Talk Justice: Episode 83

Guests from a successful St. Louis collaboration discuss Legal Services of Eastern Missouri’s (LSEM) Neighborhood Advocacy Program on Talk Justice. There are 24,000 vacancies and abandoned properties in St. Louis. LSEM was inspired by Legal Aid of Western Missouri’s Adopt-a-Neighborhood program in Kansas City to start their own revitalization project. In 2018, they launched the Neighborhood Advocacy Program to start tackling the legal problems that create lingering neighborhood blight. 

Dan Glazier is Executive Director of Legal Services of Eastern Missouri. Dan began his work with Legal Services of Eastern Missouri (LSEM) in 1981 as a Reginald Heber Smith (Reggie) Fellow in the Welfare Law Program. In 1983, he joined the Housing Program where he represented clients with housing issues in municipal, state, and federal courts as well as administrative proceedings. He then focused on issues relating to homelessness and directed the Homeless Legal Project at LSEM from 1997 to 2005. He was the co-managing attorney of the Housing Program from 1998 to 2005...

Peter Hoffman manages the Neighborhood Advocacy program for Legal Services of Eastern Missouri. Neighborhood Advocacy provides free legal services to prevent and eliminate blighted, vacant, and abandoned property. Peter began his legal career in Kansas City where he helped to create Legal Aid of Western Missouri’s “Adopt-a-Neighborhood” program connecting urban neighborhoods with volunteer lawyers. He served as that project’s director until moving home to St. Louis in 2018 to found Neighborhood Advocacy. 

Tonnie Glispie-Smith is a St. Louis City West End Neighborhood Leader and a Neighborhood Advocacy AmeriCorps VISTA member. She is currently Board President of Delmar Main Street and Board member of Saint Louis ArtWorks. Tonnie is also a graduate of the Neighborhood Leadership Academy, Neighborhood Leadership Fellows and the Community Arts Training programs. She is actively involved with the St. Louis Vacancy Collaborative and Creating Whole Communities.

Ronald S. Flagg was appointed President of the Legal Services Corporation effective February 20, 2020, and previously served as Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel since 2013.  He previously practiced commercial and administrative litigation at Sidley Austin LLP for 31 years, 27 years as a partner. He chaired the firm’s Committee on Pro Bono and Public Interest Law for more than a decade...