LAS Announces Volunteer Lawyer Program
NASHVILLE, Tenn. March 24, 2014 – At the Campaign for Equal Justice kickoff luncheon March 5, Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands announced the creation of the Volunteer Lawyers Program, a regional program to connect volunteer lawyers with clients in all 48 counties served by Legal Aid Society.
The Volunteer Lawyers Program replaces the Nashville Pro Bono Program, which helped low income people in 2,883 cases in Davidson and Williamson counties in 2013. The regional program will support the work of all 8 Legal Aid Society offices to increase pro bono legal help for clients.
“We have proven with our pro bono work in Nashville that there is nothing lawyers won’t do when we identify a need and create an opportunity to meet it. The Volunteer Lawyers Program will allow us to connect people across middle Tennessee with legal help from volunteer lawyers, including expanded work outside Davidson County by Nashville lawyers, ,” said Lucinda Smith, director of the Volunteer Lawyers Program. , We are grateful to the pro bono attorneys who are donating their time and services to this program.”
One means to increase resources in rural counties is to create urban-rural partnerships between Nashville law firms and Legal Aid Society’s rural offices. The program’s first partnership is with Bone McAllester Norton PLLC and the Gallatin office of Legal Aid Society.
Jim Sandman, president of Legal Services Corporation, spoke at the kickoff luncheon about the great work Legal Aid Society and pro bono attorneys are doing to provide access to justice to thousands across 22,0000 square miles in middle Tennessee. Legal Services Corporation is a private nonprofit corporation established by the U.S. Congress and is the single largest funder of civil legal aid programs for low-income Americans, Legal Aid Society.
Legal Aid Society gives free civil legal aid to people who have nowhere else to turn. It serves 48 counties from offices in Clarksville, Columbia, Cookeville, Gallatin, Murfreesboro, Nashville, Oak Ridge, and Tullahoma. Legal Aid Society is funded in part by United Way.
For more information, visit www.las.org or call 615-780-7127.