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University of Miami Law School Announces Foreclosure Defense Fellowships

By Professor University of Miami School of Law

The University of Miami School of Law is pleased to announce the availability of a number of Foreclosure Defense Fellowships for May 2009 UM Law graduates who become members of the Florida Bar. Our goal is to provide meaningful and fulfilling post-graduate alternatives while helping local residents caught in the foreclosure crisis. In addition to the honor of being selected, participants will acquire real-world work experience, have the satisfaction of helping address a serious need in our community, and still have some free time to look for longer-term employment.

Winners of these Fellowships will receive a limited grant totaling $10,000, paid in monthly installments, in exchange for a commitment to (1) attend a three or four day training session in late September, and then (2) work at least three days a week for 27 weeks with either Dade Legal Services or Broward Legal Aid, commencing as soon as you are admitted to the Florida Bar.

Further details are available on the application form at http://www.law.miami.edu/4close/application.pdf.

This announcement, which I just sent to all of our recent graduates, represents a milestone in a project I've been working on for some time: trying to get one problem (the lousy market for law graduates) to help solve another (South Florida's foreclosure crisis).

The need is great.

South Florida is ground zero for the national foreclosure crisis. The courts and the legal system are overwhelmed by this legal tsunami. In all of 2006, fewer than 10,000 foreclosures were filed in the Miami-Dade courts. In the first month of 2009, more than 6,000 foreclosures were filed in those same courts -- more than half the annual number 3 years ago -- and the rate of foreclosure filings has increased since then. Last year 56,656 foreclosures were filed in Miami-Dade County alone. This year we are on track to double that number. Although hard figures are difficult to come by, it is estimated that almost a third of these local foreclosure cases involve owner-occupied homestead property ("residential homestead mortgage foreclosures"), and that a very large fraction of the borrowers in those cases are unrepresented.

This is an unprecedented legal crisis for our community. As the Daily Business Review recently put it, "thousands of families are being displaced. Some end up on the streets or in shelters."

The program I have created, with the help and strong support of Interim Dean Paul Verkuil and several other members of the UM faculty and administration, is only a beginning, and very much in need of funding support. I and others will be working during the summer to try to raise money for it, and also for an expanded version that would place our graduates in law offices where they would work as solo pro bono practitioners under the helpful eye of experienced lawyer-mentors. If you know anyone with a quarter of a million dollars, or even the odd thousand, who would like to help in this important work, please send them my way.

And if you are a Miami 3L looking for a job, but cannot find one, please consider this chance to do good and learn from top lawyers at the same time. I think the opportunity, while not very remunerative in dollars, will pay off in the satisfaction of doing good, in learning lawyering skills, and might just impress your next employer.

(In a further attempt to help struggling members of our community, the UM School of Law will also be offering a limited number of substantial scholarships to qualifying students who apply to the LL.M. in Real Property Development and agree to do 15 hours per week of supervised pro bono foreclosure defense representation. Participants in this program do not need to be members of the Florida Bar. Applicants for LL.M scholarships must complete both the regular application for the LL.M in Real Property Development and also a special scholarship application available from the LL.M in Real Property office.)

In the extended part of this post, I've put the (slightly reformatted) text of the Foreclosure Defense Fellowships application form.

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APPLICATION

University of Miami School of Law
Foreclosure Defense Fellowship

Return completed application to Rm. 382
OR
e-mail to 4close@law.miami.edu
with "FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION" and your full name in subject line

APPLICATIONS ARE DUE NO LATER THAN August 14, 2009

Applying early may increase your chances of receiving a fellowship

Introduction

The University of Miami School of Law is pleased to announce the availability of a number of Foreclosure Defense Fellowships for May 2009 UM Law graduates who become members of the Florida Bar. Our goal is to provide meaningful and fulfilling post-graduate alternatives while helping local residents caught in the foreclosure crisis. In addition to the honor of being selected, participants will acquire real-world work experience, have the satisfaction of helping address a serious need in our community, and still have some free time to look for longer-term employment.

Winners of these Fellowships will receive a limited grant totaling $10,000, paid in monthly installments, in exchange for a commitment to (1) attend a three or four day training session and then (2) work at least three days a week for 27 weeks in one of the programs described below, commencing as soon as they are admitted to the Florida Bar.

The Foreclosure Crisis

South Florida is ground zero for the national foreclosure crisis. While California may have more cases of foreclosure, they are spread out over a larger area. Here, the problem is highly concentrated: in certain ZIP codes in places like Homestead and Florida City, about 25% of the homes are in a stage of the foreclosure process.

The courts and the legal system are overwhelmed by this legal tsunami. In all of 2006, fewer than 10,000 foreclosures were filed in the Miami-Dade courts. In the first month of 2009, more than 6,000 foreclosures were filed in those same courts -- more than half the annual number 3 years ago -- and the rate of foreclosure filings has increased since then. Last year 56,656 foreclosures were filed in Miami-Dade County alone. This year we are on track to double that number. Although hard figures are difficult to come by, it is estimated that almost a third of these local foreclosure cases involve owner-occupied homestead property ("residential homestead mortgage foreclosures"), and that a very large fraction of the borrowers in those cases are unrepresented.

This is an unprecedented legal crisis for our community. As the Daily Business Review recently put it, "thousands of families are being displaced. Some end up on the streets or in shelters."

We propose to respond to this crisis by mobilizing our recent graduates to provide pro bono representation to low-income homeowners facing foreclosure of their primary (homestead) residence.

The Fellowship Program

UM Law May 2009 graduates who are taking the July Bar Exam can apply for a Foreclosure Defense Fellowship placement in either or both of the following programs. In each case Fellows would attend a 'boot camp' put on by the University of Miami in late September 2009, then start work for three days a week as soon as they are admitted to the Florida Bar.

Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc. (10 Fellows)

Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc. (LSGMI) will set up a new Mortgage Foreclosure Defense Clinic to be staffed with ten Fellows who will work under the supervision of experienced LSGMI attorneys. Participants will handle intake interviews, identify defenses and issues, make court appearances as needed, and represent homeowners in the new 11th Circuit Homestead Access to Mediation Program ("CHAMP"). Fellows will work out of LSGMI offices, located at 3000 Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 500, Miami, Florida 33137. Fellows will be asked to bring their own laptop computer, when possible. LSGMI's stringent conflict rules will apply, requiring advance approval before Fellows take on any legal work during their days outside the office.

Legal Aid Service of Broward County (3 Fellows)

Legal Aid Service of Broward County (LASBC) will accept three Fellows who will work under the supervision of experienced LASBC attorneys. Fellows will work in all stages of the foreclosure defense process. (Broward is not covered by the 11^th Circuit's CHAMP order.) Fellows will work out of LASBC offices located at 491 North State Road 7, Plantation, FL 33317. Fellows will be asked to bring their own laptop computer, when possible. LASBC rules forbid Fellows from taking on any outside legal work during their Fellowship.

If we are able to secure additional funding, we hope to expand this program to include a third option: direct placement with local lawyer-mentors. If this option becomes available, we will ensure that early applicants to the programs above have an equal chance to apply for it, so please do not delay your application for this reason.

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The UM School of Law will also be offering a limited number of substantial scholarships to qualifying students who apply to the LL.M. in Real Property Development and agree to do 15 hours per week of supervised pro bono foreclosure defense representation. Participants in this program do not need to be members of the Florida Bar. Applicants for LL.M scholarships must complete both the regular application for the LL.M in Real Property Development (available online) and also a special scholarship application available from the LL.M in Real Property office.

Students may apply for both these Fellowships and the LL.M scholarship, but must choose between them if accepted for both.

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How To Apply

Only graduating students of the University of Miami School of Law who have registered to take the Florida Bar Exam in July are eligible for the Foreclosure Defense Fellowship program. Final acceptance to the Fellowship program requires that you pass the Florida Bar Exam and secure admission to the Florida Bar at the earliest possible date.

Fellowship applications are due by August 14, 2009, and should be returned to Rm. G382 in the Law School OR e-mailed to 4close@law.miami.edu with "FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION" and your full name in the subject line. Applying early may increase your chances of receiving a Fellowship.

To apply, submit the following:

1. A copy of your official transcript;
2. A c.v.;
3. An essay of no more than 500 words explaining why you would like to be a Foreclosure Defense Fellow.
4. A cover letter (or e-mail)
1. Stating that you are taking/have taken the Florida Bar exam in July 2009.
2. Ranking the programs described above (Dade, Broward) in preference order, or stating which Fellowship program you are applying for, if you are only interested in one.
3. Describing your fluency in any foreign language(s).
4. Describing any relevant courtroom or mediation experience (e.g Litigation Skills, Mock Trial, ADR courses, Negotiation Competition).

Applications are due by August 14. Please apply earlier if you can. Awards of Fellowships -- conditional on admission to the Florida Bar -- will be made on a rolling basis commencing no later than August 31. Interviews may be requested in some cases.

Full post as published by Discourse.net on May 22, 2009 (boomark / email).