About LANC Cases
Pro Bono Service
Clients Profile (low-income)
Of the 25,000+ clients that LANC represented in 2010, more than half
of them had annual household incomes of less than $12,000.
Below are profiles of our clients and their cases. [Also see
Sample Client Cases.]
Types of Cases
Age of Clients
Ethnicity of Clients
Gender of Clients
Need for Private Attorney Involvement (PAI)
With limited resources and a client base of more than three million,
eligible, low-income people, Legal Aid of North Carolina (LANC) has
strong needs for quality legal services involvement from the private
bar. At LANC, local
PAI (Private
Attorney Involvement") coordinators work to involve private attorneys
in appropriate legal representation cases:
LANC
needs more attorneys to help our clients.
LANC can only provide approximately one staff attorney to serve approximately
19,000 eligible clients (a ratio of 1:19000). In comparison, the general
population (8 million) of North Carolina has approximately one attorney
for every 465 potential clients (a ration of 1:465).
Referenced from data provided by the NC Bar Association.
LANC
needs the expertise of the private bar.
Due to limited resources, LANC staff is forced to focus on cases that
help the majority of our clients needs in the shortest amount of time.
Thus, we have gaps...cases that might take too long to serve a single
client and/or less developed expertise (in the substantive areas for
the least encountered case)...that private attorneys might be able to
fill at various times to help our clients meet their needs.
LANC
needs private attorneys to help clients whom they may not otherwise
help. Of the 20,000+ clients that LANC represented in 2005,
more than half of them had annual household incomes of less than $9,000.
These are not "billable" type clients (i.e., they cannot afford to pay
attorneys), but they still need access to equal justice. Through Legal
Aid of North Carolina, private attorneys can handle selected cases,
fulfill
pro bono service and truly make a huge difference in people's lives.
LANC
needs help with cases that it may not be allowed to handle.
Sometimes due to funding restrictions, LANC may not be able to accept
a case and may need to call on pro bono attorneys to help a client NOTE:
See the "LSC
Act" and
"LSC
Laws and Regulations" . Sometimes LANC attorneys cannot take a case
because it is listed as outside of our established priorities (due to
limited resources), but the client still needs help. Pro bono assistance
from the private bar is essential in meeting the clients' needs in such
cases.
LANC
needs pro bono involvement to meet grant requirements. To encourage
LANC to "leverage" its grant(s), some funders require that LANC use
a percentage of their grants to encourage "private attorney involvement."
These funders recognize the tremendous value of the utilization of the
private bar's expertise to help meet the needs of the low-income population.
Simply put, pro bono service by the private bar helps LANC to secure
funding...in addition to helping with the huge case load.
Typically, pro bono attorneys are needed
either for their special expertise and/or to
help us with our large case load.
Working in partnership with local bar groups, legal aid programs
actively recruit, train, mentor, and co-counsel with
volunteer (pro bono) attorneys to help them handle
the many complex and changing legal issues unique to the practice of
civil poverty law. These partnerships help ensure
access to justice for low-income families and further
leverage the dollars that are invested in legal aid programs in
North Carolina.
To volunteer for pro bono service, telephone your
local Legal Aid of North Carolina
office, or call your local
Private
Attorney Involvement (PAI) coordinator.
Volunteer for a Pro Bono case today!!!
Disclaimer
The materials contained on this website
are for information and educational purposes only and do not
constitute legal advice.
Also please note that Legal Aid of North Carolina does not
provide legal assistance by E-mail. Contact your Legal Aid of
North Carolina office or a private attorney if you need to speak
to an attorney regarding your particular situation.
See our
complete disclaimer.
Mission Statement
Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that
provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income people in
order to ensure equal access to justice and to remove legal barriers
to economic opportunity.