In early May, libraries across Maine will partner with local lawyers to speak with library patrons about the challenges that arise when an individual is faced with a legal problem. Volunteer lawyers will provide information on how to access civil legal resources and will be available for a Q&A and brief consultations with attendees. At the Camden Public Library, “Lawyers in Libraries” is scheduled for noon to 2:00 pm on Friday, May 2. Attorney Donald Briggs of Rockport has volunteered to be the presenting lawyer on May 2.
The goal of the day is twofold: to provide Maine citizens with access to legal advice and information, and to demonstrate how legal access is critical to a community’s well-being; an entire community suffers when neighbors and friends go through foreclosure, are not safe in their homes, or cannot afford heat or food. “Access to justice is about fairness,” explains Hon. Andrew M. Mead, Associate Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, “so that, regardless of your income, you have access to our society’s system of justice. When we say the Pledge of Allegiance, we close with the promise of ‘justice for all.’ If individuals lack access to legal assistance, it profoundly affects their lives, the lives of their children, and the stability of their communities.”
Participants in Lawyers in Libraries 2014 will have an opportunity to meet with a lawyer based in their community and receive information about free resources, low-cost legal assistance, and legal referrals. There will be plenty of time for Q&A.
This event is organized and presented by the Maine Justice Action Group Collaboration on Innovation, Technology and Equal Access to Justice which includes the Maine State Bar Association, Pine Tree Legal Assistance, Maine public libraries, the Volunteer Lawyers Project, the State of Maine Judicial Branch and other organizations committed to furthering the cause of access to justice.
Don Briggs has been practicing law since 1979. His law firm, Briggs & Wholey, is located on Route One in Rockport. He is a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer, a status held by less than one percent of Maine’s lawyers. He is an Honors graduate of Suffolk University Law School, and is admitted to practice in State and Federal Courts in Massachusetts and Maine. He is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, the Maine State Bar Association. He is a member of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) Professional Negligence Section and the AAJ Medical Negligence Information Exchange Group. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the AAJ, a member of the Maine State Board of Bar Examiners, and a member of the Academy of Catastrophic Injury Attorneys. He is the past editor of Maine Verdicts and has been recognized as a Fellow by the National College of Trial Advocacy. Since 2007, Mr. Briggs has been selected yearly as a New England Super Lawyer and has been selected yearly since 2011 for inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America for his work in Personal Injury Litigation. He is a Past President of the Maine Trial Lawyers Association and the current President of the Knox County Bar Association.
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