Brandon Williams (standing, right) the supervising attorneys for the Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program for the Chicago Legal Clinic, works with John Marshall students (from left) Colette Safford, Ediz Andiroglu and Dany Bourjas who will be assisting pro se litigants.
Going to court can be intimidating, especially for someone representing herself in court. Over the past few years, there has been a noticeable increase of self-represented litigants in the court system. But for some, John Marshall Law School students will be of special assistance with helpful information. The newly organized John Marshall Pro Bono Program, working in cooperation and collaboration with the Chicago Bar Foundation’s (CBF) JusticeCorps program, is placing nearly 30 volunteer law students in the Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program at the Circuit Court of Cook County. Students will be offering information to and answering questions for homeowners facing foreclosure proceedings. The will be working at the Daley Center between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Homeowners coming to court are likely to be at the end of what has been a long, stressful road for them, said Katie Anderson (JD ’10) who is working with Professor F. Willis Caruso, director of The John Marshall Pro Bono Program, designed to offer students opportunities to participate in pro bono legal work. When Anderson sent a request for volunteers, she and Caruso were pleasantly surprised with the immediate response and large turnout.
Volunteer Dany Bourjas, a second-year student, said he agreed to give four hours a week to the project “because I want to give people information that can empower them.” He is bilingual, so he will be able to help those who use Arabic as their first language. Bourjas got his own introduction to the court system as an intern with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Students participated in a day-long training session on how to answer litigants’ questions and provide basic legal information about the foreclosure process. The training covered everything
from how to greet and conduct interviews of homeowners faced with foreclosure, to learning the legal and counseling services that are available through state, county and non-profit programs.
One of the critical issues for the pro se foreclosure defendant is understanding legal terms in layman’s language.For example, the volunteers can explain what is the difference between a motion and an order, or what is an appearance and an answer—both of which require paperwork to be filed with the court.
“With almost 50,000 mortgage foreclosure cases filed last year alone, there is incredible demand for assistance and resources are limited,” said Danielle Hirsch of CBF. “Our hope is that with law student volunteers we can increase capacity at the Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program’s help desk to help more homeowners navigate the complicated mortgage foreclosure
process quickly and efficiently.”
“Sometimes a homeowner needs information about the timeline for a mortgage foreclosure action, other times a homeowner just needs to be pointed in the right direction for filing court documents. We are training the volunteers to know what to listen for when the person comes to them and then be able to give the type of information they need.” Legal aid attorneys from the Chicago Legal Clinic, who staff the Chancery Division Advice Desk and the legal advice componenet of the Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program, will continue to assist homeowners with legal advice. John Marshall pro bono law students will be working with them and learning from them as well.
Colette Safford, a second-year student, said she is volunteering because “as a homeowner, I know foreclosure affects not just the homeowner but neighborhood properties as well.” She
is hopeful that with the assistance she can provide, homeowners may find a way to navigate the court system and then work with the mortgage lender to save their homes.