 Street view of the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society's Richmond office. | |
| Formation | 1971 |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Legal aid |
| Headquarters | Richmond, Virginia |
| Website | http://cvlas.org/ |
The Central Virginia Legal Aid Society (CVLAS) is a nonprofit organization that provides free legal assistance in civil matters to low-income and elderly residents in central Virginia. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
CVLAS is one of 10 legal aid services in Virginia. [8] The geographical area it covers includes the cities of Richmond, Petersburg, Hopewell, Colonial Heights and Charlottesville, as well as the counties of Albemarle, Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Fluvanna, Goochland, Greene, Hanover, Henrico, Louisa, Nelson, New Kent, Powhatan, Prince George and Surry. It has offices in Richmond, Charlottesville and Petersburg.
CVLAS provides legal advice primarily in the areas of bankruptcy, consumer and disability rights, employment law, housing law, family law, and public benefits. Through the Legal Services Corporation, it receives federal funding and is thus subject to specific restrictions: The society and its employees may not be affiliated with a political party, support a specific candidate, lobby for legislation or represent criminal clients, among other activities.
The society primarily represents individuals with incomes under 125% of the poverty line, although it may accept clients earning up to 200% of the poverty line. [9] It also represents people over the age of 60, even if they do not meet the income qualifications. [10] Its services include legal advice, briefs, negotiation, litigation, and representation in administrative hearings, as well as community education and activities in partnership with other local, state, and national legal aid groups. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]
The Richmond office has the resources to help only 4,000 to 5,000 low-income residents a year. [16] [17] According to the Virginia State Bar, Virginia has one lawyer for every 349 people, but just one legal aid lawyer for every 6,200 residents living in poverty. [18]
CVLAS hosts a local radio show titled It's Time for Justice, broadcast every Wednesday from 12:30 to 1:00 p.m. on WRIR-LP. The host is Martin D. Wegbreit, CVLAS's director of litigation. The show includes news, interviews, and answers to listeners' questions about consumer, employment, family, housing, public benefits, and other civil law. [19] [20]
Attorneys in CVLAS's Richmond office run free workshops and information sessions on subjects such as power of attorney and writing wills, and the organization works with local law students through the No Fault Divorce Program at the University of Richmond School of Law. [21] The Charlottesville office partnered with the University of Virginia to create the Sexual Assault Advocacy Fund (SAAF), [22] whose goal is to provide support to survivors of sexual assault on college campuses. [23]
CVLAS is also involved in the Medical-Legal Partnership, Richmond (MLP-R), a collaboration with the VCU Health System (part of Virginia Commonwealth University), the University of Richmond School of Law, the Legal Aid Justice Center, and the Legal Information Network for Cancer. The partnership provides free legal services to patients at the Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU (MLP-R at Pediatrics), VCU's Massey Cancer Center (MLP-R at Massey) and VCU's Hayes Willis Center of South Richmond (MLP-R at Hayes Willis). Its mission is to "integrate legal assistance as a vital component of patient care, reduce health disparities and create a new standard of care for vulnerable, low income patients". [24]
JusticeServer, a database used to make pro bono work easier and more accessible in Virginia, was created with help from CVLAS. [25]
The first legal aid organizations serving the Richmond area were the Neighborhood Legal Aid Society and the Metropolitan Richmond Legal Aid Society, both founded in 1971. They merged in 1981 to form CVLAS. Similarly, legal aid programs were formed in Charlottesville in 1967 and Petersburg in 1974. The Virginia Farm Workers Legal Assistance Project, currently the Virginia Farmworkers Program, was established in 1978, serving H2A visa holders statewide. In 2001, the legacy of these organizations consolidated into one organization, funded in part by the Legal Services Corporation, under the name Central Virginia Legal Aid Society. [26]
CVLAS and the Virginia Bar Association were awarded the Harrison Tweed Award by the American Bar Association for their pro bono hotline and pro bono housing law programs. [27] CVLAS is the only two-time winner of the award. [28]
In 2013, CVLAS received a grant from Enroll Virginia! to provide certified navigators to offer application assistance for the health insurance marketplace established under the Affordable Care Act. [29] [30]
From 1985 to 1998, Anne Holton worked as a staff attorney for the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society. [31] In 1998, she was appointed by the Virginia General Assembly to be a judge on the Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, and she was Virginia's secretary of education until she resigned when her husband, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, became the 2016 Democratic vice-presidential nominee. [32]
Former Executive Director Henry W. McLaughlin [27] has received a number of awards and honors, including the Virginia State Bar's Annual Legal Aid Award in 1994, Virginia Lawyers Weekly's Leader in the Law title in 2009, and the Richmond Bar Association's Hill-Tucker Public Service Award in March 2010. He is also a fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation and of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the only legal aid attorney to be so honored. [28]
The current executive director is Steve Dickinson, and the director of litigation is Martin D. Wegbreit, the first recipient of the Virginia State Bar's Legal Aid Award.
Doris Henderson Causey formerly served as the managing attorney in Richmond, as well as the first African-American and first legal aid lawyer to fill the top elected post for the Virginia State Bar. [18]
CVLAS, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, receives funding from the Legal Services Corporation, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and United Way of America, as well as IOLTA funds and other grants and donations. Along with the Legal Aid Justice Center, it often relies on fundraisers and private donations. One of the largest individual supporters of legal aid in central Virginia is John Grisham. [33] [34] [35]
Pro bono publico, usually shortened to pro bono, is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who are unable to afford them. More recently, the term is used to describe specialist services provided by any professional free of charge to an individual or community.
Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to counsel and the right to a fair trial. This article describes the development of legal aid and its principles, primarily as known in Europe, the Commonwealth of Nations and in the United States.
The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is a publicly funded, 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation established by the United States Congress. It seeks to ensure equal access to justice under the law for all Americans by providing funding for civil legal aid to those who otherwise would be unable to afford it. The LSC was created in 1974 with bipartisan congressional sponsorship and the support of the Nixon administration, and LSC is funded through the congressional appropriations process.
The Virginia Bar Association (VBA) is a voluntary organization of lawyers, judges and law school faculty and students in Virginia, with offices in Richmond, Virginia. Key elements are advocacy, professionalism, service and collegiality. It provides services to its members such as assistance in law office management, promotes or opposes selected state legislation and the administration of justice, and publishes the VBA Journal. It is to be distinguished from the Virginia State Bar, which is the administrative agency of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Virginia is one of three states that has both a statewide voluntary and mandatory bar association.
Oliver White Hill Sr. was an American civil rights attorney from Richmond, Virginia. His work against racial discrimination helped end the doctrine of "separate but equal." He also helped win landmark legal decisions involving equality in pay for black teachers, access to school buses, voting rights, jury selection, and employment protection. He retired in 1998 after practicing law for almost 60 years. Among his numerous awards was the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which U.S. President Bill Clinton awarded him in 1999.
The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, commonly referred to as the New York City Bar Association, founded in 1870, is a voluntary association of lawyers and law students. Since 1896, the organization has been headquartered in a landmark building on 44th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in Manhattan. Today the City Bar has more than 23,000 members. Its current president, Muhammad U. Faridi, began his two-year term in May 2024.
Pro Bono Net is a US nonprofit organization based in New York City and San Francisco. The organization works in close partnership with nonprofit legal aid organizations across the United States and Canada, to increase access to justice for the millions of poor people who face legal problems every year without help from a lawyer. It does this by (i) supporting the innovative and effective use of technology by the nonprofit legal sector, (ii) increasing participation by volunteers, and (iii) facilitating collaborations among nonprofit legal organizations and advocates working on similar issues or in the same region. Founded in 1998 with a grant from the Open Society Institute, Pro Bono Net has developed a broad base of support from foundations, law firms, corporate sponsors and nonprofit partners alike, to build web platforms that offer powerful and sophisticated online tools to pro bono and legal aid advocates, and to provide critical legal information and assistance directly to the public. Its model has been adopted in 30 states and regions, reaching approximately two-thirds of the poverty population and lawyers in the United States.
McGuireWoods LLP is a US-based international law firm. Their largest offices are in Richmond, Virginia, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Chicago, Illinois.
The Arkansas Legal Services Partnership was a consortium of two nonprofit legal services programs, the Center for Arkansas Legal Services and Legal Aid of Arkansas, that worked together to provide free civil legal assistance to low-income residents throughout Arkansas. While the two nonprofits still collaborate, the Arkansas Legal Services Partnership no longer exists.
F. William McCalpin was an American attorney, who throughout his career was a strong advocate for legal services within the American Bar Association. He was involved in a variety of leadership positions supporting both the private bar and legal services. He was named Chair twice of the national Legal Services Corporation and served on that organization's board of directors across four decades. Hillary Clinton, who served as Chair of the Legal Services Corporation between McCalpin's two terms as Chair, wrote of him, "He was an extraordinary man, a valued mentor and a true champion for equal justice and access to legal services for the poor. Through his work Bill changed lives and made an indelible impact upon the legal community."
Steptoe LLP is an international law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. It maintains offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, London, Brussels, Beijing, and Hong Kong.
The City Bar Justice Center provides pro bono legal services to low-income clients throughout New York City. It is part of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York Fund, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation.
Michael Signer is an American attorney, author, and politician who served as mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia.
Legal aid in the United States is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system in the United States. In the US, legal aid provisions are different for criminal law and civil law. Criminal legal aid with legal representation is guaranteed to defendants under criminal prosecution who cannot afford to hire an attorney. Civil legal aid is not guaranteed under federal law, but is provided by a variety of public interest law firms and community legal clinics for free or at reduced cost. Other forms of civil legal aid are available through federally-funded legal services, pro bono lawyers, and private volunteers.
The Legal Aid Justice Center is a Virginia based non-profit organization which provides legal services and advocacy to low income individuals. It was founded in 1967 when its Charlottesville office was opened. It has three other offices, in Falls Church, Petersburg, and Richmond.
Public interest law refers to legal practices undertaken to help poor, marginalized, or under-represented people, or to effect change in social policies in the public interest, on 'not for profit' terms, often in the fields of civil rights, civil liberties, religious liberty, human rights, women's rights, consumer rights, environmental protection, and so on.
Clarence M. Dunnaville Jr. is an American lawyer and civil rights activist, honored for his career achievements by the Virginia State Bar, as well as by the Library of Virginia.
John Baker Boatwright was Virginia lawyer and member of the Virginia House of Delegates representing Buckingham, Appomattox and Cumberland Counties for 38 years beginning in 1922. A member of the Byrd Organization, Boatwright became a leader of its Massive Resistance to racial integration.
Access to justice is a basic principle in rule of law which describes how citizens should have equal access to the justice system and/or other justice services so that they can effectively resolve their justice problems. Without access to justice, people are not able to fully exercise their rights, challenge discrimination, or hold decision-makers accountable for their actions.
Eppa Hunton IV was an American lawyer. A native of Richmond, Virginia, he graduated from the University of Virginia and its law school before returning to his hometown, where, excepting his overseas military service in World War II, he resided the remainder of his life. The only son of Eppa Hunton Jr., in 1927 he joined the firm his father co-founded—Hunton, Williams, Anderson & Gay —and practiced corporate law, eventually becoming a senior partner.