VLS Returns to In-Person Legal Advice Clinics BY MEGHAN ALEXANDER
Meghan Alexander, with Gottfried Alexander Law Firm, is an avid supporter of VLS and one of its regular phone clinic volunteers. Alexander has participated in over 150 mediations, over 300 bench trials, and several jury trials.
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olunteer Legal Services of Central Texas plans to resume in-person legal clinics. VLS’s in-person clinics have been paused since March 2020. Details are currently being worked out for a new partnership with Austin Community College (ACC) to offer the new clinics in a venue to better serve the community’s needs. The in-person clinics will be held on designated Wednesdays from 6 – 8:30 p.m. VLS will also continue to hold weekly telephone advice clinics. ABOUT VLS CLINICS VLS has historically held in-person clinics to provide the Central Texas community with legal advice and representation. In April 2020, VLS launched telephone clinics to safely address the legal needs of the community during COVID. Through the phone clinic, individuals can receive no-cost legal advice over the phone through licensed attorney volunteers. Depending on case type and eligibility, an individual may qualify for additional legal services. Attorney volunteers staff the clinic by providing advice over the phone on civil 24
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issues such as divorce, child custody, wills and probate, eviction, bankruptcy, and more. The phone clinics will continue to occur on Tuesday mornings from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. and Wednesday evenings from 5 – 8 p.m. Applications for assistance will remain online. The application period for both in-person and phone clinic will open Monday mornings at 9 a.m. and will close on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. or when applications have reached capacity. When filling out an online application, applicants will choose either in-person or phone advice. STAFFING CLINICS In-person clinics and phone clinics are operated by VLS staff, and attorney volunteers, as well as non-attorney community members who volunteer. Volunteer attorneys at the in-person clinics are asked to consult with four applicants during their shift. Attorneys may spend up to 30 minutes with each applicant. Volunteer attorneys at the phone clinics are asked to consult with two to four applicants during their shift, depending on the length of the shift. For both clinics, attorneys will be provided an assignment packet with the information on the applicant, their legal needs, and any documents they have available. These assignment packets are provided to attorneys at least one day in advance of clinic. Attorneys at in-person clinics may also be asked to consult with walk-in appointments. Additionally, there are several other volunteer opportunities for attorneys, paralegals, law students, interpreters, and others who want to be a part of
ensuring that the members of our community have access to legal representation. In addition to providing legal advice at our in-person and phone clinics, we also utilize volunteer attorneys to provide direct representation. Opportunities for direct representation include volunteering for the Eviction Taskforce, representing a survivor of abuse in a family matter, and representing a client on a civil legal case. Phone Clinic Volunteer Opportunities VLS needs attorneys to volunteer for shifts giving advice by phone on issues related to probate, debt, employment, general civil issues and family related matters. Volunteers can sign up in advance for reoccurring weekly or monthly shifts. A particularly pressing need is for probate attorneys to give legal advice at VLS phone clinics. Every week, VLS serves multiple families needing advice on probate and estate planning. To keep up with the demand for this type of advice, VLS needs probate attorneys to dedicate at least one morning or evening each month to provide advice by phone. We are seeking experienced attorneys who are comfortable providing advice on probate matters. Alternately, VLS also seeks back-up probate attorney volunteers, who are willing to be on stand-by in the event a scheduled volunteer is unavailable. Eviction Task Force The VLS Eviction Task force was launched to help indigent tenants facing eviction in Travis County. A culmination of many efforts over the last year, VLS’s
“While the range of legal issues facing applicants varies, the VLS staff always provides the necessary resources and prepares the volunteer attorneys to provide sound legal advice.”
innovative representation system puts volunteer attorneys right in the courtroom where they’re needed most. With the assistance of experienced and knowledgeable mentors and helmed by VLS staff attorneys, volunteers appear at eviction dockets via Zoom and represent assigned clients currently facing eviction. Family Law Cases The VLS Family Law team needs attorneys who can represent survivors of abuse in family law matters. In addition to representing survivors, the family law team also needs assistance with representation of clients in probate, estate planning and guardianship matters. General Law Cases The VLS General Law team has a great need for attorneys to take a case. Cases available include debt, bankruptcy, employment, consumer, expunctions, public benefits, and administrative. In-Person Clinic Advice Attorney Volunteer Opportunities VLS seeks attorney volunteers to meet with clients at the new in-person clinic and give advice on Family Law issues, Probate related questions, and General Law matters including; Debt, Employment, Eviction and Housing. In-Person Clinic NonAttorney Volunteer Opportunities During our in-person clinic, VLS will need paralegal and law student volunteers to greet attendees, keep time, and help applicants with technology (filling out applications, scanning and e-filing documents as needed. In addition, VLS needs Spanish interpreters to provide interpreting services. VLS OFFERS A STELLAR VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE VLS is honored to host numerous volunteer attorneys who sign
