Legal Defense Fund

The National Association of Catholic School Teachers has approved a motion to enable locals to help pay the legal costs encountered in protecting teacher rights and in securing collective bargaining. The Executive Committee will review all applications for such assistance and make grants on approved cases. The Executive Committee will also stipulate the amount of each grant. In determining the amount based on the information furnished, the Executive Committee may award grants for any amount, but no grant may exceed fifty percent (50%) of the total cost incurred by the local.

Requests for such assistance must be forwarded to the National Office. To facilitate the awarding of grants, locals should submit applications prior to any cost being incurred.

Any questions concerning the Legal Defense Fund should be raised with the National Office.

addendum

October, 1993

In an effort to control as much as possible the legal costs arising from arbitrations, the Executive Committee of the National Association of Catholic School Teachers has established a Legal Defense Fund and has adopted rules and regulations for the use of the Fund by affiliated locals.

The Executive Committee of the National Association of Catholic School Teachers wishes to emphasize most strongly that moneys expended from the NACST Legal Defense Fund come from the dues paid by our members. The Fund is by no means bottomless; every request for assistance, therefore, cannot be honored.

Since its inception, the Legal Defense Fund, to its credit, has been able to meet requests from its local affiliates. There have been, however, some difficulties. One of the more serious occurs when locals do not exert strong and prudent judgment in the retaining of attorneys and the setting of fees for service. Since attorneys' fees account for nearly 100% of the arbitration expenses, this impacts not only on the local which has limited financial resources but also on the Fund which, although established to assist all locals, is able to allocate only a certain money amount to accomplish this. The Fund Guidelines recommend that locals retain the National Association's law firm or an attorney from a list approved be the NACST law firm. If the local uses an attorney other than these, the amount of money approved for legal fees under the Legal Defense Fund will be pro-rated in a similar manner to the UCR payment under medical health insurance.

Guidelines to Receive Grants from the Arbitration Fund

In order for an affiliated local to be eligible for or to receive first priority for a grant, the following shall apply:

1. A written request from the affiliated local for a grant must be made and forwarded to the NACST Office prior to any arbitration. Arbitration for the purposes of these grants shall mean the last step of the grievance procedure that is final and binding on the parties.
2. To be eligible for a grant, an affiliated local must be current in its dues payment.
3. The request for a grant must be accompanied by:
1. The motion of the Executive Board of the affiliated local to move the grievance to arbitration.
2. Copies of all grievance materials including:
• the grievance procedure as delineated in the labor agreement.
• the original filing documents.
• any and all responses through each step of the procedure.
3. An estimate of attorney's fees and arbitrator's fees for the handling of the arbitration.
4. The Executive Committee will determine if the case merits a grant and will inform the affiliated local of the decision.
5. Once the arbitration has been rendered, the local is to forward to the National Office:
1. within thirty (30) days of the decision:
• the written decision of the arbitrator or court.
• all pertinent documents (attorney's briefs, etc.).
• the financial obligation of the local in regard to the arbitration (loser pays all, parties each pay half, etc.).
2. within thirty (30) days of the decision or as soon thereafter as they are received:
• the arbitrator's bill or court costs.
• the itemized bills of the local attorney.
6. The final decision on the allocation of funds rests with the Executive Committee of NACST.
7. Funding from the Arbitration Fund
1. The Executive Committee will approve the annual amount to be used from the treasury for arbitrations as defined above.
2. These monies available under the Arbitration Fund will be divided into two equal segments. The first segment will be set aside for grants to help defray the costs of arbitrations decided between September 1 and February 28/29 of the NACST fiscal year. The second segment will be set aside for grants to help defray the costs of arbitrations decided between March 1 and August 31 of the NACST fiscal year.
3. The Executive Committee will review all grant requests. Grants will be awarded on approved cases only. The amount of the grant, to be determined solely by the Executive Committee, will be based on the information furnished and the amount of money available in the Arbitration Fund in the designated six month period; however no grant may exceed fifty percent (50%) of the total cost incurred by the affiliated local.
4. If it is necessary to reduce the size of grants because they exceed the money available in the Fund, they will be reduced on a pro rata basis.

   The above notwithstanding, if any affiliated local receives less than the approved amount because of a shortage of money in the Fund in any given time period, the local may be eligible to receive the rest of the approved amount at a later date. If at the end of either or both of the next two time periods all of the money allocated has not been used, the remainder may be used to pay grants up to the approved amount. The amount to be received will be decided by the Executive Committee after reviewing all cases eligible under this provision.

5. Any affiliated local that does not follow the guidelines as set forth above may still be eligible for a grant. The local's eligibility and the size of any grant is at the sole discretion of the Executive Committee and will be based on the following:
1. A local must be current in its dues payments.
2. All pertinent information as listed in the above guidelines must be sent to the NACST Office. This information must be received at the NACST Office within twelve months of any decision.
3. The Executive Committee will review these documents to determine if the case would have qualified for a grant under the above guidelines.
4. Available monies will be allocated according to when all paperwork was submitted rather than when the decision was rendered.
5. If it is decided that the case would have merited a grant, had the request been made under the above guidelines, the Executive Committee may approve a secondary grant.
6. The size of the grant will be based on the amount of money left in the fund after all grants approved under the above guidelines have been paid. This would also include back payments under Funding Condition #4.
7. The Executive Committee, at its discretion may consider a further allocation, if any money remains in the fund in the time period immediately following the period in which the request was finally made.
8. The final decision on the allocation of funds rests with the Executive Committee of NACST.

Guidelines to Receive Grants from the Legal Action Fund

In order for an affiliated local to be eligible for a grant, the following shall apply:

1. A written request for a grant must be made by an affiliated local and forwarded to the NACST Office. Legal action for the purposes of these grants shall mean any court action or other extraordinary legal proceeding taken to protect the rights of teachers or to secure collective bargaining.
2. To be eligible for a grant, an affiliated local must be current in its dues payment.
3. The request for a grant must be accompanied by:
1. the motion of the Executive Board of the affiliated local to initiate court action or take some other legal action.
2. copies of all pertinent materials including:
• the original filing documents.
• any and all responses through each step of the procedure.
3. an estimate of attorney's fees and court costs for the handling of the case.
4. financial statements (balance sheets, income/expense reports, etc.) of the local.
4. After consulting with legal counsel, the Executive Committee will determine if the case merits a grant and inform the affiliated local of the decision.
5. The local will forward to the National Office:
• an itemized billing from the attorneys for any fees as they are received.
• all pertinent documents (attorney's briefs, court decisions, etc.) as they are received.
6. The final decision on the allocation of funds rests with the Executive Committee of NACST.
7. These funds will be on an "as needed" basis; that is, they will be paid on an ongoing basis as bills are received and according to the guidelines established by the Executive Committee.
8. Funding from the Legal Action Fund
1. The Executive Committee will approve the amount to be used from the treasury for any legal action.
2. The Executive Committee will review all grant requests. Grants will be awarded on approved cases. The amount of the grant, to be determined solely by the Executive Committee, will be based on the information furnished, including the financial health of the local.

For a current copy of the lawyer list contact the NACST main office.