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Gazette,The(CedarRapids­IowaCity,IA)
Lawday
DorothydeSouzaGuedesTheGazette
Published:May1,2006
CEDARRAPIDS­­IowaLegalAidlawyerLisaGavinconfessestohavingtidiedupherofficeabit.Butherdeskis
stillpiledhighwiththetoolsofthetrade:lotsandlotsofthickfilesinseveralcolors,letters,and,ofcourse,legal
pads.Shepreferswhitetoyellow,regularsizetolegalsize.Theyfitinfoldersbetter.
Becauseshespentthepreviousdaygettingreadyforcourtinacustodycase,Tuesdayisacatch­upday.Gavin
planstospendthedaydiggingintotheheaponthedeskinhersunnyofficeonthethirdflooroftheDowsBuilding
overlookingSecondAvenueSE.
Shetakesaquickcall,thencontinuestalkingaboutwork.Shelaughs­­almostagiggle,really­­often.Butthat
doesn'tmeanGavinisn'tseriousabouttheworkshedoes.Andloves.
She'sworkedforIowaLegalAidinvariousrolessinceshegraduatedfromlawschoolin1995.
Why'dshebecomealawyer?She"fellinlove"withpoliticalscienceafterafewundergradcoursesatCreighton
UniversityinOmaha.Thatledtoapoliticalsciencedegree.Thenlawschool.
"Whatelsedoyoudowithapoliticalsciencedegree?"sheasks."Thisjobisagoodmesh."
Thesedays,herjobis50percentfundedundertheViolenceAgainstWomenAct.Sheadvisessurvivorsof
domesticabuseaboutrestrainingorders,divorce,custody,childsupportandmore.
"That'sactuallytheareaI'mmostinterestedin,soItendtohavealotoffamilylawcases,"shesays.
ShetalkstoalotofpeopleÑlegalaidclientshavelowincomesÑandadvisespeoplewithoutnecessarilytaking
onacourtcase.
"Alotofwhatpeopleneedisjustanswers.'Canmylandlorddothis?'or'WhathappensifIcan'tmakemymortgage
payment?'Or,'Whataremyrightsasaparent?"'Gavinexplains.
Overhernearly11yearswithIowaLegalAid,whichhandlesonlynon­criminalcases,theDubuquenativehas
workedinOttumwaandCouncilBluffs.She'sbeeninCedarRapidsaboutsixyears.Theoffice'ssixlawyerscover
Linn,Benton,Tama,IowaandPoweshiekcounties,soGavinisoftenontheroad.
"Ireallylikedfamilylaw,sothat'stheareaIfellinto,"shesays.
Mostofhertimeisspentintheofficeonthecomputer,e­mailing,messagingotherlawyersaboutcasesand
checkingiowacourtsonline.organdotherinformationsites.
MostFridaymorningsarespentincivildomesticabusecourt.Withcustodyanddivorcecases,howlongshe'sin
courtdependsonwhenhearingsandtrialsareset.
ShealsosupervisesinternsfromtheUniversityofIowaanddoessomecommunityoutreachtoteacharearesidents
basics
ANIOWALIFE,page5B
AnIowaLife/C.R.attorneylovesunpredictablejobFROMPAGE1B
oflandlord/tenantlaw,childcustodyandfamilylaw.
Whenshewassingleandhomealone,itwasdifficulttoshutoffwork,shesays.Thingshavechanged.
"MysonreallyhelpsbecausewhenIgohomeIwantthattobehistime,"shesays.
Shewasafirst­timefosterparentwhenshetookinalittleboy,then18monthsold.SheadoptedhiminDecember
2004.
Theexperiencehelpedherbetterunderstandwhatherclientsgothrough"becausecourtcanbesointimidatingfor
people,especiallywhenchildrenareinvolved.Itjustseemslikethere'ssomuchatstake,"shesays.
JustasGavinbeginsdiggingintoapplicationsfrompeopleaskingforassistance,thereceptionistasksifshecan
talktoawalk­in.It'sanemergency,aforeclosurecase291/2daysintoa30­daylegalnotice.Gavintalksbriefly
withtheman,thenwalksdownthehalltolookupsomethinginalawbook.Sheandthepotentialclientstepintothe
library.Anotherattorneywhodealswithalotofhousingissuesjoinsthem.Thedoorcloses.Sherushestofigureout
whatneedstobedoneinthefourhoursleftbeforethecountyrecorder'sofficecloses.Therewillbediscussionabout
whichattorneyhastheafternoonfree,andwhethertheopposingparty'sattorneywillagreetocertainconditions.If
shecantakethecase,theregoherafternoonplans.
"That'skindofwhatIlike,though,isthatyouneverknowwhat'sgoingtohappen,"Gavinsays.
Contactthewriter:(319)398­8318ordorothy.desouzaguedes@gazettecommunications.com
LisaGavin
nAge:36
nAddress:CedarRapids
nOccupation:IowaLegalAidstaffattorney,CedarRapidsoffice
nEducation:CreightonUniversity,politicalsciencedegree;UniversityofIowaCollegeofLaw
nFamily:5­year­oldson
IowaLegalAid
­­IowaLegalAidofferslegalassistancetolow­incomeclientsinnon­criminalmattersincludinghealthcare,housing,
consumer,debtcollection,education,familylaw,employment,governmentbenefitsandindividualrights.­­The
CedarRapidsRegionalOfficeclosedabout1,230casesin2005,whichaffectedmorethan2,800people.­­
Statewide,35to40percentofcasesinvolvefamilylaw,20percenthousing,10to15percentconsumermattersand
incomesupport.Therestincludetaxissues,educationandindividualrights.
­­Statewide,about700peopleamonthareservedinvariouscapacities.Morethan900peopleareturnedawayeach
monthduetostaffinglimitations.
Contacts
­­IowaLegalAid:1­(800)532­1275­­PeopleusingEnglishasasecondlanguagemaycall1­(800)272­0008.
­­Iowans60andoldermaycallLegalHotlineforOlderIowans,1­(800)992­8161.
­­Formoreinformationonlineaboutlegalrights,includingbookletstodownloadororder,visitwww.iowalegalaid.org
LawDay2006
­­LawDayprovidesthelegalcommunityachancetoeducatemembersofthepublicabouttheirrightsand
responsibilitiesunderthelaw.
LinnCountyprogram
"LibertyUnderLaw:SeparateBranches,BalancedPowers."5:30to8:30p.m.today,ThirdAvenueBridge,Linn
CountyCourthouse:­­Landlord­tenantlaw
­­Anoverviewofthestateandfederalcourts
­­Proceedingsinacriminalcase
­­Familylaw
­­Elderlaw,livingwills,powersofattorney
­­TourandhistoryoftheLinnCountyCourthouse
Co­sponsoredbytheLinnCountyBarAssociationandtheIowaDistrictCourt.
Illustration:COLORPHOTOS
DuaneCrockphotos/TheGazette
LisaGavinhandsoverapenforaclienttosignalegaldocumentwhilevisitingtheMadgePhillipsCenterin
downtownCedarRapidsonWednesday.Gavin,anattorneywithIowaLegalAid,makesregularvisitstothe
homelesscentertoprovidefreelegalservicesforresidents.//ThedoortotheIowaLegalAidofficeindowntown
CedarRapidsdisplaysitsslogan,"IowaLegalAid:WorkingforFairness."
LisaGavinhandsoverapenforaclienttosignalegaldocumentwhilevisitingtheMadgePhillipsCenterin
downtownCedarRapidsonWednesday.Gavin,anattorneywithIowaLegalAid,makesregularvisitstothe
homelesscentertoprovidefreelegalservicesforresidents.//ThedoortotheIowaLegalAidofficeindowntown
CedarRapidsdisplaysitsslogan,"IowaLegalAid:WorkingforFairness."
Copyright(c)2006,GazetteCommunications,Inc.

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