September 27, 1999
In the Matter of:
Puerto Rico Legal Services, Inc.Complainants:
Ave. Ponce de Leon #859 Pda.26
P.O. Box 9134
Santurce, PR 00908-9134
National Legal and Policy Center
1309 Vincent Place, Suite 1000
McLean, VA 22101
This complaint alleges that Puerto Rico Legal Services, Inc. (PRLS), a program funded by Legal Services Corporation (LSC), violated LSCÕs rules that client case files be kept a minimum of five years by destroying numerous client files after just 14 months. The improper destruction of these client case files by PRLS made it impossible for General Accounting Office investigators to fully determine whether other LSC regulations were violated.
On May 3, 1999, five Members of Congress wrote to the General Accounting Office (GAO) requesting an investigation of case reporting problems associated with the 1997 case statistics which LSC had provided to Congress. At the March 3, 1999 House of Representatives appropriations hearing for LSC and in a story by Associated Press reporter Karen Gullo which received national coverage, it had been revealed that the case numbers provided to Congress were both false and, in many cases, greatly exaggerated.
The GAO investigated five of LSCÕs largest grantees - legal services programs credited with providing assistance in one out of approximately every seven cases handled by legal services programs in 1997. GAO reported back to Congress in a report filed on June 25, 1999.
With respect to the examination of PRLS, GAO stated:
ÒGrantee destroyed numerous closed case filesThe destruction of the client case files thwarted the investigation by the GAO and also hindered any possibility that other violations of LSC regulations may have been documented through an examination of the missing files.
after 14 months, limiting the number of cases
available for review.Ó
Coincidentally, PRLS is a program which is subject to a pending
complaint alleging that it misspent taxpayer funds intended to help the poor on
a political conference at an expensive beach resort. That complaint was
filed March 31, 1999 by the Traditional Values Coalition and National Legal and
Policy Center.
The rule in question was set forth in a memorandum to all Legal
Services Corporation program directors on December 8, 1997. The relevant
section of that directive states:
ÒPursuant to 42 U.S.C. 2996g(b), the CorporationAside from the legal requirement that PRLS retain client records, a requirement further reinforced by the grant agreement entered into by PRLS with LSC, there is a professional responsibility owed by attorneys to their clients to keep the client files safeguarded. Restatement, The Law Governing Lawyers covers attorney responsibilities regarding case files in Ò§ 58. Documents Relating to RepresentationÓ and emphasizes the importance of the clientÕs rights to retrieve, inspect and copy documents. The section goes on to cite a number of cases in which attorneys were held liable for mislaying or losing client files.
is hereby prescribing that closed client files also
be retained for five years.Ó
The improper destruction of client case files by Puerto Rico Legal Services is a clear violation of LSC rules. It made it impossible to fully investigate other possible violations of the LSC Act or regulations. It thwarted GAO investigators from being able to fully document the extent of the phantom case problem at the program. It also violated the rights of past clients to reasonable access to their case files.
The GAO report cites nothing remotely excusing the program for the destruction of client files.
Perhaps if the programÕs lawyers hadnÕt been spending hundreds of hours of their time planning political conferences at plush beach resorts they could have paid more attention to making sure their clientsÕ files werenÕt being destroyed improperly.
LSC is the only entity with the legal authority to sanction PRLS for wasting taxpayers funds intended to help the poor with their legal problems on a conference for political activists. And LSC is the only entity that can sanction PRLS for improperly destroying client case files.
The failure of LSC to sanction PRLS for promoting political activism in
an expensive beach resort while ignoring the rights of their poor clients
by destroying their case files would underscore the point that politics trumps
the poor in the legal services program.
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