Noting that “foreclosure impacts everyone,” Court of Appeals Chief Judge Robert M. Bell sent letters to Maryland lawyers yesterday, calling on them to help citizens facing foreclosure.

As we wrote in June (subscriber-only link), the Foreclosure Prevention Pro Bono Project aims to train lawyers to help homeowners assert their rights under new foreclosure legislation that took effect on April 4.

According to the letter, Maryland is one of the 10 states hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis, with 11,000 foreclosures anticipated for 2008.

Lawyers can help either by directly representing homeowners through referral services, providing brief advice at public workshops or serving as of counsel to non-profit housing counseling agencies. Free MICPEL training is offered in collaboration with the Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland for those willing to accept one pro bono foreclosure case or do 15 hours of pro bono legal services to the project.

Bell calls the program “one of the most important pro bono initiatives of our time.”

What do you think about the program, and the chief judge’s unprecedented endorsement of a single pro bono initiative?

CHRISTINA DORAN, Assistant Legal Editor