71 The Alabama Lawyer 45 (2010). The VLP and The Thief.

• Author: By Pamela H. Bucy

Alabama Lawyer

2010.

71 The Alabama Lawyer 45 (2010).

The VLP and The Thief

The VLP and The ThiefBy Pamela H. Bucy"Twobig extravaganza pizzas!

She ordered two of the biggest pizzas from Domino's and paid for them with mychecks! On two different nights! She had them delivered to her right around the corner!"

Mr. Monroe(fn1) railed as he told me about the woman who stole his wallet. According to Mr. Monroe, the woman, a neighbor, stole his wallet the morning after a "roundabout." This, Mr. Monroe later learned, was this woman's scam. Ultimately, the woman was arrested and convicted for the theft of Mr. Monroe's wallet, but not until she ran up $5,000 in bills using his credit card checks.

Mr. Monroe told me about his case as we sat in his small apartment on a tree-shaded street in the blocks of subsidized housing in Huntsville. Confined to a wheelchair with diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and a weak heart, Mr. Monroe moves easily in his motorized wheelchair through his handicap-modified apartment.

After the woman ran up the $5,000 in bills, creditors began calling Mr. Monroe, then hounding him and finally threatening to sue. Soon, Mr Monroe was served with a copy of a lawsuit filed by a credit collection agency. He submitted a handwritten response explaining that his wallet had been stolen and the bills were not his. In his wheelchair, Mr. Monroe took a bus downtown to the Madison County Courthouse. He appeared in court, as he had been instructed to do. District Court Judge Lynn Sherrod listened to him and then recommended that he contact Legal Services Alabama's Huntsville office for help. He did, which is how he met Richard J. R. Raleigh, Jr., his Volunteer Lawyers Program attorney.

Started in 1991, the Alabama State Bar's VLP recruits lawyers throughout the state to provide, pro bono, up to 20 hours of legal services per year for those who cannot afford them.(fn2) Offices of Legal Services Alabama, Inc., located throughout the state, screen cases that come in to determine if those cases are appropriate for referral to VLP attorneys. Cases which meet the following criteria are eligible for referral to the VLP: (1) the case involves certain issues of law(fn3) and (2) the case is simple, straightforward and appears to be resolvable within 20 hours or less.(fn4) In Alabama, 23 percent of licensed attorneys are...