BBA- Lawyer for the Day in Housing Court Training: Answer and Discovery

Volunteers needed! With the scheduled end of the moratorium on evictions in Massachusetts on October 17th, it is anticipated that there will be an increased need for volunteer attorneys to represent low-income litigants, both tenants and landlords, in Housing Court. These cases can be a part of a pro bono project or cases on which to build a practice.

In the first hour, the training will cover answer and discovery in a housing case and offer a refresher on GBLS’ innovative MADE tool. Our goal is to give volunteer attorneys the basic skills and familiarity of guiding a client through filling out the answer form to preserve all legal defenses, requesting appropriate discovery, and being able to utilize the MADE tool.

In the second hour, the staff at Volunteer Lawyers Project will walk attendees through the Answer & Discovery clinic: how the Zoom clinic environment works, how to pull up MADE and review with the client in Zoom, how to file/serve, and how to submit volunteer documents with VLP.

This training will take a more granular look at the answer and discovery stage of an eviction case so that volunteers can feel confident advising and assisting clients. After this training, you will be able to volunteer to assist with the Lawyer for the Day in the Boston Housing Court program.

Sign up here!

This program is part of the BBA’s broader effort to promote housing stability for low-income Massachusetts residents who have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and also part of the BBA’s Pro Bono Month and Housing Court training series.

Are you already LAR certified or have you volunteered for Lawyer for the Day in Housing Court in the past? If so, please contact Doug Newton at dnewton@bostonbar.org.