We love our pro bono volunteers! Nate Pencook, Senior Associate in the Raleigh office of Nelson Mullins, recently helped one of our clients secure guardianship of their adult child with a debilitating medical condition.

The child contracted a virus in early childhood that left them immobile, prone to seizures, almost entirely unable to communicate, and more. As we noted after interviewing our client, the child is “completely dependent on caregivers for survival.”

Thanks to Nate’s advocacy — with the help of paralegal Eliana Hughes — our client can continue caring for their child with the authority needed to make decisions on their behalf.

Thank you, Nate and Eliana!

This case was handled through a partnership among Nelson Mullins, our Pro Bono Programs team, and our Medical-Legal Partnership. Learn more at legalaidnc.org/pro-bono.

The new issue of our pro bono newsletter is hot off the presses! Learn about all the innovative, impactful — and fun! — ways we partner with the private bar to provide access to justice for North Carolinians in need.

Items in this issue include:

• We want to celebrate you! Report your pro bono hours
• Pro Bono Fridays in Raleigh: Dates still available!
• Charlotte Triage Lawyer on the Line clinic
• Heir property project profiled by PBI
• UNC Law hosts Lawyer on the Line clinic
• Meet new case coordinator Kemiyah Harris!
• Follow us on LinkedIn!
• Program Spotlight: Name Change Project
• Volunteer Spotlight: Kris Pickler, Honeywell
• Pro Bono Go
  • Housing conditions advice (attorneys only)
  • Drivers License Restoration: Local counsel needed
  • Divorce assistance for DV survivor with disability
  • Non-litigation advocacy with debit card company

Sign up

Past issues

• 2024: July, June, May, April, March, February, January
• 2023: December, November

We love our pro bono volunteers! Kris Pickler, General Counsel for Global Real Estate at Honeywell, is a longtime Legal Aid NC supporter and one of our newest volunteers. 

Despite being a native North Carolinian — born in Fayetteville, he has lived in more than ten NC counties in his life — Kris has never been licensed to practice law in his home state. His legal career, which has taken him from coastal resource management in the Carolinas to global real estate law for major corporations, has never required it — until now (sort of). 

Three years into his leadership of the Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation board of directors — he’s served as chair since January and served as vice chair throughout 2022 and 2023 — Kris recently doubled down on his commitment to the issue by securing Pro Bono Practice Status to volunteer with our Heir Property Pro Bono Project. Granted by the NC State Bar, pro bono status allows an out-of-state or inactive NC attorney to provide free legal services to clients of a nonprofit legal aid organization (like us!). 

As a volunteer with our Heir Property Pro Bono Project, Kris will join a corps of other private attorneys who help low-income heir property owners secure clear title to the homes and land they inherited informally (without a will). Clear title is crucial to helping heir property owners apply for loans, secure recovery benefits following natural disasters, and more. 

In a recent LinkedIn post, Kris praised Honeywell for encouraging and supporting public service and urged other attorneys to get involved.

“Until a couple of years ago, I spent a career providing legal services primarily for companies, not for people,” he wrote. “At Honeywell, we have an exceptional leader for our Legal Department who sets a tone from the top of encouraging giving back.

“The sense of fulfillment one receives by helping indigent North Carolinians who need some legal advice or support is immense — on real property issues in my instance — but there are plenty of functional areas with opportunities available. The phenomenal team at Legal Aid of North Carolina have excellent training and resources available for legal professionals willing to help, as we know the demand for services far exceeds those willing to help in NC. Reach out to them if you’re interested!” 

Thank you for your support, Kris!

If you are interested in volunteering with our Heir Property Pro Bono Project, you can learn more and sign up at legalaidnc.org/hppbp. Learn more about our other pro bono programs at legalaidnc.org/pro-bono.

Legal Aid of North Carolina seeks proposals from consultants to work with our Pro Bono Programs team to complete a six-month, targeted, internal assessment of our pro bono program.

We seek proposals only from consultants who have experience working with recipients of Planning Grants or Transformation Grants from the Legal Services Corporation’s Pro Bono Innovation Fund.

Our goal for the assessment is to gather and analyze the information necessary to develop a plan for the full integration of pro bono into our firm’s advocacy strategy and operations at the field office level, thereby achieving our vision of a pro bono program that helps meet our clients most pressing legal needs. At a time when our staff advocates are stretched thin, we believe that pro bono volunteers are an under-utilized resource and a potential solution to meeting the overwhelming needs of our clients.

The scope of work will include:

• Conducting online surveys, focus-group discussions and one-on-one interviews with LANC staff and possibly some external stakeholders;
• Gathering and analyzing case and volunteer statistics from our case management system; and
• Analyzing information gathered from the aforementioned sources, including comprehensive intermediate and final reports.

Proposals are due September 2, 2024. LANC will select a consultant and notify proposal submitters of its decision on September 9, 2024. The assessment will run from October 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025. The final assessment report is due March 31, 2025.

The new issue of our pro bono newsletter is hot off the presses! Learn about all the innovative, impactful — and fun! — ways we partner with the private bar to provide access to justice for North Carolinians in need.

Items in this issue include:

• Big thanks to those who answered the call for Lawyer on the Line volunteers
• Domestic violence pilot a success!
• Wells Fargo, Moore & Van Allen hold Lawyer on the Line clinic
• Free CLE: Disaster preparedness and the law
• Mark Your Calendars! Annual Triage kickoff Sep 18
• Pro bono post among NCBarBlog’s most popular
• Program Spotlight: Adult Guardianship Program
• Volunteer Spotlight: Connor H. Crews, McGuireWoods
• Farewells and Welcomes
• Pro Bono Go
  • Drivers License Restoration: Local counsel needed
  • Non-Litigation Advocacy with Debit Card Company
  • Homeowner needs quiet title or loan-payoff proof
  • Expunction and Certificate of Relief

Sign up

Past issues

• 2024: June, May, April, March, February, January
• 2023: December, November

Our Lawyer on the Line pro bono program needs volunteer attorneys! Give legal advice over the phone to low-income tenants living with dangerous and unsanitary housing conditions — everything from broken AC in summer to backed-up sewage lines. Keep reading to learn more and sign up. Visit our Lawyer on the Line page at legalaidnc.org/lotl.

We need you!

Lawyer on the Line meets a critical need. More low-income North Carolinians need legal help than our staff can serve. That’s where you come in. Lawyer on the Line attorneys step up to serve those we can’t help.

You can do it!

Lawyer on the Line makes pro bono easy. No experience? No problem! We provide training, support materials, mentorship from our seasoned attorneys and malpractice insurance. We got your back!

You have time!

Lawyer on the Line fits your schedule. Most cases take only an hour and have no deadlines. Call your client when you want — and where you want! Lawyer on the Line lets you serve from the comfort of your office or home.

You’ll love it!

Lawyer on the Line provides a rewarding experience. A bit of legal advice might seem like a little to you, but it means a lot to our clients — and it shows! Our clients aren’t shy about showing their appreciation.

So, how ’bout it?

We love our pro bono volunteers! Connor H. Crews, an associate in the Raleigh office of McGuireWoods and a volunteer with our Heir Property Pro Bono Project, recently helped one of our clients, a senior citizen and military veteran, untangle his home’s “tangled title.” 

“Heir property” refers to homes or land passed down informally, without a will. Legally speaking, ownership of such property is divided equally among all the surviving heirs of the original owner. This is true even if only one or some of the heirs live in or use the property. As a result, heir property is said to have “tangled title,” as the issue of ownership can be far from clear. 

This was the case with our client. His home was originally owned by his grandfather, who died without leaving a will. Therefore, in the eyes of the law, ownership of our client’s home was divided equally among the grandfather’s surviving heirs, even though only our client lived in it.

Connor got to work, researching the history of the home’s title and our client’s genealogical history. He concluded that no deed had been recorded on the property since the one granting ownership to his grandfather, and that our client and his siblings were the grandfather’s only surviving heirs.

Thankfully, the siblings readily agreed to grant their interests in the property to our client. Connor then prepared and filed the documents to transfer ownership to our client, thereby providing him with “clear title” — sole ownership of his home — and all the peace of mind that comes with it.

“Participating in the Heir Property Pro Bono Project was a great way to be of service to someone who needed assistance, and to learn something at the same time,” Connor said. “I was glad to help my client become the sole owner of his property, and I hope I made him feel more comfortable in his own home.”

He also had kind words for Nicole Mueller, head of the Heir Property Pro Bono Project. “I’d like to commend her for her responsiveness and attention to detail in assisting me in this matter. She promptly responded to my questions and gave me the direction that I needed.”

Learn more

• Connor H. Crews, McGuireWoods
• Heir Property Pro Bono Project

The new issue of our pro bono newsletter is hot off the presses! Learn about all the innovative, impactful — and fun! — ways we partner with the private bar to provide access to justice for North Carolinians in need.

Items in this issue include:

• Robinson Bradshaw helps launch Summer Associate Pro Bono Program
• Smith Anderson wills clinic
• Elon Law wills clinic
• NC Pro Bono Honor Society 2023
• Free trainings for pro bono volunteers
• Free CLE! Fighting imposter syndrome
• Program Spotlight: The Child’s Advocate
• Volunteer Spotlights
  • UNC Law Economic Justice Clinic
  • Garfinkel Immigration Law Firm
  • Mark Kinghorn, McGuireWoods LLP

Sign up

Past issues

• 2024: May, April, March, February, January
• 2023: December, November

The new issue of our monthly pro bono newsletter is hot off the presses!

Learn about all the innovative, impactful — and fun! — ways we partner with the private bar to provide access to justice for North Carolinians in need.

Sign up!

Enter your email to get the newsletter delivered right to your inbox.

Previous issues

2024

• April
• March
• February
• January

2023

• December
• November

The North Carolina Bar Association awarded this year’s Law School Pro Bono Service Award to Better Together, a partnership among Duke Law, NC Central University Law, UNC Law and the Durham Expunction and Restoration Program (itself a partnership among many groups, including Legal Aid NC) to provide pro bono criminal record expunctions to Durham residents.

Expunction is a critically important service in Durham, where, based on DEAR Program estimates, thousands of residents have criminal records. Such records create serious roadblocks to securing and maintaining safe and affordable housing, and stable and sustaining employment. While those with means can afford to hire private attorneys, low-income residents with criminal records — who, because of systemic racism, are disproportionately Black and Hispanic — must rely on the help of public-interest organizations to secure a clean slate.

That’s where Better Together comes in. Working under the supervision of attorneys from Legal Aid of North Carolina and the law schools, the project harnesses the people power provided by local law schools to offer expunctions on a grander scale than could otherwise be achieved. During the October 2023 Better Together clinic, hosted at the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law, six teams of three students each (one from each law school) prepared 70 petitions to expunge 325 charges in 14 counties for 27 Durham residents — not bad for a day’s work.

While many pro bono projects are a partnership between two organizations — a legal services provider and a law firm, for example — Better Together is a uniquely expansive collaboration, bringing together different (and, in some contexts, rival) schools to work together towards a shared goal, creating a community of service-oriented advocates within the next generation of NC lawyers.

Better Together is also unique due to the enthusiastic engagement of the judiciary. Durham District Court Judge Amanda Maris, co-chair of the DEAR Program’s Advisory Board, the program’s leadership body, is a key supporter of Better Together. During the 2023 clinic, she met with Better Together students to share her perspective from the bench on the importance of their work.

Read the NC Bar Association’s announcement.