Pro Bono
| Jurisdiction | Georgia,United States |
| Citation | Vol. 14 No. 5 Pg. 0052 |
| Pages | 0052 |
| Publication year | 2009 |
New Tools for You for Educating Georgians on Legal Issues
by Betty Hudson, Anna Boling and Mike Monahan
New community legal education materials are now available for Georgia lawyers. The Law and Government Education Project at the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia has developed and launched a lengthy series of flash media presentations developed to connect lawyers and people with legal problems.
The 18 flash media presentations are available online in multiple locations, including www.Legal Aid-GA.org, and are available on CD-ROM. The legal education materials consist of automated voice-over PowerPoints covering a variety of Georgia and federal law topics, focusing on typical legal issues that respond to the needs of middle and low-income people in Georgia. For example, the average 20-minute presentations cover topics such as eviction, marriage and divorce, and immigration issues. You can view the presentations in either English or Spanish, and each presentation concludes with a list of service providers or referral resources. The presentations are designed to be used in group settings with lawyers serving as facilitators of the presentations and followup discussion.
The Law and Government Education Project's mission is to contribute to the development of an informed, participating populace within the state of Georgia. The project decided to put prepared community legal education materials into the hands of
lawyers and lawyer-supervised advocates who, in turn, would adopt the materials and use them for presentations for people within their communities. The project's theme of connecting lawyers and their communities supports the State Bar's Cornerstones of FreedomSM program.
The ultimate goal of this project is to foster a deeper understanding of rights and responsibilities under the law and an understanding of how our government and legal system function.
These presentations result from a novel partnership with the Institute of Government and law schools at the University of Georgia and Mercer University. Under the direction of a law professor, interested students develop the PowerPoint presentations and accompanying scripts. The topics are chosen with the input of legal services providers and social service agencies. Law student involvement extends to making live presentations to groups in their communities. Lawyers...
To continue reading
Request your trial