For most people, a civil legal issue might be an annoyance. But for people who can’t afford representation, simple legal matters can often set off a nightmarish domino effect that can result in serious consequences. They depend on legal aid. And in the state of Washington, most of that legal aid is funnelled through the Legal Foundation of Washington (LFW.)

The Foundation’s need was twofold: reveal the direness of the situation and demonstrate the long-lasting impact donor’s impact could be. To accomplish this, we put the viewer in the shoes of a needy person stuck in the quagmire of civil legal trouble. We then brought in a simple (and geographically relevant) metaphor to demonstrate the potential of a donor’s gift.

The Script

Open on a man walking on a narrow and foggy mountain road on the very edge of a mountain.

Getting caught up in a civil legal issue can make you feel like you’re left out on a ledge.

The road collapses a bit; he is suddenly on a very precarious ledge.

Of course, it’s not a big problem if you can afford legal representation.

He gets on his phone; a helicopter immediately flies in, drops a ladder, and rescues the man.

But people dealing with civil matters aren’t guaranteed a lawyer like criminal defendants are.

We pan over to a similar scene on the side of the mountain. She is also stuck on a foggy ledge but no helicopter comes.

And in the land of the free, justice isn’t.

The person pulls out a wallet; a moth flies out.

In fact, due to insufficient funding, only one in four low-income people who need civil legal aid can access it—

Zoom out to reveal 4 people on 4 ledges; a helicopter comes for one; the others are left stranded.

--sending many to court alone and without representation.

The three remaining people struggle to get climb up off their ledges on their own.

What’s more, low-income citizens experience an average of 9 legal issues per year.

Zoom in to our hero. As soon as she climbs off one ledge, the road slips again…and again.

And not surprisingly, that number doubles for people trapped in domestic violence situations.

Now once the ground begins to crumble beneath them, the consequences can get really serious:

The woman slips down a ledge…and then down another…and then down another, each new ledge more perilous than the first.

Like losing-your-home serious...

We pan to a different ledge to see a scene of a single-parent homeless family living in a tent.

…or having to choose between paying high-interest legal fines and feeding your kids serious…

…or being unable to escape an abusive situation serious.

We pan to a different scene of a woman looking fearful (there’s a hint of spooky-looking eyes coming out of the dark.)

And then there’s the children to consider. It’s not enough that kids get dragged down into these matters; many end up slipping through the cracks.

We pan to another scene with adults and a child begging for money; the child slips through a crack on the floor.

….and the kids who fall through those cracks are the ones that often end up in on the streets or behind bars.

He falls through tinier and tinier ledges representing foster care and ultimately prison.

Of course incarceration isn’t the only thing that claims our most vulnerable.

We zoom out to see a wide view of the mountain; people in rough situations are everywhere poverty. Rocks are tumbling everywhere.

And the more unstable the ground is for them, the more unstable it is for everybody.

The crumbling ledges begin to shake at every level, as if a rock slide that might take down the entire mountain is about to take place.

Fortunately, the Campaign for Equal Justice and the Endowment for Equal Justice are there to help.

We zoom in on our hero as the fog begins to clear. When the fog dissipates, she sees that the top of a giant evergreen tree is just a few feet away.

The Campaign for Equal Justice raises annual funds to provide immediate legal aid to over 30,000 people throughout the state each year.

A helper steps out onto a branch and extends a hand; he leads her onto the branch to safety. We zoom out to see this scene being repeated across the mountainside with other people in distress.

But the hard truth is that civil legal aid funding is wildly unpredictable and often dries up when economic winds blow south?—exactly when it’s needed most.

We pan to a new scene where several of the mountain trees have caught fire, leaving some people without any hope.

And that’s where the Endowment for Equal Justice comes in.

We transition to a new scene that focuses on the pinecone (representing the long-term impact of planting seeds)

It invests your private donations into a long-term, sustainable fund which makes an annual disbursement to support 23 high-performing legal aid organizations.

We see pinecone seeds being sown in a field by hand. We see a time-lapse as the seeds grow into hundreds of mountainside trees. Logos of different aid organizations populate the trees.

By supporting legal aid through the Endowment for Equal Justice, you’ll provide a legacy of justice for future generations that will help stabilize the lives of your neighbors in communities all over Washington.

We see people getting pulled off more ledges. We see a time-lapse of the holes getting covered up and replaced by lush foliage of the Washington rainforest.

And that’s something that can lift us all up.

We see different groups of people enjoying a lush, hole-free mountainside.

Add logos of all 23 organizations at the end after the final scene.

The Team

Concept, script, creative direction and account management: Cliff McCloe

Art Direction and Animation Lead: Ross Ishikawa

Produced by Splainers for the Legal Foundation of Washington