L. JONATHAN ROSS is well known in the New Hampshire legal community for his long-standing commitment to legal services for the poor, on both a state and national level. Through his work on numerous boards and committees, Ross, a shareholder in the Wiggin & Nourie, P.A., law firm in Manchester, has become a key player in the fight to provide equal access to justice to our nation's disadvantaged citizens. A testament to his work in New Hampshire was the establishment in 1988 of the NH Bar Association's L. Jonathan Ross Award for Outstanding Commitment to Legal Services for the Poor, which is presented annually to an attorney who has made an outstanding career commitment and contribution to pro bono representation. Currently the NH Bar Association's delegate to the American Bar Association and chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants, Ross spoke recently to Bar News about his involvement in and the state of legal services in both New Hampshire and nationally.

Q: For those unfamiliar with your history, can you explain how, when and why you first got involved in legal services for the poor?

A: I did volunteer work with the Legal Aid Society in Washington, D.C., during law school and I worked for Neighborhood Legal Services in D.C. in the '60s...it was a summer job. Then I came to New Hampshire and began my legal career. In 1985, I was NH Bar president, and that year the Bar hosted a Legal Services Corporation Board of Directors meeting in Gilford, at the suggestion of then-Bar Executive Director Gail Kinney. I went up to observe the meeting and address the board and was appalled at how the LSC conducted its meeting, at how hostile the board was to people appearing before it. I thought it was wrong. Michael Greco, then-president of the Massachusetts Bar, had a similar reaction. [The Legal Services Corporation is the federal entity that funds civil legal services programs for the poor around the country.]

In December, Gail attended another LSC Board meeting in Texas and had a similar experience and reaction, as did Bill Whitehurst, president-elect of the Texas Bar at the time. What we were seeing were Ronald Reagan nominees to the LSC Board who were basically trying to bring about an end to the LSC.

In February 1986, at the ABA Mid-Winter Meeting in Baltimore, Gail, Greco, Whitehurst and I got together to form Bar Leaders for the Preservation of Legal Services for the Poor. We were ultimately successful in getting every state bar association to support us in our effort to get adequate funding for the LSC. We never got adequate funding, but we did get the support of all the bar associations.

And that is how I began my active interest in legal services for the poor and my involvement in legal aid. I haven't gotten off the train since.

Q: Can you share some of the highlights of your involvement in legal services since?

A: In 1993, I was appointed to fill an unexpired term on the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants (SCLAID). I finished that two-year term and was appointed to my own for another three years. I currently serve as chair of SCLAID. I was appointed chair in 2000 by then-ABA President Martha Barnett. I also served on the ABA Board of Governors for one year.

Going back, I was appointed by NH Bar President Shane Devine in about 1970 or 1971 to a committee dealing with the New Hampshire Public Defender System. I was one of three who negotiated the contract with the state for the Public Defender program and interviewed and hired Jim Duggan to be its director.

I was an incorporator of the Legal Advice and Referral Center (LARC) and served on its board until a couple of years ago.

As Bar president, I served on the Judicial Council, where I was involved in set ting up criteria for hiring contract attorneys to represent indigent defendants.

I was recognized in 1987 by the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) with its Arthur von Brieson Award, who was a founder of the New York Legal Aid Society. I am also on the "Wall of Justice" at the Equal Justice Library at American University in Washington, D.C.

I am a shareholder at Wiggin & Nourie, P.A., where I organize the firm's other Pro Bono volunteers.

Q: What do you do in your role as chair of SCLAID? What are some of the initiatives you've been involved in?

A: I advocate for federal funding of legal services. I am responsible for managing the committee's activities and overseeing its staff. We are currently in the process of reviewing President Bush's nominees to the LSC Board and will provide our views to the Senate committee charged with reviewing nominations. I have testified before Congress regarding LSC appropriations, appeared before the House Subcommittee that has oversight over the LSC and served on a panel that reviews and comments on proposed LSC funding.

I attend LSC Board meetings, attend and teach at the Equal Justice Conference. I'll be attending ABA Day in Washington in May to talk about legal services issues. These issues have always been one of the top priorities for ABA legislative initiatives. I'll be visiting our delegation about those issues.

I'm also my committee's liaison to the Pro Bono Committee of the ABA whose legal counsel is Steve Scudder from New Hampshire.

I've helped put together an ABA policy directed at legislators and others responsible for creating and funding indigent defense programs that details the 10 Principles of a Public Indigent Defense Delivery System. I've also managed revisions to the ABA standards for representation in death penalty cases that were presented to and passed the ABA House of Delegates this February. Half of my work with the ABA is related to indigent criminal defense issues.

As we celebrate the 40^th anniversary on March 18 of the Gideon decision and the right to counsel (see related sidebar on page 9), I'll be moderating panels that will meet around the country to discuss whether the promise of Gideon has been kept.

Q: Do you think it has?

A: No! Our first panel in Seattle in February made it clear that the provision of independent, competent counsel with adequate resources for indigent defendants does not exist in many parts of the country.

Q: How does your work in legal services influence your law practice, if at all?

A: It doesn't really, except in my Pro Bono cases. I'm a divorce lawyer and a lot of legal aid involves divorce, but there isn't a great connection.

Q: Having been greatly involved in legal services on both a state and national level, what have you observed about the status of legal services in New Hampshire compared to in other states? How does New Hampshire's level of commitment to legal services compare?

A: The lawyers in New Hampshire who do volunteer work with organizations that deliver legal services - LARC, NHLA (New Hampshire Legal Assistance) and Pro Bono - are superb. They're very dedicated and work very hard with limited resources. The lawyers who work for those organizations are very skilled and work extremely hard for what they believe in. They match up with lawyers nationwide in their skill, competence and dedication.

The New Hampshire Bar has been a leader on legal aid issues, from the early adoption of IOLTA (Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts) to its involvement in that early bar leaders group I was involved in (Bar Leaders for the Preservation of Legal Services for the Poor). New Hampshire has tried some innovative things and gotten on board early with efforts to respond to reductions in funding for legal services.

The New Hampshire Legislature in recent years has been very supportive and understanding of the need for this work, as evidenced by the funding it provided for a North Country office of NHLA.

Having said all that, a lot more could be done in our state. We need more lawyers doing pro bono work. Part of our professional obligation should be the direct provision of service, providing access to justice to people who can't get there any other way - and I'm not talking about doing some free legal work for your church or something. There is also the need for financial support of legal services.

On the indigent defendant side, New Hampshire has one of the best public defender systems in this country. One reason for that is that it has always received funding from the Legislature beyond the bare minimum and has been able to train its lawyers, many of whom are young, to be very able advocates and trial attorneys. This must not change even in this current economic environment. Indigent defendants make up close to 90 percent of the criminal cases in our system. If we do not fund the public defender sufficiently, more contract and assigned counsel will be required at substantially greater cost and less effectiveness.

Q: What significant changes have you seen in legal services - on both a state and national level - during your career?

A: There are probably two or three that really stand out. One is the necessity to be more efficient and use resources better that resulted in the LSC pushing state planning - that's an ongoing and big change. It requires more coordination among a variety of groups that serve the poor and cuts into territorial issues.

Another big change has been the restriction on the use of funds for legal services -imposed by Congress - which has limited the tools available to poor people's lawyers in dealing with issues of justice. It has had an impact on the ability of this country to meet the challenge of equal justice under the law.

The development of the IOLTA program and the challenges it now faces in the U.S. Supreme Court is another major thing. That program provides much needed re sources to allow us to do some good things, and it's now at risk.

Q: What are some of the legal services initiatives you've worked on of which you are especially proud?

A: My involvement in that early Bar leaders group. We were a countervailing force - protagonists. There were some folks on the LSC Board who didn't believe in the LSC or its mission. We got bar associations and other leaders to pay better attention to what was going on there.

As a result, the LSC is still here. In 1981, it was zero-funded, but...maybe we played a small part in keeping it alive. In the history of it all, it was probably a historic footnote, but it was fun.

Q: Where did your dedication to legal services come from? Have you always had an idealistic view of public service?

A: No, it's nothing so romantic, I'm afraid. I just got involved because I don't like bullies, and those LSC Board members were awful. I guess I've always had a sense that things should be fair. I have always believed that you should give back to the community in which you live and work. There are opportunities in your life to give a little bit, to make a difference. (My work in legal services) began as one of those opportunities.

Q: With all your work in legal services and in taking Pro Bono cases, how do you find time for your law practice?

A: I work a lot!

Q: Tell me about your family and your life outside of the profession.

A: My wife, Kathy, and I have been married for over 38 years. We have three grown daughters and one grandchild. Our middle daughter, Heather, is a third-year law student at Boston University.

I like photography and reading.... Aside from my work on a lot of Bar committees, I'm also involved in some community organizations: The Derryfield School's Summerbridge program, which provides a learning experience for fifth- and sixth-graders who are for the most part socially or economically disadvantaged, and Manchester Kiwanis are two of those organizations. I have previously served on the Derryfield School Board of Trustees and the Manchester Chamber of Commerce Board.

Q: What are your future plans for involvement in legal services and national bar service?

A: I'll continue as the NHBA representative to the ABA House of Delegates, where ABA policy is developed. I am president-elect of the National Caucus of State Bars and will be president next year. I'm currently figuring out what I want to do next. My term on SCLAID ends in August....I have applied to be appointed to either the ABA Pro Bono and Public Service Committee or the ABA Commission on IOLTA for next year. I may also join the Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities of the ABA.

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