Legal Aid Volunteer Attorneys Program

NWLS and the Erie County Bar Association (ECBA) take pride in their commitment to the development and delivery of pro bono (free) civil legal services to low-income clients through the Legal Aid Volunteer Attorney (LAVA) Program. Since its inception in 1982, LAVA has provided free legal assistance in civil cases to over 6,500 low-income individuals and families. In 2002, LAVA attorneys handled 521 cases, and about 70 percent of ECBA attorneys participated in the program. This commitment to pro bono has made a critical difference in the lives of those in need of legal representation, and LAVA serves as a model to be emulated by other legal professionals and organizations.

A key component to the success of LAVA is the partnership between NWLS and ECBA. A NWLS staff attorney who is also an ECBA member coordinates the LAVA program, and the NWLS Central Intake Unit screens potential clients for income and asset eligibility, case acceptance criteria, and conflicts of interest. The LAVA coordinator matches eligible clients with ECBA attorneys, and oversees the administrative details of the process from intake to case closing.

Other important aspects of LAVA include the participation of non-attorney volunteers, such as court reporters who volunteer their services to the program. Another important dimension of the program is the use of LAVA attorneys to facilitate a pro se (self-help) divorce clinic in Erie County. he monthly clinic provides eligible participants with instructions and forms necessary to file and secure a no-fault consensual divorce.

Since 1982, it is estimated that over 10,000 pro bono hours of legal representation and counsel have been given to impoverished individuals and families in Erie County by LAVA. Given an average range for attorneys fees in the region at about $100 to $125 an hour, this translates into over $1 million in free legal service to the poor and disadvantaged over the last two decades.

In addition to the pro bono representation in Erie, attorneys in other counties within the NWLS service area provide pro bono assistance on occasion. They are called on for help when a conflict of interest prevents NWLS from assisting a particular client, or when the type of case lies outside the program priorities and case acceptance framework.