Volunteer Attorney Opportunities
LAF has a long history of working with the private bar to help meet the need for civil legal services to Chicago’s poor by utilizing the talent and good will of lawyers to provide pro bono assistance to our clients in high priority areas. Attorneys who volunteer with LAF receive the training and support necessary to provide high quality representation and they are covered by our malpractice insurance. To meet the many diverse needs of our clients, and to take advantage of the experience and interest in the private bar, LAF currently supports a variety of pro bono initiatives:
Pro Bono Panel
LAF has created an e-mail group made up of attorneys who have expressed an interest in doing pro bono work for LAF clients. Appropriate cases are summarized in brief e-mails and sent out to this group, asking the attorneys if they would like to either take the case or co-counsel the case with an LAF attorney. Click here for more information or to volunteer.
Pro Bono Service to Military Veterans
In July 2007, the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago launched its Veterans' Rights Project - the first project in Cook County specifically designed to assist the county's military personnel, veterans, and their families with a wide range of legal problems. The Veterans' Rights Project provides a number of opportunities for pro bono attorney involvement. Attorneys can assist veterans in matters involving claims for benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which include, among others, service-connected disability compensation, educational benefits, and needs-based pension programs. The impact attorneys can have is tangible. Studies from the Government Accountability Office and VA Office of Inspector General show that veterans receiving assistance with their claims obtain an average of $6,000 more per year than unrepresented veterans. Additionally, attorneys can also represent veterans facing civil issues ranging from reemployment rights to housing accommodations for disabled veterans, as well as represent service members and their families in enforcing numerous consumer protections provided by the Service Members Civil Relief Act and similar state statutes.
Pro Bono Co-Counseling Project
LAF seeks pro bono attorneys who will partner with LAF in handling complex cases. Click here for more information or to volunteer.
Food Stamp & Medical Assistance Advocacy Pro Bono Project
This project provides telephone advocacy on behalf of food stamp recipients who are having problems receiving their food stamps and individuals in need of Medicaid. Cases are faxed or e-mailed to participants who then call the client’s caseworker and assess the problem and advocate on behalf of the client. Most of the cases can be resolved in one or two short telephone conversations. For cases that cannot be resolved over the phone, the volunteer has the option of returning the case to LAF for continued representation. Training, including manuals, is provided and volunteers always have an LAF staff person available for support. Click here for more information or to volunteer.
Intake Assistance Project
Volunteers, with LAF attorneys providing backup and support, interview scheduled clients on selected evenings, 5:30 - 8:00 pm. Volunteer attorneys need only commit to the two and a half hours of interviewing, giving advice and brief service to clients when appropriate. However, if they interview a client with a case that interests them, volunteers can choose to either take the case with LAF backup and support or co-counsel the case with an LAF attorney.
Click here for more information or to volunteer.
Foreclosure Defense Project
This project is designed to assist senior homeowners who face the possible loss of their home. Volunteer lawyers help clients explore options and obtain resources that can help them stay in their homes. The project also focuses on litigation on behalf of homeowners who have been victimized by predatory practices of home improvement contractors, mortgage brokers and lenders. Click here for more information or to volunteer.
Law Firm/Corporate Counsel Department Pro Bono Project
This project is designed to recruit law firms and corporate counsel departments to work with particular LAF intake offices or projects in certain areas of law. LAF conducts training for attorneys from these firms in the areas of law in which they are taking cases. LAF attorneys provide continual support to the attorneys who take cases. Click here for more information or to volunteer.
Pro Bono Bankruptcy Project
LAF's
Bankruptcy Project consists of two kinds of opportunities. First, if you have
at least one year's experience in representing debtors in consumer bankruptcy
cases, you can volunteer to advise clients of the Pro Se Bankruptcy Assistance
Desk. The Pro Se Desk provides limited services to its clients consistent with
new Rule 6.5 of the Illinois Rules of Professional conduct. Second, you may
volunteer to informally advise or formally represent an LAF client in his or
her bankruptcy. Cases are screened by LAF staff to determine their
appropriateness for referral, and training and supervision are provided. Click here to volunteer, and please indicate in the comments section which type(s) of
volunteering you want to do. (Note that the Bankruptcy Court, not LAF,
now administers the pro bono program by which a volunteer represents a client
in a discrete bankruptcy case.)
Pro Bono Divorce Project
This project provides representation to low income persons seeking a dissolution of their marriage. Volunteer lawyers may choose among cases that range from very simple uncontested divorces to more complicated divorces involving custody, property or domestic violence. An LAF attorney who specializes in divorce is available to assist panel attorneys.
Click here for more information or to volunteer.
VAWA Project
Volunteer attorneys, who have received training from LAF, help immigrant victims of domestic violence rebuild their lives in the United States. Under the Violence Against Women Act (“VAWA”), immigrants can independently file for lawful permanent residency without having to rely on their abusive spouses. These administrative cases, called “Self Petitions,” are filed with the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (“BCIS”), formerly the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”). Volunteers are given a case screened by LAF staff who are always available to assist. Click here for more information or to volunteer.
Pro Se Divorce Clinic
LAF has designed a clinic to assist pro se litigants prepare for court in uncontested dissolution cases. The mission of the clinic is to prepare and organize pro se litigants for court, and to relieve court personnel of some of the burdens felt when working with pro se litigants. Separate clinics are conducted for Spanish speaking clients.
Taught in three sessions, the participants receive instruction in basic divorce terminology, assistance in the completion of court forms, and information about how to file for divorce. In the second and third sessions, the participants have the opportunity to meet with volunteer family law attorneys, to address individual concerns and to make sure paperwork is completed correctly. Click here for more information or to volunteer.
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