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| Outreach |
The response from our community to Lawyers for Burners has been tremendous. As everyone can read in the pieces published on the site, Lawyers for Burners has helped Participants find lawyers to defend them against US government issued citations they received at this year’s Event. Several lawyers from our community have stepped forward and agreed to represent over a dozen Participants, several lawyers taking on multiple cases, and all of this work has been done without charge to our clients.
Despite this generosity, we still have Participants who were arraigned by the Court on November 15, 2007 and are not yet represented by counsel. While the Court has informed each Participant that he or she had a right to an attorney, the Court refused to appoint a government paid attorney like a public defender at the arraignment. This meant that the Participants who could not afford to pay a private attorney are now forced to mount a defense on their own.
Some of our Nevada colleagues have agreed to reduce their professional fees and represent Participants through trial on a flat fee basis. (Many of these lawyers have already taken on earlier cases for free).
Since many community members (including lawyers) have offered financial help, Lawyers for Burners is now trying to raise money in part to pay Nevada attorneys who have generously agreed to work at reduced rates. Our goal is to facilitate the representation of every Participant. For Participants who cannot afford lawyers, we are raising money to pay lawyers to represent them too. Contributions of any level are appreciated, and we will continue to post information about the project on this site.
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