Bristol County Savings Bank funds UMass Law Justice Bridge incubator expansion

MARY LU BILEK,  dean of the law school at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, said she is excited about the expansion of the Justice Bridge law practice incubator to New Bedford and Taunton, made possible through a three-year $225,000 grant from Bristol County Savings Bank. / COURTESY UMASS
MARY LU BILEK, dean of the law school at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, said she is excited about the expansion of the Justice Bridge law practice incubator to New Bedford and Taunton, made possible through a three-year $225,000 grant from Bristol County Savings Bank. / COURTESY UMASS

DARTMOUTH – The School of Law at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth is expanding its Justice Bridge law practice incubator to New Bedford and Taunton, made possible through a three-year $225,000 grant from Bristol County Savings Bank.
The incubator was successfully launched in Boston nine months ago, according to the university.
Goals include confronting unmet civic legal needs, providing mentorship and employment for new attorneys, creating a new financial model for law practices and refining the law school curriculum.
“The bank is proud to support the School of Law at UMass Dartmouth in the efforts to expand the innovative Justice Bridge incubator to New Bedford and Taunton,” Patrick J. Murray Jr., president and CEO of Bristol County Savings Bank and president of the Bristol County Savings Charitable Foundation, said in a statement. “By providing mentors, office space, technology and support staff, law school graduates will learn how to establish their own practices and then gain experience by providing legal services to a large number of individuals and small businesses in southeastern Massachusetts who are currently unrepresented by legal counsel due to economic constraints.”
The Boston office of Justice Bridge opened last August and hired nine lawyers, mostly graduates of UMass Law, and has processed more than 500 client matters.
The New Bedford office, at 257-259 Union St., has hired eight attorneys, mostly UMass Law graduates. Some of those attorneys will spend eight hours a week at a Taunton office across the street from the new court house.
“When Justice Bridge was first launched, we saw it as the perfect opportunity to connect new and eager attorneys to help serve individuals and families who are underrepresented in important legal matters,” Law School Dean Mary Lu Bilek said. “As the commonwealth’s only public law school, we prepare our students to be justice-centered lawyers ready to practice across Massachusetts. We are very excited for the expansion of this incubator to launch the careers of our graduates in solo practice who aim to provide quality, affordable legal representation accessible to more residents of the commonwealth.”
According to a 2014 Report of the Boston Bar Association Statewide Task Force to Expand Civil Legal Aid in Massachusetts, 33,000 low-income Massachusetts residents were denied the legal aid of an attorney in matters involving eviction, foreclosure and family law. In Bristol County, as many as 90 percent of the litigants appearing in housing court cases are not represented by counsel, the university said.
Justice Bridge aims to serve individuals and small businesses that do not qualify for free legal services, but cannot afford market rates. All prospective clients are screened for income eligibility.
“Our goal is not to drive down the cost of existing legal services or compete for current clients,” Bilek said. “Our goal is to expand services and reach a segment of the market whose needs have not previously been met.”

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