We provide low-income North Carolina residents with free legal aid in civil cases involving basic human needs such as security, housing, income and more. Consumer problems. These include debt issues, contract or collateral issues, buy-outs, garnishment of wages, discrimination and advice in small claims and insolvency proceedings. Here you will find information about the types of cases we handle. We regularly reassess our case priorities to ensure we are providing the best service to our clients, so this list may not include all types of cases we handle. If you have any questions or think you need legal help, please do not hesitate to contact us. Problems of juvenile rights. This includes school expulsions and suspensions, as well as other conflicts involving schools. Housing problems. These include evictions, lockouts, confiscation of personal property, seizures, discrimination in housing, disputes over repairs, rent, contracts, deposits or difficulties with social housing. Our 120 employees serve nearly 9,000 hoosiers each year from our eight offices across the state. We represent low-income hoosiers in many types of civil matters, including family law, housing, consumer issues and more. Our specialized legal centres deal not only with these issues, but also with language rights, immigration, community development, tax disputes, veterans` and their families` rights, seniors` issues and migrant workers` rights.
If you require legal assistance, call our 844-243-8570 registration line from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday to Friday (9 a.m. from the Centre) or use the online intake form found on this website. Sometimes a legal aid office cannot accept a case because there are not enough legal aid lawyers available to provide assistance to all eligible people. However, in some communities, private lawyers volunteer their time to represent low-income clients free of charge and accept cases that the legal aid office cannot handle. Indiana Legal Services, Inc. is a statewide not-for-profit law firm that provides free civil litigation services to low-income individuals.
We are committed to helping those in need by giving everyone equal access to justice. If you are interested in a career at Indiana Legal Services, browse our job openings and submit your resume for review. Legal aid offices do not deal with criminal cases. The court appoints a lawyer to handle criminal proceedings if the client cannot afford legal assistance. If you need help with your legal problem and think you qualify for legal aid, call your nearest office to find out if you qualify. Updated: October 2011 In order to help as many eligible people as possible, most legal aid agencies also use paralegals to help with their cases. Paralegals are not lawyers and cannot practise law, but they can represent clients at administrative hearings. For example, a paralegal may represent clients at hearings involving social assistance, supplementary security income or unemployment benefits. Paralegals can interview clients and let them know about their benefits. They also research and investigate cases and help negotiate with merchants, landlords or government officials.
Paralegals are supervised by lawyers and help provide legal services to clients. Family law issues. These include divorce, adoption, custody, alimony, parental visitation or parenting time, domestic violence, guardianship, injunctions, defense in paternity claims, and amendment of decrees. Most legal aid agencies limit representation in divorce to certain types of situations. Some offices do not accept divorce cases, except in cases of emergency. We strive to provide our clients with the highest quality legal services. We are also looking at ways to use the legal system to change rules and practices that disadvantage low-income citizens of Indiana. Legal aid resulting from this strategic plan will be more effective in meeting client and community needs; more comprehensive in its representative function; and an increased contribution to a society with safe access to justice. We serve 72 counties in Texas and 4 in Arkansas by offering free advocacy, legal advocacy, and community building services that ensure equal access to justice. Higher legal issues. These include Medicaid, Medicare, guardianship defense, and issues with nursing homes or other types of care facilities.
Can I hire a lawyer for only part of my legal case? If you decide you need legal help for part of your legal problem, consider hiring a lawyer who will only work on that part. Some lawyers «unbundle» their services and only offer help for part of your case. You can ask a lawyer referral organization to help you find a lawyer who offers unbundled services. Utilities. These include issues of welfare, food stamps, medical assistance, supplementary income, social security and unemployment benefits. If you have been denied benefits, asked to repay benefits, or feel you are not getting the benefits you deserve, a legal aid office may be able to help. Who is still eligible for independent counsel? In non-criminal or «civil» cases, you are not entitled to a free lawyer. But there are many legal and pro bono aid programs that provide free legal aid to the poor in civil matters. These programs typically help people whose income is less than 125 percent of the federal poverty line, although in some cases they help people with slightly higher incomes. (See the table below for current income guidelines.) In addition, the elderly, the disabled, victims of domestic violence, military service or other special circumstances may be entitled to assistance, even if their income is slightly higher.
Because these community-based programs often operate on very small budgets and do not have sufficient resources to serve all those eligible, they only handle certain types of cases and have to turn away many people who seek help. All clients must meet the eligibility criteria for financial and legal status. In addition, legal aid cannot accept so-called «fee-generating» cases. In a fee-generating case, a lawyer`s fees are paid out of the money awarded to the winning party. If you ask for legal help with your problem, you will be told whether it is a paid case or not. Who is entitled to independent counsel? The Constitution guarantees free legal aid to persons accused of a crime punishable by imprisonment and who cannot afford a lawyer. If you find yourself in this situation, ask for the appointment of a public defender at your first court appearance. When a court decides that someone is «destitute» — with little wealth and no funds to pay for a lawyer — usually either a private attorney is appointed by the court and paid with district funds, or a public defense attorney program is appointed to represent the person. Some public defense programs are allowed to charge customers an «application fee,» though this is usually a small amount. If you`re drawn to a mission-driven organization dedicated to providing holistic civil law support to low-income individuals, Indiana Legal Services is the place for you! Each strategic objective includes specific initiatives that are implemented to advance each objective and the strategic plan as a whole. By working and achieving these goals, ILS will provide concrete assistance to the legal issues facing clients, while seeking to change some of the fundamental principles that support such conditions.
These strategies: What should I do if I can`t get free legal help? If you can`t find help from a legal or pro bono aid program, some alternatives include contacting a legal placement service (some may be able to refer you to a low-fee lawyer) or hiring a lawyer to do only some of the legal work and other parts yourself (this is called «unbundled» legal services). You can also try to get legal information and try to solve the legal problem yourself. Please visit our section on other free resources for more information. Like private lawyers, legal aid lawyers and paralegals work to find the best possible solution to the case for their client. And just like communications between private lawyers and their clients, communications between legal aid clients and their lawyers or paralegals are confidential. These are the kinds of cases that legal aid agencies can often handle. However, the type of cases accepted by each legal aid unit may vary. The community, clients and legal aid staff worked together to identify the highest priority issues for low-income people in their area. What is a legal service/legal aid office? Legal aid firms, also known as legal aid offices, employ lawyers hired to provide legal assistance to poor clients. Lawyers are usually experts in the types of problems that poor clients most often face. Check out our link to the directory of Legal Services Corporation legal aid programs in your state. We help our clients maintain the benefits to which they are legally entitled This section will help you understand the different types of cases that legal aid offices typically handle and the roles of paralegals and legal aid lawyers.
Indiana Legal Services (ILS) is subject to the amended and reformulated Bylaws, Bylaws, and Addendums. These documents all entered into force on 1 January 2001. These By-Laws were amended by the Corporation`s Board of Directors on March 15, 2013 and these changes are now reflected in the By-Laws.