President’s Page, 0519 ALBJ, 80 The Alabama Lawyer 172 (2019)
| Position | Vol. 80 3 Pg. 172 |
Pro Bono and Legal Aid-Making a Difference
Every day, Alabama lawyers provide one-on-one pro bono legal counsel and representation to those in need. These are the same lawyers who give freely to coach their children's sports teams, serve with charitable organizations and are active with their churches. Much of the charitable and pro bono work done by Alabama lawyers is informal and unrecognized. It is clear that Alabama lawyers regularly give back to their communities.
It is my experience that most Alabama lawyers provide pro bono work in private and without any recognition. There are several avenues, though, for providing pro bono services through formal programs where participating lawyers can receive recognition for their work. Three local volunteer lawyer programs (VLPs)- Birmingham, Madison County and Montgomery County-provide services in their counties, and the South Alabama VLP provides services in Mobile, Baldwin, Clarke and Washington counties.
Through the leadership of program director Linda Lund, the Alabama State Bar Volunteer Lawyers Program covers the state's remaining 60 counties and also plays an important advocacy role. In 2018, more than 4,000 Alabama lawyers participated in these five programs, which provided assistance in 4,830 cases. All of these programs provide excellent legal pro bono service to those in need. In addition, there are organizations like the Alabama Law Foundation, the Alabama Civil Justice Foundation, Alabama Appleseed, YWCA Central Alabama Family Law Center, the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama and Alabama Access to Justice Commission which assist by supporting those who are in need of free legal services.
There is also a federally-funded organization, Legal Services Alabama (LSA), which serves low-income Alabamians by providing free civil legal aid and assistance through eight regional offices: Anniston/Gadsden, Birmingham, Dothan, Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery, Selma and Tuscaloosa. LSA also gives grants to the local VLPs. However, the need for pro bono legal services in Alabama is far greater than LSA and the VLPs can provide on their own.
In addition to doing pro...
To continue reading
Request your trial