PORTLAND, Maine — Pine Tree Legal Assistance recently launched a new program with the goal to expand access to free civil law services for people living in Aroostook and Washington counties and as well as other rural areas in Maine.
Through the Charles and Eleanor Miller Rural Justice Fellowship Program, the nonprofit hopes to recruit new or seasoned attorneys who are willing to sign two-year contracts to serve clients living northern, rural areas of the state.
According to PTLA's executive director Tom Fritzsche, the nonprofit works approximately 7,500 cases statewide each year, serving around 18,000 Mainers in underserved households, who may not otherwise be able to afford legal representation.
"Our court system also relies on us and others as legal aid providers to make sure that folks who need to use our judicial system have representation and aren't trying to navigate the system alone without a lawyer to advise and represent them," Fritzsche said.
Those individuals depend on the nonprofit for representation in cases dealing with everything from housing disputes to family law.
Fritzsche said providing legal help to people in rural parts of the state is a challenge because there are often not enough attorneys based in isolated and rural areas.
"That real sense that there is an attorney who's listening to me and there to help me out and navigate my problems, and they're right here in person is all the more critical for folks' connection in this time," Fritzsche said.
Jordan Millers is the program's first Miller Fellow attorney, who began this month. He is based in Machias.
Miller grew up in California and completed his undergraduate studies at Colby College in Maine. Miller said he then went on to study law in New York.
He found out he passed the bar exam Friday. And although he hasn't officially been sworn into the Maine bar until next month, he is already being welcomed to the team at PTLA.
"I loved New York, but I was looking for a big change," Miller said. "I wanted to experience a place that I've never experienced before and go to a place where my help is really appreciated."
Through the program and with commitment from fresh new hires like Miller, PTLA is working to make sure Mainers have the representation they need.
"I think a lot of our clients feel like they've gotten the short end of the stick and have gotten the short end of the stick," Miller said. "There is ... a good amount of cases here without an attorney in the office that Pine Tree Legal just hasn't had the capacity to take."
Over 300,000 people in Maine are financially eligible for free legal services through PTLA, Fritzsche said.
Now, with PTLA's new program, Fritzsche and Miller said they hope people who need the nonprofit's services most can feel confident they will get the assistance they deserve.
Fritzsche said Miller will join the permanent staff attorney and paralegal who work in Machias. He is working to recruit another Miller Fellow attorney to work in PTLA's Presque Isle office.
Fritsche is hoping that candidate will be able to start next year.