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Volunteer Legal Services of
Central Texas
History
In May 1981, Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas (VLS) was founded as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization to help our local legal aid office assist the growing number of low-income individuals needing civil legal assistance.
Our mission is to match low-income clients with volunteer attorneys who have agreed to help at no charge. Volunteer attorneys help people and their families with important issues, such as assisting victims of abuse with family law issues, avoiding wrongful evictions and foreclosures, preserving disability benefits, preparing wills and pre-need documents, preparing guardianships – problems that often have a significant and lasting impact. VLS does not take criminal cases. Income eligible clients include hard-working minimum wage earners with dependants, seniors and people with disabilities managing on fixed incomes, victims of crime and/or abuse who are struggling through a difficult time---people who could never afford legal assistance even when their need is desperate.
VLS also holds free legal advice and intake clinics on Monday and Wednesday evenings. Attorneys, interpreters, and others volunteer their time at these clinics to help people with their civil legal problems. Many of these individuals are then referred to VLS for further legal assistance.
Groups of people are helped through our various clinics. In our Family Law Clinic program, local firms agree to take a group of family law cases on a monthly rotation. Other client groups are helped through specialized clinics, such as assisting elderly persons at a low-income housing facility to prepare wills, or assisting undocumented citizens with immigration matters. We also conduct Assisted Pro Se Clinics in which volunteers help people to represent themselves in uncontested matters.
An evening uncontested docket is held on the first Thursday of each month for the convenience of VLS clients whose work schedules may not allow them to leave work during the day. Travis County District Judges, their court reporters, and attorney volunteers donate their time to make the uncontested docket possible.
VLS provides support and assistance to all volunteers, including training seminars, forms, access to consultants/mentors, malpractice coverage on VLS cases, office space, computer use, and free online research tools.
VLS works with a variety of legal and social service providers in Travis County to help low income persons with legal problems, including Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Family Eldercare, the Texas Legal Services Center, the Legal Hotline for Texas, the Political Asylum Project of Austin, the Women’s Advocacy Project, the Capital Area AIDS Legal Project of AIDS Services of Austin, Austin Habitat for Humanity, Lawyer Referral Service, the Catholic Diocese of Austin, SafePlace and others.
Financial support comes from the generous contribution of law firms and individual attorneys who participate in various fundraisers throughout the year. The profits from the Bar & Grill show put on annually at the Paramount by numerous talented lawyers amounts to almost eight percent of our total budget. VLS also receives funding through various grants, including Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts, Basic Civil Legal Services, and Crime Victims’ Compensation Legal Services grants through the Texas Access to Justice Foundation.
Since VLS was founded, thousands of people have been helped by volunteer attorneys, paralegals and judges who have donated thousands of hours to obtain millions of dollars to benefit the people that they help. |
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