{"id":9230,"date":"2019-10-23T23:24:45","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T23:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsletters.asucollegeoflaw.com\/ilp\/?p=9230"},"modified":"2020-11-18T23:47:21","modified_gmt":"2020-11-18T23:47:21","slug":"pechanga-band-wills-clinic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/newsletters.asucollegeoflaw.com\/ilp\/2019\/10\/23\/pechanga-band-wills-clinic\/","title":{"rendered":"Pechanga Wills Clinic"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The Sandra Day O\u2019Connor College of Law\u2019s Indian Legal Clinic<\/a><\/strong> partnered with the Pechanga Band of Luise\u00f1o Indians Tribal Leadership and the California Indian Legal Services on Sept. 23 and 24 in an extremely successful Indian Wills Clinic for the members of the Pechanga Band. At the event, free legal services were offered to members of the Band who wished to create wills for bequeathing their allotments. The Pechanga Indian Reservation includes a mix of trust lands, fee lands and lands owned by the Band, individual Indians and non-Indians.<\/p>\n

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Eleven members of the Band met with three Indian Legal Clinic students on the first day of the Clinic to discuss their estate planning needs. The students then drafted an Indian will that was ready for execution on the following day for each of the individuals. Jennifer Parisien, Tribal Treasurer Department Financial Analyst, coordinated the event while Michele Fahley, Deputy General Counsel for the Band, and Mica Llerandi, staff attorney with California Indian Legal Services, supervised the student attorneys.<\/p>\n

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“Ensuring tribal members have access to legal services in preparing Indian wills has been a long-term priority for my office,\u201d said Steve Bodmer<\/strong>, JD \u201906, the Band\u2019s General Counsel. \u201cWhen our Tribal Secretary and Tribal Treasurer reached out to me regarding adding wills to the Pechanga financial education series, my thoughts turned immediately to the Indian Legal Program as a possible resource to make this project a success.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Robyn Delfino, Pechanga Band Tribal Treasurer, explained that the Wills Clinic was part of a larger initiative sponsored by the Tribal Treasury Department and Tribal Leadership with an aim of assisting members by providing education about financial management and legal tools for planning for the future.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe amazing work that was performed in the Wills Clinic is evidenced in the reaction of the Band\u2019s membership,\u201d said Bodmer.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe feedback from members was extremely positive,\u201d added Delfino, \u201cwhich resulted in multiple tribal members contacting us to ask when the next clinic would be held. The partnership between the Tribal Leadership, California Indian Legal Services, and the Sandra Day O\u2019Connor College of Law\u2019s Indian Legal Clinic was a win-win situation where tribal members gained very valuable services while students gained very valuable educational experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The students involved in the Wills Clinic were universal in their appreciation for the learning opportunities the program provided.<\/p>\n

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