| Item Title: | Public Defenders- Gideon's Promise LSPP(2020-0325) | | Submitted By: | William R. Cox, Interim Chief Public Defender, Public Defender's Office (915) 546-8185 | | Subject: | Approve and authorize the County Judge to Sign the memorandum of understanding with Gideon's Promise, Ana Yaldo, and the University of Michigan School of Law for the El Paso County Public Defender's to participate in the 2020 Gideon's Promise Law School Partnership Program and accept Ana Yaldo as its 2020 Gideon Fellow. Funding will be provided through salary savings. (Contract No. 2020-0325) | | Background: | The Public Defender's Office has partnered with Gideon's Promise for a number of years to enhance the training and development of Public Defender's Office lawyers and leaders. Gideon's Promise developed the Law School Partner Program (LSPP) which functions a clearinghouse bringing law students who have committed themselves to working in Public Defender's Offices, representing economically disadvantaged individuals, together with Public Defender's Office programs. In order for students to join the program, they must come from a law school which is willing to provide that student in a fellowship for a one year period, and the goal of both participant offices and the lawyer participants is that the attorney will become a permanent employee of that Public Defender's Office. Commissioners Court approved the Memorandum of Understanding with Gideon’s Promise for the program in February, and we are now ready to enter into the MOU with our Gideon’s Fellow Ana Yaldo, and her law school the University of Michigan School of Law. Additionally, in light of COVID, Gideon’s is deferring its two week Core 101 program from this Summer to the Summer of 2021. Based on the MOU which was executed in February, we will be providing a County supplement to Ms. Yaldo during her fellowship year. The MOU with her and the University of Michigan specifies that the supplement will raise her total compensation (Michigan’s stipend plus the County supplement) to a level PS 04 on the County salary scale until she passes the bar, and then, once licensed to practice law, to the level of an entry level attorney on the attorney salary plan. The County will also be contributing $8,500 plus travel expenses toward her costs to attend the two week summer training session (which includes room and board), and five additional long weekend follow-up trainings which are held over the ensuing two and a half years. Ms. Yaldo will start in early September 2020, after taking the Texas bar in July.
| | Fiscal Impact: | LSPP Fellows' sponsoring schools provide a one year stipend ranging from $25,000 to $70,000.00, without any benefits or health insurance. We are asking to provide a supplement, initially raising our fellow's compensation to be commensurate with a PS07 on El Paso County's Salary Scale, and then once she passes the bar and is licensed to practice law, to match the entry level for a lawyer on the attorney salary plan of $61,939. The University of Michigan School of Law is providing a stipend of $40,000 stipend. The fiscal impact will be $8,500 plus travel expenses to attend the Gideon's 2021 Core Program, and stipend supplement not to exceed $21,939. | | Recommendation: | Approve and authorize the County Judge to Sign the memorandum of understanding with Gideon's Promise, Ana Yaldo, and the University of Michigan School of Law for the El Paso County Public Defender's to participate in the 2020 Gideon's Promise Law School Partnership Program and accept Ana Yaldo as its 2020 Gideon Fellow. Funding will be provided through salary savings. (Contract No. 2020-0325) | | Prior Action: | After the MOU covered by this item was approved by the Court on December 9, 2019, the County Attorney's Office identified several additional revisions. Based on this, we requested the Court rescend its approval on December 16, 2019, item 4, X. The Court approved the revised program MOU with Gideon's Promise on February 24, 2020. The item on today's agenda is the MOU with the Gideon's Fellow, Ana Yaldo, and her sponsoring law school. | | Strategic Plan: | 2019.PEO.9 | | Strategic Plan Information: | |
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