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The Civil Law Group represents low- and moderate-income clients
in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties, including the City of Detroit, in virtually all kinds of civil legal matters, including disputes with landlords, child custody, parental visitation, consumer purchases and utility shutoffs. The mission of the Civil Law Group is to improve the quality of the lives of individuals and families within our client communities through direct legal representation and assistance, and collectively through systemic change in the legal system.
In 2007, the Civil Law Group served more than 9,000 clients, according to Chief Counsel Joan Glanton Howard. The group’s Private Attorney Involvement program – attorneys in private practice who donate their time to serve our clients – assisted an additional 900 clients. The Civil Law Group continued its Medical-Legal Clinic for Children at Childrens Hospital of Michigan in the Detroit Medical Center. Funded in part by the Michigan State Bar Foundation, the clinic in 2007 reached more than 300 child-patients with critical legal services giving them access to proper medical care and the resources necessary for continued care. The Clinic helped children secure income support, health insurance, special education, restraining orders, child support and guardianship and proper housing after they leave the hospital.
The Civil Law Group also launched two Neighborhood Law Clinics for youth as part of the Skillman Foundation’s Detroit Neighborhood Initiative, and continued its work with the Michigan Prisoners Rights Initiative in Macomb and Oakland County.
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