The mission for Lawyers & Advocates for Wyoming is to provide quality legal representation in defense and promotion of the public's interest on substantive issues of health, safety, consumer rights, and civil liberties to Wyoming citizens as well as other individuals who are unable to secure a lawyer due to the nature of the controversy or financial inability.
It is further the purpose of Lawyers and Advocates for Wyoming to train and educate persons engaged in the practice of law, and to encourage social betterment through the legal profession.
Background
Lawyers & Advocates for Wyoming, or L.A.W., was started in 1991. It was Gerry Spence's dream to create a law firm that was devoted solely to Wyoming's public interest. He wanted a law firm that would always fight for Wyoming's people and important Wyoming causes-even if those cases did not generate an economic value for the law firm. Based on this dream, he and his partners at The Spence Law Firm started L.A.W.
L.A.W. is not-for-profit. It strives to support itself by re-investing fees earned from cases into the firm and using the money to fund future cases. The firm's sole employee is a Director who is selected by the Board of Directors. (The Board is made up of the members of The Spence Law Firm.) The Director is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the firm and the day-to-day management of all cases assigned to L.A.W. For each case that is handled by L.A.W., one or more Board members are assigned to assist and advise the Director in that particular case. The Board members do not receive fees for the work they perform on L.A.W.'s cases-all of their time is donated. L.A.W. simply would not be successful without the hours of work that the Board contributes to L.A.W., and the guidance they provide the Director. L.A.W. also takes cases outside the state of Wyoming if they have social appeal and are seen to advance the betterment of justice.
S.A.F.E.R. The Spence Association for Employee Rights
In 2008, Lawyers and Advocates for Wyoming launched a new initiative – The Spence Association for Employee Rights (SAFER). SAFER’s mission is to protect and represent workers and the workforce by improving workplace safety and obtaining justice for injured workers. SAFER works with citizens and legislators in identifying and solving problems affecting injured workers. SAFER will strive to achieve this mission through education, legislation, and zealous representation.
There is a profound need for improving workplace safety in extrahazardous industries and making sure that once an employee is injured, he or she will quickly and efficiently receive the necessary medical and lost wage benefits guaranteed under Wyoming Workers’ Compensation law. Mark Aronowitz, a Spence Law Firm associate, directs SAFER and has drafted and helped pass legislation to improve the Workers’ Compensation laws.
During Wyoming’s 2009 legislative session SAFER, with help from the Equality State Policy Center, AFL-CIO, WTLA and many other concerned citizens, legislators, and attorneys achieved a major victory: the passage of the workers’ compensation reform bill (HB 54), making numerous changes to a system that was rife with injustice for workers injured on the job, particularly those who suffered the most catastrophic injuries. The new law, which becomes effective on July 1, 2009, will provide an estimated additional $8-12 million dollars a year to injured workers and their families.
These reforms, which Governor Freudenthal signed into law on March 5, 2009, increase death and permanent impairment benefits, including benefits for surviving children; provides a minimum and extends the duration of temporary total disability benefits; provides an annual cost of living adjustment to permanent total disability benefits; extends the maximum duration of vocational rehabilitation benefits; extends the period over which death benefits are paid; limits the time for the Workers’ Compensation Division to recover overpayments; requires the state to pay a fair share of the costs of litigation when covered workers recover damages from third parties; and requires the division to reconsider claims if an injured worker’s failure to meet a procedural deadline is the fault of the worker’s attorney. The law also appropriates $150,000 to the Office of Administrative Hearings to determine how to modernize office operations and it authorizes hiring one additional hearing officer.
SAFER also successfully defeated HB-64, a co-employee immunity bill that would have made Wyoming workplaces less safe. This marked the fourth time that some version of this bill has been proposed and rejected.
Perhaps most importantly, The Joint Labor, Health & Social Services Committee has agreed to conduct an interim study, in preparation for the 2010 legislative session, focusing on workplace safety. The State of Wyoming, due in large part to its abundant energy resources has a thriving and robust economy. The benefits are clear and numerous including one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, good wages, and sizeable budget surpluses. The costs, born by an unfortunate few, are less obvious, but extremely important. Wyoming has become an unacceptably dangerous place for tens of thousands of its citizens to make a living and our workers are being killed and injured at alarming rates.
From 2001-2007, the average nationwide workplace fatality rate was about 4.0 per 100,000 workers. During those years, Wyoming’s workplace fatality rate was at least triple and sometimes quadruple the national average. In 2007, 48 people were killed on the job, the highest number in State history. From 2003-2005, Wyoming had the highest fatality rate in the nation. In 2001, 2002 and 2006, Wyoming had the second highest fatality rate in the nation. Over the last 15 years, the national workplace fatality rate has steadily decreased while Wyoming’s has steadily increased. In addition, the injury and illness rates for Wyoming workers are also consistently higher than the national average. SAFER will play an instrumental role in efforts to improve workplace safety and has high hopes for the interim committees study.
