Executive Director's Report, 0919 ALBJ, 80 The Alabama Lawyer 318 (2019)

• Author: Phillip W. McCallum, J.
• Position: Vol. 80 5 Pg. 318

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT

Vol. 80 No. 5 Pg. 318

Alabama Bar Lawyer

September, 2019

Phillip W. McCallum, J.

Lawyers Render Service... It's What We Do!

Did you know that our Volunteer Lawyers Program is among the best in the country?

For 2018, Alabama attorneys provided 13,547 pro bono hours of legal assistance through our five volunteer lawyer programs. Based on numbers provided to the Legal Services Corporation, Alabama provides three times the national average of pro bono assistance. Alabama (18,000 members) closed 1,000 more cases than Florida (106,000 members) and three times as many cases as Georgia (39,000 members).

The resources that support the Alabama State BarVolunteer Lawyers Program (VLP) come from a variety of sources. Our program receives monetary grants of support from the Alabama Law Foundation, the Alabama Civil Justice Foundation, Legal Services Alabama and the Alabama State Bar. However, our most important support comes from Alabama lawyers who volunteer their time and truly reflect our motto "Lawyers Render Service."

We are proud to have Linda Lund as the director of the Alabama State Bar VLP. Linda is a state bar member and has directed our program for 20 years. She is assisted by intake specialists Deborah Harper and Doris McDaniel. This small, but effective staff coordinates pro bono assistance to 60 of Alabama's 67 counties. They run a statewide intake line for the public and answer more than 5,000 inquiries per year.

In addition to its intake responsibilities, the VLP conducts clinics across the state, coordinates the Will for Heroes project, oversees Alabama's pro bono month celebration and...