DAVENPORT — The Equal Justice Summit will take place at St. Ambrose University on April 8 in celebration of 40 years of legal services for the elderly and poor in eastern Iowa.
The event will take place in Rogalski Center, with registration at 8:30 a.m. and the seminar from 9 a.m to 4:30 p.m. The day includes lunch.
HELP Legal Assistance was established in 1970 and has been working since then to provide civil legal aid to people who cannot afford private lawyers.
Workshops will be held on the history of Legal Aid, the Innocence Project with Brian Farrell, Poverty Law and Organizing as a Career Path, predatory lending with Sen. Joe Bolkcom, immigration with Pastor David Vasquez (of the 2008 Postville raids) and immigration attorney Karla Steele, a panel on domestic violence and a plenary session on independent judiciary with Supreme Court justices and U.S. Chief District Court Judge Robert Pratt. The public is invited.
CLE workshops for lawyers are also open to social workers for CEU credit, including housing law, family law, mortgage foreclosure defense, federal civil rights litigation, ethics, consumer law and bankruptcy law. Speakers will include Judge Pratt, former Supreme Court Justice Linda Neuman, present members of the Iowa Supreme Court, U.S. Magistrate Judge Celeste Bremer and other attorneys.
On April 7, at 7 p.m. in the Rogalski Center at St. Ambrose University, Pastor David Vasquez will speak on immigration issues and how communities of faith should respond. Social workers can earn a total of seven hours of CEUs for the day for $20, which includes lunch. Students are involved in several projects related to the history of Legal Aid.
Students or members of the general public can register by calling HELP Legal Aid at (563) 322-6216. Lunch is $10. Email cbarts4@aol.com for more information.