More low-income families and victims of domestic violence will have access to legal support thanks to a newly announced fellowship.
The Holland Fellowship, which will be funded in perpetuity by the Randy J. Holland Family Law Chair Endowment Fund at the Delaware Community Foundation, was created to honor the legacy of Delaware Supreme Court Justice Randy J. Holland, who retired in March of 2017 after more than 30 years on the state’s highest court bench.
The Holland Fund will pay for an attorney to work at one of Delaware’s three civil legal aid groups for two years at time. The three organizations, which combined fundraising efforts through the Combined Campaign for Justice (CCJ), are Delaware Volunteer Legal Services (DVLS), Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (CLASI) and Legal Services Corporation of Delaware (LSCD).
DVLS operates statewide, focusing on legal protection for victims of domestic violence in New Castle County. CLASI represents people who are poor, people with disabilities, and people who are elderly in all three counties, and handles the domestic violence cases in Kent and Sussex Counties. LSCD assists people who are poor in all three counties in consumer, housing, and bankruptcy matters and supports DVLS and CLASI in domestic violence cases statewide.
Each organization will take a turn hosting a Holland Fellow. For the first two years, the fellow will work at DVLS, where duties will include obtaining orders of protection for victims of domestic violence. Then, a new Holland Fellow will be recruited for a two-year term at CLASI, and then another for two years at LSCD.
Read more about this exciting new fellowship in the Delaware Community Foundation press release.
