Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands will hold two phone clinics next week for members of the public with questions about housing and renters’ rights, bankruptcy, medical bills, debt collection, domestic violence, SNAP benefits and unemployment benefits. Clinics will take place Monday from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. All times central. LAS is looking for attorneys to help answer questions. To volunteer contact Andrae Crismon or Kendra Cheek or call 615-780-7131. See all clinics for the month.

The American Bar Association’s Pro Bono Task Force is seeking volunteers for content training and mentorship for attorneys and paralegals working with the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project (ProBAR). Specifically, the task force is looking for volunteers to record brief videos for ProBAR's attorneys with litigation tips, including written advocacy, oral advocacy, trial practice, appellate practice, and working with experts. They are also interested in writ practice (including mandamus and habeas corpus) and criminal practice (including post-conviction relief). ProBAR provides immigration help to adults and children detained along the border in the Rio Grande Valley. Many of ProBAR’s clients seek protection from violence and persecution in their home countries. With language barriers, little understanding of U.S. law and court procedures, and limited financial resources, they face tremendous obstacles to winning immigration relief.

The Tennessee Faith & Justice Alliance will kick off its fourth annual Pro Bono & Faith Days this month with virtual training programs for each of the state’s grand divisions. The programs will feature a panel discussion around the intersection of faith, pro bono and racial justice, legal resource trainings from Tennessee Access to Justice Partners and free virtual legal clinic information. These free programs are designed for faith and community leaders, but all are welcome. Registration is required for each event. The schedule is as follows: West Tennessee on Oct. 26, Middle Tennessee on Oct. 28 and East Tennessee on Oct. 30.

Eighteen students from Tennessee law schools have completed the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Summer Fellows Program, which connected the students with a dozen organizations dedicated to expanding justice. In addition to their pro bono work with the organizations, students also remotely attended a weekly professional development, led by leading legal figures like Supreme Court Justice Connie Clark, who spoke on the importance of pro bono and civil justice work. During the program, students remotely helped to develop tools to mitigate unnecessary denials of social security disability benefit claims, worked with the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic & Sexual Violence to help judges presiding over domestic violence cases and much more. Read more on the program from the Administrative Office of the Courts website.

The Nashville School of Law Habitat for Humanity Wills Clinic works directly with NSL students and licensed attorney volunteers to produce wills for new Habitat homeowners each month using an approved will form. Attorney volunteers are needed for approximately two hours via Zoom to oversee upper-level law students as they go through the intake process with clients. No further time commitment is needed and an attorney-client relationship will not be established. Volunteer for just one session or sign up for as many as you’d like. The next three clinics will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. CDT on Oct. 20, Nov. 17 and Dec. 15. If you are able to help, email Ryan Harris or call at 615-942-1262.

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands will hold three phone clinics next week for members of the public with questions about housing and renters’ rights, bankruptcy, medical bills, debt collection, domestic violence, SNAP benefits and unemployment benefits. Clinics will take place Tuesday from 3 to 4 p.m., Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Saturday from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. All times central. LAS is looking for attorneys to help answer questions. To volunteer contact Andrae Crismon or Kendra Cheek or call 615-780-7131. See all clinics for the month.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings and Mid-South Immigration Advocates are offering a free virtual program on the topic of “Domestic Violence in Civil Litigation” on Oct. 27 from 9 a.m. to noon CDT. The program will focus on orders of protection, domestic violence divorce considerations and ethics in domestic violence civil litigation, with the goal of equipping lawyers to provide quality pro bono service. The program will be led by Elizabeth R. McClellan, an experienced domestic and sexual violence litigator and appellate practitioner who has successfully appealed and made new law in the area of orders of protection. Please register by 5 p.m. CDT on Oct. 26 to receive the Zoom link. 

Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands will hold three phone clinics next week for members of the public with questions about housing and renters’ rights, bankruptcy, medical bills, debt collection, domestic violence, SNAP benefits and unemployment benefits. Clinics will take place Tuesday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Saturday from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. All times central. LAS is looking for attorneys to help answer questions. To volunteer contact Andrae Crismon or Kendra Cheek or call 615-780-7131. See all clinics for the month.

The Knoxville Bar Association is hosting a virtual legal advice clinic for victims of domestic violence this month. Intake of clients will take place between Oct. 19 and 21 and Oct. 24. Participants will be matched with an attorney who will talk with clients during an assigned three-hour time slot on Oct. 27 or Oct. 28. Each appointment will last no more than 20 minutes. Volunteers are needed in a range of specialties, including family law. Sign up here to help.

This month, Tennessee lawyers are joining colleagues across the country to increase the meaningful access to justice and commitment to pro bono work. Now in its 12th year, Tennessee’s statewide Celebrate Pro Bono Month brings together legal services providers with bar associations, law schools, law firms and individual volunteers to offer free services to those unable to afford a lawyer. The month of October is an opportunity to focus attention on the significant need for pro bono services as well as a time to celebrate the outstanding work of those in the legal community who volunteer their services throughout the year. Events, including virtual and remote opportunities to volunteer, will be promoted in TBA Today, via social media and on the TBA website. If you have information on an event, please share it with TBA.