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Volunteer SuggestionsIf you are seeking free legal assistance for you or your nonprofit organization, it is possible you might qualify for pro bono representation through our Family Law, Eviction Defense, Tort Defense, Consumer, Tax and Business Law Projects. To find out if you qualify for these services, please call the Lawyer Referral & Information Service (LRIS) at 415-989-1616. LRIS staff can be contacted by phone Monday through Friday, PST, 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. For more information, visit the LRIS web page.
Additionally, you may visit the free Legal Advice and Referral Clinic (LARC)*** which occurs on the second Saturday of each month at our Downtown San Francisco location (UC Hastings), and on the last Saturday of each month at our Bayview location in San Francisco. At LARC, you will meet with a volunteer attorney who will give you brief legal advice. You may also receive referrals to agencies that might be able to help you. LARC is staffed by attorneys who specialize in criminal law, family law, landlord/tenant, immigration, employment, personal injury, estate planning, consumer, contracts, and business issues. LARC is a free service sponsored by the Volunteer Legal Services Program of The Bar Association of San Francisco. Chinese and Spanish interpreters may be available, but please bring your own interpreter if you need one! Click here to view the upcoming clinic dates.
Additionally, the VLSP Legal Help Center, a service of the Federal Pro Bono Project, provides free legal assistance to litigants without lawyers in federal court. This service is available to anyone who is representing him or herself in a civil lawsuit (or is considering filing a civil lawsuit) in the San Francisco or Oakland divisions of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The Legal Help Center is located in the federal courthouse in San Francisco: 450 Golden Gate Avenue, 15th Floor, Room 2796. Assistance is provided by appointment only, and appointments are held in person at the Legal Help Center. A litigant may schedule an appointment by signing up in the appointment book located on the table outside the door of the Center or by calling the Legal Help Center appointment line at (415) 782-9000 x8657. The Legal Help Center attorney may provide litigants with information about their legal rights and responsibilities, information about the court procedures applicable to their cases, limited-scope legal advice, help preparing simple pleadings, and referrals to legal, social, and government services. If a litigant seeks help from the Legal Help Center, he/she will still represent him/herself. The attorney at the Legal Help Center cannot represent litigants as their lawyer.
Homeless Advocacy Project If you are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness, you might qualify for services at the Homeless Advocacy Project (HAP). HAP is VLSP’s largest individual project, serving over 1500 clients per year through the work of staff attorneys, social workers, student interns, and volunteer legal and social service professionals. The most common legal issues addressed at HAP are federal disability benefits advocacy, eviction defense in emergency situations, and immigration documentation. HAP is located at 1360 Mission Street Suite 201, San Francisco, CA 94103 (between 9th and 10th Streets). Prospective clients should attend the weekly intake clinic, which is held on Tuesday afternoons from 1:30 – 4:00 p.m. Complete hours and contact information are available on the HAP page.
Additional pro bono resource may be found at: www.probono.net/bayarea.
If you are a volunteer seeking pro bono opportunities, please visit the Contact Us page. |