Legal Aid Lawyers
How Do You Qualify For Legal Aid?
By Sky Joe
Legal aid is free assistance to individuals who have low-income but have a need for non-criminal related services. In the usual case, US citizens can qualify for legal aid if the legal assistance that they need is for a civil matter such as consumer rights or a divorce.
There are also a huge network of legal aid offices and Community Legal Clinics, spread across the country to assist those in need of legal assistance. However, not everyone will be entitled to free legal aid, you must first qualify for it.
First of all, the legal aid office will look at your personal financial circumstances to decide if you qualify. As every situation is different, it all depends on your family responsibilities and your monthly expenses. For instance, if your legal situation is serious and you have little or no money left after you pay for the necessities like transport and lodging, it is likely that you will be able to qualify for it. In addition, people with no income or are unemployed are also very likely to qualify financially for legal aid.
For people with little income or money, legal aid is offered to them free of charge. People who have a little money but insufficient to hire a lawyer may have to contribute some money out of their own pockets. In this case, you will be asked to sign a Payment Agreement which states the terms of payment to the legal aid office. There are a few choices open to you. You may wish to pay legal aid a certain amount or pay
a lump sum of money every month. You can also opt to have a lien put on your house or property. In other words, you agree to pay legal aid back when you sell or refinance your house, when you renew the mortgage on your house or within five years, whichever comes first.
As mentioned earlier, not everyone will be able to obtain free legal aid. If you do not qualify for legal aid, you can still approach the Community Legal Clinics for assistance. These clinics have lawyers and trained legal workers to give you advice and represent you. The cases they deal with include housing, (landlord and tenant) social assistance (welfare), pension, Worker's Compensation, employment insurance and immigration and employment rights issues. If your case falls within one of these categories, you can go to your nearest community legal clinic to obtain more information.
Another alternative is that you can go back to the legal aid office and approach them for an appeal form. After filling up the appeal form, you will get an appointment to speak to the area committee. This usually takes place in about two or three weeks. At the meeting with the committee (which comprises a group of three lawyers), you will have to defend your decision to file for an appeal and convince them to grant you the legal aid.
For your application to be completed, it will take around two to three weeks. Your lawyer cannot officially start working on your file until he has a legal aid certificate.
If your situation is an emergency, you will have to inform the legal aid staff who will help you to fill out another application. This will enable them to tell you right away whether you can get legal aid. If you already have a lawyer, legal aid will mail the certificate directly to your lawyers. If you do not have a lawyer, it is recommended that you approach one while waiting for your certificate.
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January 17, 2011
11:15 am
In the civil court system one is not entitled to a lawyer so in general in family law you will not be entitled to legal aid for a visitation issue
You can ask at the court house if they have a number for certain non-profits that maybe able to help you/ guide you through the process of visitation
January 18, 2011
7:26 pm
Legal Aid does not work the for the State. However, public defender’s do. Public defenders are still expected to be adversarial to the government because they are evaluated on a different set of criteria.
Because of their code of ethics, even a government attorney should look out for his client’s (i.e. YOUR) best interst.
In any case, you should be confident that a Legal Aid attorney, though they may not have much to offer in the way of resources, will definitely be on your side and will be a wonderful resource to help you file a claim for disability.
January 19, 2011
11:29 am
I’m not a Canadian lawyer, but your friend can contact one of the law schools up there and they should be able to give her the number for the bar or for legal aid. Legal aid in the US usually only helps clients in uncontested divorce cases (no quarrels about property, kids, etc.) and do it for little or no cost. She might not qualify since she has a 3 year old and it seems like they are going to fight about custody. The law school, the bar and legal aid might be able to provide her with additional resources.
January 20, 2011
10:46 am
Legal AID Lawyers and the Court System?
Do legal AID lawyers help with visitation right court cases? I cannot afford a regular lawyer. Does family court Provide lawyers for people who cannot afford an attorney? I live in NYC. Where can I get help in this regard? Any good websites or phone numbers? Thanks
January 20, 2011
7:16 pm
Do legal aid lawyers work for the state?
And if so, if you needed to use a legal aid attorney to help you appeal for disability – would they really be on your side or the states?
January 21, 2011
12:54 am
You can have one for a criminal matter and another for a civil matter (like a divorce), if you like. The criminal matters are generally through the public defender’s office or the judge will appoint a private attorney on the matter. In many cases, you can arrange for civil law representation either through the local legal services office or through the county bar association.
January 21, 2011
4:16 pm
can i have 2 legal aid lawyers at once?
i have a legal aid lawyer for criminal charges, now im just wondering if i can get another one for family? im not done with the criminal charges yet, just wondering if i can have 2 at once? is it possible? thanks
January 21, 2011
7:38 pm
How do I find legal aid lawyers in Illinois?
January 21, 2011
8:09 pm
Legal Aid Lawyers and how to get one.?
I have a friend who is at the beginning of a not so pleasant separation. they have a 3 year old.. He is in a financial position to retain a lawyer, she however is not. If there is anyone out there in the BC area that could help shed some light on how Legal aid actually works (in plain understandable english, no big words, lol) I would be nice to hear from you.
January 21, 2011
9:09 pm
Check the front of yur yellow pages book, there are legal referals in there.
At court, there is a Public Defender and the Bar Association offers in court referals for people.