The University of Alabama School of Law
The University of Alabama School of Law
The American Bar Association has put together a page with links to various free legal help resources on a national level that can be searched for local assistance. They include links to information about free legal aid resources, how to find attorneys who will work Pro Bono, and various additional resources.
Legal Aid is a program that is funded by the Legal Services Corporation, which grants funding to legal services offices across the country so that attorneys may help low-income individuals resolve legal problems. This legal assistance covers a wide array of legal topics, including: Family Law; Housing and Foreclosure Cases; Consumer Issues; Employment & Income Maintenance; Helping Military Families; and Responding to Disasters.
This funding is used to help victims of domestic violence by assisting them in obtaining protective and restraining orders against their abusers. They can also help parents obtain and keep custody of their children, as well as assisting those family members that are attempting to obtain guardianship for children without parents, and more.
These programs help resolve landlord-tenant disputes, as well as assisting those who have received eviction notices from their landlord due to the landlord having to foreclose on the property. They have also helped homeowners prevent foreclosures or renegotiate their loans and those who need help maintaining housing subsidies.
There are programs that help protect the elderly and other vulnerable groups that are being victimized by unscrupulous lenders. They also assist those who need help managing their debt, as well as those who file for bankruptcy.
There are programs that help Americans obtain their promised compensation from private employers when they are refusing to pay. They also help people obtain and retain government benefits, such as disability, veterans, and unemployment compensation benefits.
They fund programs that provide access to a wide array of legal information and assistance to military families and veterans.
Created a network that provides legal service provides and national organizations, such as the American Red Cross, help programs better serve victims when disasters strike.
The ABA has also provided links to help individuals find attorneys who will do work for free. They have linked out two resources that will help individuals contact an attorney, either for a simple legal question or for more extensive work.
First, Pro Bono is a list of Pro Bono programs that match low-income clients with volunteer lawyers, who agree to take these cases on for free. If you click the link, you will be redirected to a page where you can choose what state/territory you live in. Once you've done that, you will be redirected to a page where you will be able to see what services are offered in your state.
There's also Free Legal Answers, which is similar to Pro Bono, but it will match low-income individuals with volunteer lawyers who will provide brief answers to legal questions online for free. Essentially, it's a free virtual legal advice clinic where qualified individuals can submit their civil legal questions at no cost and get an answer from an attorney that is licensed in their state. The site will ask you a couple of questions first to make sure you qualify but, if you do, then you can submit your question. You will receive an email when a response has been submitted. While the resource can only help individuals with civil legal questions, there is a wide array of topics that can be covered, including: Family, Divorce, Custody, Housing, Eviction, Homelessness, Consumer Rights, Financial, Work, Employment, Unemployment, Health and Disability, Civil Rights, Income Maintenance, Juvenile and Education Law. Lastly, please note that not every state participates in this program so please make sure to check to see if your state is included on the state before asking your question.
Lastly, the ABA has provided links to other resources as well as resources that are geared more towards particular groups. These other resources help to provide information about the law or tools that can be used to help solve simple legal problems. It is broken up by state so all you have to do is select your state of residence and you will be provided with additional resources that might be helpful. Particular groups is meant to help people in special circumstances, such as those individuals who are elderly, disabled, or are members of the military. At this time, it looks like the ABA is providing links to resources for those individuals that are deemed to be persons with disabilities, as well as military personnel and veterans
The Alabama State Bar has put together a resource for those seeking legal assistance and are not sure where to begin in their search for an attorney or other legal help. They provide links that users can use to access information about Volunteer Lawyers Programs, Legal Services Alabama, Alabama State Bar Lawyer Referral Service, and other Legal Information and Self-Help Forms.
There are five Volunteer Lawyers Programs across the state of Alabama. They provide free legal services to low-income citizens in certain civil matters, as well as free legal assistance to community-based organizations that improve the lives of low-income Alabamians. These five programs are:
This is an organization that provides qualifying low-income families across all 67 counties in Alabama free civil legal aid. Please see our page here for more information.
The Alabama State Bar Lawyer Referral Service is a program that is offered by the Alabama State Bar and is designed to assist the public in locating an attorney to assist them with their general legal needs. While the services that are offered through this program are not free, all attorneys who volunteer to offer their services through this program have agreed to charge no more than $50 for an initial 30 minute consultation. If you and the attorney decide to work together on your case, you will then negotiate a fee for any services required.
Lastly, the Alabama State Bar provides links to forms that can be found on AlabamaLegalHelp and the Alabama Access to Justice Commission, where you can find additional information and self-help forms regarding a wide variety of legal issues. Users can find basic information about their legal rights, learn where to go for legal aid and assistance, and find out about other community resources.