In the Trenches Archives

September 2011

 A daughter contacted Legal Aid when her blind 66 year old mother was in danger of losing her entire SSI check because of a $7,200 overpayment. Attorney Lori Wilson aided the pair in holding a conference with the Social Security Administration and having the overpayment waived. Both mother and daughter  were thankful that Legal Aid of Nebraska provides “a wonderful service for those who truly need it.”

July 2011

" Lawyer's stroke affects many"   
Pat Ford, droll lawyer for Omaha's homeless, remains hospitalized in a medically induced coma after suffering a stroke.

With his hippie, Jesuit-educated idealism, mastery of civil bureaucracy and penchant for writing and scotch, Ford would make a fine character in a Grisham novel.

A lifelong bachelor and an only child who outlived his parents, the 68-year-old has three uncles and an aunt in town. Mostly looking after him is a coterie of current and former Legal Aid attorneys who keep each other updated with a Facebook page that is part Irish wake, part news feed.

How Ford fares has ramifications, though, beyond those who know and love him. Ford, with a thick legal résumé and ease with courts and the challenges poverty brings to his clients, is widely viewed as the lawyer for the homeless. Legal Aid, Nebraska's largest nonprofit civil legal service for the poor, has divvied up his five dozen cases among four staff attorneys.

Friends and colleagues say Ford has a two-fold gift that has served him and his clients well: He can talk to anyone, and he knows how to get results.

“He is the best lawyer I know,” said Sean Bradley, an Omaha attorney who formerly worked with Ford at Legal Aid and now works at Cockle Law Brief Printing Co. “He really impressed me by what he was able to do for his clients who were all in terrible need for his services.”

Del Bomberger, who runs the Stephen Center shelter at 27th and Q Streets, called Ford “one of the last of his generation — a true believer in the highest sense. Someone who really believes in what he is doing.”

Ford is an Omaha native who graduated from Creighton University and got his law degree from Boston College. He grew his hair long in the 1960s and drove a Volkswagen bus from Boston to San Francisco. In California, he represented American Indians, ran the Monterey Legal Aid Society and worked for the sue-happy, bombastic lawyer Melvin Belli. He survived a brain aneurysm years ago and eventually moved back to Omaha, where he began working for Legal Aid.

According to Dave Pantos, executive director for Legal Aid, on June 27, Ford called the office to say he wasn't feeling well, wouldn't be in and couldn't cover an afternoon court hearing. The paralegal who took his call thought Ford was slurring his words and seemed disoriented. She called back and he seemed worse — he couldn't recite his address.

Legal Aid called 911, then called Bradley. Ford was taken to Bergan Mercy Medical Center, where doctors said he had suffered a stroke.

Pantos and Bradley said Ford last week could communicate but his left side had shut down — he couldn't move anything on his left side or see out of his left eye. Then he experienced brain swelling and on Saturday underwent a craniotomy to relieve the pressure.

Bradley said the surgery went as well as could be expected, but Ford was still in a medically induced coma. Bradley said it was too early to know his friend's prognosis.

Ed Sobczyk, one of Ford's uncles, said doctors told him that they wouldn't know the extent of the stroke damage for several more days and that Ford could be hospitalized for at least a couple of months.

“It could be a ways,” Sobczyk said.

Friend and former Legal Aid colleague Milo Alexander said he visited Ford last week and was hopeful for a recovery.

“One of the things he said to me ... was he had an aneurysm in California and came back fully from that. He's hoping he'd come back from this, too.” 

By Erin Grace
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Published Wednesday July 6, 2011

May 2011

In 2005, a woman with a severe degenerative disc disease was denied Supplemental Security Income(SSI). Attorney Patrick Carraher worked to appeal the decision and eventually won a hearing with the Appeals Council. However, the client continued to be denied benefits because of a piece of real estate she inherited with her siblings. Carraher proved that the land was not accessible and therefore not a viable resource for his client. After six years of hard work and dedication, Carraher’s client was awarded her monthly benefits along with over $44,000 in back pay.

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Attorney Lori Wilson stopped a bank account garnishment against an elderly widow. Wilson filed a claim of exemption showing that her client, an 80 year old woman, only had Social Security Retirement deposited into the bank account. The bank account was released without a hearing and the bank even refunded the garnishment fee they had originally charged our client.

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March 2011

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A 73 year old woman sought legal assistance from the ElderAccessLine® after being notified she had underpaid her rent and now owed 1,600. Legal Aid attorney Margaret Schaefer advised the elderly woman to request documentation of the debt from the landlord.  By following our advice, it was determined that the landlord was mistaken and our client did not owe any money.

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A young mother sought help from Legal Aid when fleeing a relationship where she had survived years of violent threats and physical abuse. After escaping with her four year old daughter, our client’s abuser immediately sought custody of their child. Legal Aid attorney, Kay Strong filed a protection order charging her client’s abuser with kidnapping and domestic violence.  After hearing a recording of the abuser threatening our client, the judge awarded custody to the mother and only allowed the abuser supervised visitation.

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After being injured on the job which removed her main source of income, a single mother faced losing her home in foreclosure.  Our client intended to use her tax refund to pay her debt but the entire refund was seized by the Department of Education. Legal Aid attorney, Tim Riveria, filed a waiver to recover her tax refund and negotiated an affordable repayment plan. Our client is well on her way to financial security and is thrilled to have a home for her family.

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February 2011

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After three years a daughter has been returned to the care of her mother.
Our client proved to the court and herself that she can meet the health needs of her daughter, who was born with severe health complications. During the case, the client also addressed issues of domestic violence between herself and the child's father. Attorney Brittani Lewit is proud to have played a part in the reunification of mother and child.

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Attorney Patrick Carraher empowered a mother of two by securing a divorce from a husband in prison for sexually assaulting their daughter. Our client can now provide a supportive and safe home and the man will have no contact with the children unless expressly approved by the mother and supervised by an adult.

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January 2011

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After nearly a decade in an abusive relationship, a mother of three tried to make a fresh start. But the abuser showed up unannounced and took the children from their mother’s home and refused to disclose where he or the children were. Terrified, the woman sought help from Legal Aid.  After weeks of threatening that the mother must meet him to see her children “for the last time,” the man was informed that a hearing would take place. When he showed up to the hearing, attorney Jonathan Seagrass made sure the emergency order for custody of the children was upheld. The children were reunited with their mother and at the final hearing she was granted custody.

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Legal Aid attorney, Lori Wilson, prevented a disabled client from having his disability benefits terminated. Working with the client’s caseworker, Wilson proved his earnings were exempt* and her client was and remains eligible for disability benefits. Wilson also reduced her client’s final overpayment and made sure he will continue to receive the benefits he qualifies for.

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December 2010

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December 23: Attorney Mark Bestul worked to get an eviction complaint against his client dismissed. By showing that the complaint was insufficient Bestul ensured that his client, a young woman struggling to find employment, now has one less burden during these winter months.

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December 16: Legal Aid successfully represented a young Somali woman in an unemployment benefit appeal. The client, a former employee of a meat processing company was disqualified from unemployment benefits for 12 weeks because of alleged employee misconduct.  Attorney Lori Wilson overturned the disqualification so the client will now receive the benefits originally denied to her.

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November

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November 30: Legal Aid of Nebraska attorney, Shawn Farritor convinced a judge to reopen a divorce case for a mother of three who sought to escape an abusive relationship. The case had previously been dismissed because our client was unable to pay for representation, partially because her child support was set at only 50 dollars a month for all three children. Not only was the client’s divorce granted but the child support for her three children was also increased.

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November 8: Legal Aid of Nebraska attorney Amanda McMahon won an Appeal to the Department of Labor for her client to keep her unemployment benefits. Her client, a Certified Nurse Assistant had been discharged for failing a drug test but was prevented from being re-tested and the drug test was ultimately found to be suspect. Thanks to McMahon’s efforts the client will continue to receive all the benefits she is entitled to.

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October

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October 12: “After witnessing a Spanish-speaking woman struggle to represent herself in court without the assistance of an attorney or an interpreter, Kelly Boswell went to work. Appalled by the court’s insensitivity to the client's language barrier a motion for a new trial was filed. The client was granted another trial and this time with the help of Kelly and an interpreter the Protection Order against her was modified.”

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September

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September 13: Legal Aid’s Omaha attorney Tim Riveria saves a client’s car! One of Tim’s clients used her car as collateral to get a personal loan from a local credit union.  On the date she filed bankruptcy, the car was worth a little less than $1,000.  The balance of her loan, however, was over $5,000.  Because the value of the car was less than a $2400 exemption allowed in the bankruptcy, Tim filed a motion to remove the lien that was on the car due to the loan.  The credit union argued that the car was actually worth $3400.  The motion was set for hearing and Tim convinced the court that the car was in fact worth less than the exemption and the court granted his motion to remove the lien, allowing his client to keep her car without having to pay the balance of the personal loan.

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September 8: Lincoln office attorney Brittani Lewitt was successful in the unemployment claim appeal her client filed against Wal Mart. See our archives for more details.

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September 3: Another report from the Elder AccessLine: “The ElderAccessLine assisted a caller who received a writ of execution.  We provided the proper Notice of Exemption forms and assisted the client in filling them out and getting them filed.  Caller represented herself pro se, and called back to the ElderAccessLine to let us know she was successful in court, and the judge found her property was all exempt.

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September 3: The ElderAccessLine was able to help a caller get a bank account garnishment released through negotiations with the plaintiff’s attorney.  The senior’s social security was returned to them.

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September 1: According to Margaret Schaefer, Elder AccessLine Attorney, “The ElderAccessLine helped a caller who was being harassed by a collection agency.  The caller sent the collection agency a “do not contact” letter as directed by the ElderAccessLine Attorney, and within a week the phone stopped ringing.  The caller was happy to have peace and quiet.

August

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August 30: According to AccessLine™ Attorney Kim Dunovan, “A client called the Accessline after being notified by Nebraska Child Support Enforcement that they were holding child support owed to his mother, who died over ten years ago. Client’s father was the source of the child support payments. I obtained a court order to authorize Child Support Enforcement to disburse the child support funds to our client. Today a check was issued to our client for just over $1900.

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August 27: According to our Private Attorney Involvement coordinator Christine Stolarskyj, “Thanks to the excellent work of PAI Attorney Steve Fillman and his associate attorney, Amy Hoffman, a mother has finally won sole legal and physical custody of her two children.  The children’s father initially obtained temporary custody of the kids and took them to live with him in Kansas.  But after nearly a year of hard work, zealous advocacy and two days of trial, Steve and Amy were able to successfully prove to the Court that it was in the best interests of the children for custody to be returned to their mother.  Legal Aid also thanks attorney Christine Campbell of Kansas Legal Services in Wichita Kansas and PAI attorney Mark Noah of Beloit Kansas for their invaluable assistance in the Kansas actions pertaining to this matter.  Legal Aid clerks Sarah Fech and Matt Hansen also deserve a big thank you for providing excellent research under short notice.  A tremendous job – thanks to Steve and Amy and all who worked on this case!

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August 10: Lori Wilson in Grand Island made a huge difference for a Nebraska family: “I just won disability benefits for a 15 year old boy who lives with his parents and two siblings in rural Nebraska.  The family received back benefits of $17,500 and regular monthly benefits for the child which will go a long way in moving this hard working family out of poverty.

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August 9: Omaha client advocate Meg Leslie helped preserve her client’s $1,041 monthly Social Security disability payments after they were terminated in November 2009. The Social Security Administration said that our client’s medical condition had improved, but Meg demonstrated that there was no medical evidence to support this decision. “As a result, my client is owed over $8,000 in past due benefits, which will now be paid to him.

July

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Jul 29: Legal Aid’s Lincoln office accepted an unemployment case Wednesday in which staff attorney Brittani Lewit will be representing an almost 80 year old man against his former employer, Wal-Mart. According to Brittani, “He was fired after 7 and a half years for missing work due to doctor’s appointments, despite the fact that he had doctor’s notes for these appointments. We don’t have a date for the administrative hearing yet.” We will let you know what happens next!

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July 23: Omaha attorney Kelly Boswell represented a refugee through Legal Aid’s work at the International Center of the Heartland. Our client, a woman, has four children. A little over a year ago, our client’s coworker began to sexually assault her. According to Kelly, “He was giving our client rides to and from work, then forcing his way into her apartment. The woman became pregnant as a result of one of these assaults, and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in March. After the child was born, the adverse continued to assault her; he would demand to see his child in order that she would allow him inside. To keep her from seeking help, the adverse told her that, if she called the police, it would cost her a lot of money. Our client was recently resettled from her home country, so she had no idea that the adverse was lying and that she could dial 911.” Last week, our law clerk Jaci Wyatt took our client and an interpreter to file a Protection Order. Jaci worked with advocates from Victim Services and the Family Justice Center to get the paperwork filled out. Legal Aid filed the protection order last Friday. Said Jaci, “Now, our client can call the police if the adverse tries to force his way into the apartment. I am thrilled that she’s safe and won’t have to suffer anymore!

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July 22: Lori Wilson in our Grand Island office represented a disabled man in an appeal regarding his Food Stamps.  According to Lori, “The Department had said that they had over paid him $244 in Food Stamps. We appealed and held the fair hearing. The caseworker had reduced his food stamps because he was receiving disability benefits.  However, they had figured his budget incorrectly.  They should have given him $150 credit on his  SSA income.  The worker admitted at the hearing that the $150 should have been disregarded in his income and when the budget was refigured, there was no overpayment. Thus, the ALJ ordered the department to exclude the correct amount and refigure the budget. The caseworker gave him credit for the amounts deducted and paid him the amount previously deducted. She also increased his present food stamp allotment to the correct amount, $85.

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July 13: The ElderAccessLine was able to assist an elderly Grand Island woman who was taken advantage of by a door-to-door alarm system company. She was pressured into providing her bank account information and signing up for an alarm system she didn’t want or need. The ElderAccessLine instructed her how to rescind the contract, and when the alarm company didn’t refund her money as required by federal law, they made a demand on the company and got her funds returned.

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July 7: Muirne Heaney of Omaha helped a young client resolve his child support arrearages. In one part of his case, the state was charging him for child support when he actually had custody of the child. This challenging case will be covered more thoroughly in a future issue of Briefly and originated from our work with Fathers for a Lifetime in North Omaha.

June

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June 28: Omaha office attorney Anne McShane helped a client win approval of her Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan. The plan was objected to by the Bankruptcy Trustee because of a provision that allowed our client to make car payments directly to her lender rather than through the Trustee. This saves our client $20/month...this extra fee would be a hardship to the client, who is a single mom with three kids--with no child support--and one on the way.

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June 22: North Platte attorney Shawn Farritor won an SSI disability case this week. According to Shawn, “Our client had been unemployed for nearly two years due to a combination of physical and mental health limitations.  She was living on the good graces of family and friends and desperately needed some financial assistance.  Our office gathered the relevant document documentation from our client’s health care providers and presented her case May 26, 2010.  We just received notice of the adjudicator’s decision!  Our client was very pleased and thankful.” Shawn states that his client has already received her first check for past due benefits of $2,200 and will receive ongoing monthly benefits of approximately $450.

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June 21: Grand Island office attorney Lori Wilson successfully appealed the adverse determination by the hearing officer in a struggling client’s unemployment case. The Appeal Tribunal reversed the determination of misconduct in the case and determined that our client’s actions were not insubordination. He will receive the 12 weeks unemployment benefits that were taken away from him.

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June 17: Kelly Boswell, an attorney in our Omaha office represented a bipolar and schizophrenic individual who also suffers from borderline intellectual functioning. The client was surprisingly denied social security disability benefits, even in front of an Administrative Law Judge. Kelly successfully appealed the case, which was remanded and the client was awarded retroactive and ongoing benefits!

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June 7: Meg Leslie, Omaha office case handler kept a man with neurological impairments from being kicked off of Social Security benefits and prevented him from being forced into bankruptcy. She used a technically challenging argument that, even though the disability rules have changed, the client's condition was still disabling. She was successful in front of a hearing examiner, which was a great victory because this means our client does not have to wait for an administrative hearing in front of a judge.

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June 2: Jon Seagrass, attorney from the Native American Project helped keep a woman from being evicted, yesterday. He says, "We received a call from a client who stated she was sued for eviction by the Northern Ponca Housing Authority from the house she had been renting for 13 years. She said a hearing was held and the court ordered her eviction. The court entered a default judgment because our client did not file answer, even though she was present at the hearing and attempted to defend herself against the Housing Authority’s claims. We reviewed the court file and determined our client was not served properly with the notice to terminate her lease as well as other evidentiary defects in the record of the court’s hearing. Therefore, on behalf of the client, we filed a motion to set aside the default judgment, and an ex parte motion to stay the default judgment until a hearing could be held. We just received word the stay was granted, and the court will hear our motion to set aside the judgment on June 11^th."

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May 24-28
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May 27: From Lincoln office managing attorney Pat Carraher: "Today I had a hearing for a woman who appealed her termination of SSI benefits. Her monthly prescriptions run about $800 so if she loses Medicaid, she will be in trouble!"

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May 25: Omaha office attorney Scott Mertz won an appeal for a woman yesterday that had been denied a taxi permit. Her monthly income was roughly $500 and she needed the taxi permit to obtain gainful employment. She was denied by the Omaha Police Department officially due to her criminal record but they verbally told her that it had to do with our client having mental health issues in the past. Scott was able to prove to the appeals board that those issues were isolated and in her past and now she’s on the road again and self sufficient.

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May 24: Lori Wilson from Grand Island reports: "We have a client who allegedly violated the Housing Authority regulations (renting a housing authority unit) of allowing a banned person in her apartment after she was sent notice that this person cannot be Housing Authority property. Client was having a reaction to her medication one evening and needed help, was recovering from major surgery. The only person she knew she could call for help was this banned friend. She did and they have her on camera letting him into the apartment. They sent her a termination letter. She called her caseworker immediately upon receiving letter but was told a hearing would not help her. She then was sued for eviction. I contacted the Housing Authority attorney and said she was denied her right to a hearing. They said she did not request one within the time period. I convinced the attorney to give her a fair hearing and the eviction has been postponed! I am waiting for her medical records in hope of proving she really needed help that night and this should not be held against her. Part II will follow after our fair hearing."

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May 18-May 23

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May 19: Today our ElderAccessLine took a call today from a client who was the victim of a predatory sales person. The door to door security system dealer sold caller an alarm system, took her bank account information, and installed the system despite caller’s reluctance to purchase the system. The ElderAccessLine was able to instruct the caller how to rescind the contract and cancel the transaction.

May 10-May 17

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May 13: Lincoln office managing attorney Pat Carraher secured a remand in an administrative appeal of an unfavorable decision in a Supplemental Security Income case. Pat successfully argued that the Administrative Law Judge failed to consider key evidence. The Social Security Administration Appeals Council, which issued the remand, required a new hearing for Pat's client. This is a key victory as the Appeals Council typically only remands 25% of the cases it considers for review. This avoids the necessity of timely and expensive federal litigation in the case.

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May 11: Scott Mertz, one of our newest attorneys, in Omaha secured for a client in Douglas County--who had been in an abusive marriage for eight years--a protection order and temporary custody of the couple's two children.

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May 10: From Lincoln office Managing attorney Pat Carraher: "We have a new unemployment case. A woman lost her job at a major big-box retail store, applied for unemployment benefits, and was approved. Unfortunately, the store's attorneys filed an appeal asking that her benefits be taken away. She needs an attorney to represent her at the hearing in an effort to try to keep her benefits. We are taking the case to help maintain our client's income."

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May 3-May 9

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May 6: Today our Omaha office public benefits advocate Kalisha Reed began working on a case representing a man who is severely cognitively impaired and who the Social Security Administration says owes $200,000 in overpaid disability benefits.

May 5: This is from our Medical Legal Partnership with The Nebraska Medical Center, and our attorney Ann Mangiameli: "A 19 year old from Lincoln was admitted to University of Nebraska Medical Center for a bone marrow transplant. He received notification that his Medicaid benefits were going to terminate pursuant to an outstanding warrant in Oregon resulting from a probation violation. The probation violation occurred because he did not return to the state of Oregon due to being hospitalized in Nebraska. I was able to obtain a release of the warrant and provide copies of the release to both Medicaid and Social Security. He was able to get the transplant only because his Medicaid benefits were reinstated."

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May 4: Lori Wilson from our Grand Island office reports: " Our client was served with a 14/30 day notice to cure because she allegedly had a man living with her. Then, she got a Notice to Terminate for failure to cure. She was in danger of losing her Section 8 housing if evicted. I assisted the client in writing the landlord objecting to the termination and explaining her position that the boyfriend occasionally spent the night but that he lived with his Dad. The landlord dropped the eviction and client's eligibility for Section 8 housing continues."

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May 3: Margaret Schaefer, our Elder AccessLine(TM) attorney, heard from a desperate elderly caller today. The caller's bank account, containing solely exempt social security funds, was being improperly and unfairly garnished by a local law firm. This has happened before and we've successfully responded to the problem in the past. Legal Aid is considering litigation strategies to prevent this from happening again. Our seniors deserve better than to live in fear of having their fixed incomes taken away.

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April 26-May 2

April 30: Today we heard from Liliana Shannon, staff attorney in our Omaha office: "I helped a 72 year old woman keep her housing this week. She was about to evicted at a trial on April 28, in Douglas County Court. The Omaha Housing Authority (OHA) was trying to evict her for “criminal activity.” Basically, two acquaintances had a knife fight in her apartment building; when she opened the door to see about the noise, the men literally fell into her apartment and continued their fight in her apartment. Because of this, they wanted to evict her. She called Legal Aid and the case was assigned to me. We negotiated a settlement agreement to help her keep her housing. OHA agreed to dismiss the case."

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April 29: This from Lori Wilson, attorney in our Grand Island office. "Our client 's bank account, which solely contained exempt social security disability funds, was garnished for the second time in 8 months by the same law firm and same creditor. They knew better. The first time, we filed a Claim of Exemption and were successful in exempting her bank account 8 months ago because her only income and only money in the account were social security benefits. Then, the same firm garnished the same account just recently. I filed a second Claim, called the attorney and left a message that the account still was exempt with only SSDI benefits and would they please release their garnishment. I received no return call so I went to hearing (the creditor's attorney failed to show or call). The Judge exempted the funds. Unfortunately, the Client's bank charged her a $100 garnishment fee and $95 in overdraft charges. I was so incensed with the creditor's law firm that I filed a Motion for Sanctions requesting that they pay client's bank fees of $195, hearing set for May 7. One of the partners for the law firm contacted me and is sending our client a check for $195 to cover her bank charges, apologized for doing this, agreed to make some changes in their practice to avoid this in the future. I told him Legal Aid will file a Motion for Sanctions in every case where they garnish an exempt bank account a second time."

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April 27: Lincoln office staff attorney Mark Bestul helped a woman who was a victim of domestic violence achieve a divorce from the abuser after a 13 year marriage.

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On April 26, Legal Aid's Casey Miller, an attorney in our Scottsbluff office, "received a decision reversing a 12-week disqualification and reduction of unemployment benefits for a client, restoring $2,304 that had been reduced from her benefits and making her eligible once more," according to Casey. "Furthermore, the client was able to to vindicate her reputation as a health-care worker in nursing homes, likely making it easier for her to find a job in the future (since the decision found that she was not discharged for misconduct as the employer alleged.)" Casey represented the client in an administrative appeal before the Department of Labor's Appeals Tribunal.

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April 19-25

On April 23, Legal Aid's Ann Sukraw-Lutz, a paralegal in our Grand Island office, worked with a Sudanese refugee client. According to Ann, our client was allegedly "unfairly fired by his meatpacking employer, cannot get reinstated or rehired and has somehow kept his mortgage current. I am assisting him with communications with the Union and will do ongoing housing counseling. Seems like refugees always pay way too much for a house at a ridiculous interest rate."

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Also on April 23... A Legal Aid Private Attorney Involvement (PAI) attorney "filed contempt action in a divorce wherein adverse is ordered to pay temporary spousal support of $400 per month pending the final hearing. Adverse was $1200 in arrears when our PAI attorney filed a motion for contempt. After adverse received notice of the upcoming contempt hearing, our client just received $400 from the adverse toward the back spousal support. So, for the first time in several weeks, the client was able to take that money to buy medication for her heart condition which she was unable to afford without the spousal support payment." Thanks to LAN PAI Coordinator Christine Stolarskyj for the tip!