Justice Foundation has learned from the National Legal Aid and Defender Association and the American Bar Association that there is a hit list of programs that President Trump might eliminate to trim domestic spending, including the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). Maine’s recipient of LSC funds is Pine Tree Legal Assistance.
In 2016, 24% …
Welcome to our new Development Director!
The Maine Justice Foundation is very pleased to announce that Mathew (Matt) Scease of Hallowell, Maine is our new Development Director.
A 1993 magna cum laude graduate of Bowdoin College, Matt has more than 15 years of development experience. For the past 10 years, he served as Associate Director of Philanthropy (formerly Major Gifts Director) …
Congressman and Gay Rights Advocate Barney Frank & Maine Justice Foundation Launched New LGBT Justice Fund
Portland, ME. December 7, 2016 — The Maine Justice Foundation (MJF) launched its new LGBT Justice Fund at an event held at Holiday Inn by the Bay, and nearly 100 supporters and advocates attended. The fund is designated solely to ensure that vulnerable members of the LGBT community in Maine have access to civil legal …
Instructions for Lawyers Opening New IOLTA Accounts
Please use new MJF Form #2 (dated December 2015), which replaces existing form “Notice to Financial Institution to Establish an IOLTA Account.” This new form includes your authorization for the financial institution to notify the Board of Overseers of the Bar of overdrafts. Please sign and provide the original form to the financial institution and …
Special Opportunity for Giving!
Good News! On December 18, 2015, Congress passed a tax bill that made the IRA Charitable Rollover permanent. This allows people aged 70-1/2 or older to transfer up to $100,000 annually from their IRA accounts directly to a charity, like the Maine Justice Foundation.
The distribution counts as their required minimum distribution without increasing their …
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