about Maine VLA

mission:

To provide access to effective legal counsel for artists and organizations with limited financial resources, to educate broadly on arts-related business and legal issues, to offer mediation services to facilitate non-litigious dispute resolution, to generally support artists and to foster cooperative relationships between the artistic and legal communities.

board of directors:

Tyler Briggs (Co-owner, Corduroy Boutique and Gallery)
Zeke Callanan, President (Executive Director, Heart of Biddeford)
Chris Causey, Esq. (Causey Mediations)
Chelsea Fournier, Esq., Secretary (Associate, Preti Flaherty)
Fred Frawley, Esq.(Partner, Preti Flaherty)
Peter Guffin, Esq. (Partner,Pierce Atwood)
Dave Marshall (Professional Fine Artist, Portland City Councilor)
Emily Marczak (Events and Marketing Manager, Pineland Farms)

university of maine school of law interns:

Andrew Dawson - Starting his 2nd year at Maine Law in Fall 2009, Andrew put in over 300 hours of work for Maine VLA in Summer 2009 in cooperation with the Americorps' Equal Justice Works Program. Thank you Andrew!

Bodie Colwell - Also starting her 2nd year in Fall 2009, Bodie has been helping Maine VLA by managing the online social networking accounts, like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Thanks Bodie!

philosophies

philosophy on constant improvement:

Evaluation is a fundamental part of MEVLA's program. We track every client we place, evaluate every lawyer-client relationship, request feedback on every event we host, and are constantly asking for further suggestions or comments from the general public. In addition, we regularly self-reflect. We ask all board members and personnel to ask themselves: What works for me? What does not work? What could I do to be more efficient? What could he or she do to be more efficient? Through constant evaluation, we constantly improve our program to better serve Maine's artists. Improvement comes from the inside out, and from the outside in. If there is a service you would like offered, or if there is something we could improve on, please do not hesitate to let us know.

philosophy on being resiliant and buying local:

MEVLA does everything it can to minimize its carbon footprint, and to buy Maine products and use Maine services. We are a Portland Buy Local member organization.

story

mevla today:

Inspired by Casey Gill-Sumner of the Tennessee VLA, then third-year law students Nicholas Holton and Ezekiel Callanan attended the National VLA Conference in Minneapolis, MN in April 2008. Confident that Maine needed this type of resource once again, and backed by three heavy-hitting board members from Maine's notoriously generous legal community, Callanan and Holton incorporated MEVLA (Maine Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts) as a non-profit corporation, organized under the laws of the State of Maine, on June 23, 2008. The resurrection of Maine's VLA comes at the perfect time, as Maine's creative economy is emerging as one of its most valuable economic sectors.

Currently, MEVLA is in the process of applying for 501(c)(3) status. Meanwhile, PACA (Portland Arts & Cultural Alliance) has graciously agreed to be MEVLA's fiscal sponsor. Therefore, donations to MEVLA are 100% tax deductible.

mevla's history:

Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (VLAs) programs exist countrywide; they are each independently established, managed and sustained. New York established the first one in 1973, and today there are over 33 VLAs in the United States. In general, these organizations support the arts communities in the areas in which they rest by providing legal and educational services to artists with limited financial resources. The specific activities each VLA offers vary based on the needs of the geographical region. Maine Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, originally named Maine Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts, was created and run by Elizabeth Adams, and lasted for about ten years until Ms. Adams left the country and could not keep the organization running. Sadly, no one stepped in for her, and in her absence and the organization was administratively dissolved in 2001.