Henry W. McLaughlin III's job is to represent the underdog,
but that hasn't kept him from taking on the powerful.
McLaughlin, the executive director
of Central Virginia Legal Aid Society Inc., sued the
U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Housing
and Urban Development in 1990 on behalf of the Richmond
Tenants Organization, a group representing the city's
public housing residents. The federal agencies planned
to evict without notice public housing residents who
were suspected of illegal drug use before going through
any legal process. "This
happened in Ann Arbor, Mich., and people were being thrown
out in their nightclothes," says McLaughlin.
McLaughlin spotted the issue
because of his relationship with the tenants' organization
and initiated the fight against the federal agencies,
arguing that it was unconstitutional to evict people
before any criminal activity had been proven. "He just never flinched," recalls Virginia
first lady Anne Holton, who worked at the society for
more than 10 years before becoming a juvenile court judge. "There
were definitely others in different localities that were
reluctant to take it on. But it was important for our
clients, and we were in the right legally, and he didn't
worry about the political repercussions."
McLaughlin allowed Holton, one
of his junior attorneys, to lead the case, which later
was joined by national housing groups. The plaintiffs
eventually won a nationwide permanent injunction against
the evictions. "It
was a definitely a David and Goliath type case," says
Holton.
McLaughlin has dedicated most of his professional career
to helping Central Virginia's poorest residents navigate
the legal system. Since joining legal aid nearly 30 years
ago, McLaughlin has represented low-income and elderly
residents in civil matters including foreclosures, evictions,
domestic violence, discrimination and denial of public
assistance.
The eight lawyers and support staff of Central Virginia
Legal Aid work in offices in Richmond, Charlottesville
and Petersburg. The society receives pro-bono and financial
gifts from local lawyers and receives government funding.
But money is always tight and the demand unending. In
the year ending Sept. 30, the society handled 4,020 cases,
helping 8,615 people.
The 66-year-old lawyer downplays
any suggestion that he made a financial sacrifice by
choosing a career in legal aid. "When it's something people care about
most, they have the most trouble articulating it," says
McLaughlin.
Others, however, are willing
to tout his abilities and devotion. "He's the kind of lawyer who could have
worked for any law firm in Virginia and has the credentials
and ability to be highly paid," says Tom Slater
Jr., a lawyer at Hunton & Williams in Richmond who
sits on the society's board. "He's woefully underpaid,
but he does God's work to make sure that people who can't
afford legal services are represented."
McLaughlin's weakness as a reporter led him to become
a lawyer. After graduating from Princeton University
with a degree in English, he worked in the Farmville
bureau of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. He says his struggle
with Attention Deficit Disorder and a few mishaps - including
speaking up at a local supervisors' meeting - caused
him to look to law as a career.
He graduated from the University of Virginia School
of Law in 1966 and returned to Halifax County to practice
law with his dad. Five years later, he moved to Richmond
because of family responsibilities, but continued to
commute more than two hours to Halifax. Eventually, a
job opened at the Neighborhood Legal Aid Society in Richmond
in 1978, and McLaughlin applied.
McLaughlin became co-executive
director of the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society
in 1982 when his organization merged with another legal
aid group. "I knew very
quickly that I wanted to be in legal aid," McLaughlin
says. "I knew it was my intention to stay."
Legal aid requires practice in
many areas of law, and McLaughlin admits he's often
reading and asking lawyers for advice in areas he's
unfamiliar with. "It's
the nature of legal aid," he says. "You're
not in a position to specialize as much as would be ideal."
At least one thing's remained
constant. "In legal
aid you represent the underdog, and that's always appealed
to me," says McLaughlin.
