Future MBA leader works to improve access to justice

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When attorney Rachel A. Schneider takes over as president of the Milwaukee Bar Association this year, one of her goals is to improve access to justice.

That is not to say the Quarles & Brady environmental and regulatory attorney has not done her part to promote pro bono service.

Schneider served as vice-chair, with Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Richard J. Sankovitz, of the 2007 Access to Justice Study Committee, which crafted a report on the unmet legal needs of poor people in Wisconsin.

Her efforts in developing the report helped, for the first time, secure state aid for indigent legal services.

“It’s kind of a statewide focus and then for me, looking at the Milwaukee community,” Schneider said.

She subscribes to, and promotes the philosophy of, working on at least one pro bono matter at any given time.

But more often than not, Schneider, who served as Chair of the Legal Services for the Indigent Committee of the MBA, finds herself juggling multiple efforts at the same time.

Projects such as helping individuals file domestic abuse injunction appeals and working with parents to obtain guardianships for impaired children nearing adulthood are recent initiatives Schneider has worked on.

One of her long-term passions is to expand the scope of the Milwaukee Justice Center, which provides guidance on family, small claims issues and landlord-tenant issues.

“I’d like to get more direct service and more pro bono referrals in the future,” Schneider said.

“One immediate objective is to be able to have physical space to provide more program offerings.”

Currently, the self-help desk is set up as “bank teller experience” in the Milwaukee County Courthouse, but there is also a clinic available twice a week, staffed by Marquette University Law School students.

Schneider said she hopes to secure a permanent space for the help desk, though she said the center took a huge step forward when an administrative director was hired in 2009.

“I’d like to continue to increase visibility and programming, while also looking to increase resources,” Schneider said. “As the economy begins to turn around, I hope we can secure the long-term future of the project.”

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