LEGAL AID BUREAU TO EXTEND SCOPE OF WORK

The Legal Aid Bureau of Harvard University, which was incorporated in 1914 for the purpose of rendering "legal aid and assistance" to those persons who are financially unable to employ regular attorneys, announced yesterday evening a program for the year 1920-21 which indicates a material increase in the scope and amount of work to be undertaken. During the past month the Bureau has effected an arrangement with the Boston Legal Aid Society whereby men are to be detailed to the latter organization to assist it in handling its constantly growing number of cases, and whereby certain cases which the Boston office is unable to handle are to be assigned to the Cambridge office of the Bureau.

In their attempt to provide gratuitous legal advice to the poorer members of the community, and in so doing to defeat the criticism, so often made of the existing legal system, that "a poor man can not afford to go to court," both the Harvard and Boston organizations have been most successful in past years. The report for the Harvard Society for the year 1919-20 shows that a total of 108 cases were handled, covering all branches of law from divorce to insurance contracts. With its increased facilities the Bureau hopes this year to triple this number in 1920-21. The former offices in the Cambridge Neighborhood House have been given up, and new quarters in the more accessible Prospect Union in Central square have been established. Members of the Bureau may be consulted there by clients on any week day except Saturday between 4 and 6 in the afternoon, and between 7 and 9 in the evening. The only condition on which legal assistance will be given is that the applicant is unable to employ counsel; no member of the Bureau is permitted to take a case in which he is not satisfied that the client deserves the charity of the Bureau.

Dean Pound Appoints Members

The members of the Bureau are chosen on the recommendation of Dean Pound from the second and third year classes of the Harvard Law School on the basis of scholarship and general adaptability for the work. They are permitted, by arrangement, to represent their clients in all the courts of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The officers and members of the Bureau for the current year are as follows: E. S. Pillsbury, president; Wilkie Bushby, vice-president; R. H. Davison, G. A. Brownell, W. H. Sargent, directors; E. Amdur, R. T. Catterall, C. Henry, O. L. Johnson, A. M. Lindau, F. B. Lund Jr., L. F. Seiler, D. E. Snodgrass, W. S. Schwabacher, C. F. Zukoski, J. L. Beebe, B. E. Carter, F. R. Coudert Jr., C. A. Coolidge Jr. W. B. Dana, R. H. Dunlap, W. B. Lyons, E. St. J. Garwood, H. H. Pell, F. E. Parker, F. A. Ross, J. G. Schurman, R. H. Williams, E. L. Wingert.