Upcoming Bankruptcy Section Pro Bono Projects

By Stuart L. Pratt and Tyler J. Russell

The following pro bono projects are available for our Bankruptcy Section members. Just one hour of your time will make the difference with these projects.

NC LEAP – Volunteer Attorneys Needed

NC LEAP provides legal advice and information to low-wealth entrepreneurs. Applicants submit their latest income tax return and a business plan, are screened for eligibility, and then are matched with a volunteer attorney. NC LEAP volunteer attorneys are presently providing assistance to entrepreneurs and small business owners through two ways:

1. Webinars that feature a presentation by a lawyer on a legal topic of current interest and relevance to entrepreneurs and small business owners, with opportunities for participants to ask general questions of the presenters; and
2. Virtual “ask-a-lawyer” sessions that pair individual entrepreneurs and small business owners with lawyers for 45-minute advising sessions to address legal questions and concerns and provide legal information and resources.

As a volunteer, you can decide how many webinars and “ask-a-lawyer” sessions you would like to conduct in a week or a month. This allows you to tailor your pro bono work to match your availability and schedule.

Training and orientation for NC LEAP volunteers is provided online through NC LEAP and lasts approximately one hour. Click here to volunteer!

4ALL Statewide Service Day – Volunteers Needed

4ALL Statewide Service Day is an annual call-a-lawyer public service program that engages over 500 volunteer attorneys across the state to provide free legal information to almost 10,000 North Carolinians, from the mountains to the coast.

4ALL 2021 is scheduled for Friday, March 5, 2021, so mark your calendars now. Attorneys with bankruptcy and debtor-creditor experience are always in high demand, and volunteers are very much needed. Please consider participating in one session of the next 4ALL event, and please ask your friends, partners, and colleagues to consider volunteering as well. These events serve a public need, and our collective expertise is always in demand!

And Don’t Forget About Other Great Pro Bono Programs

NC Free Legal Answers is a web-based portal that allows financially eligible N.C. residents to ask civil legal questions for lawyers to answer anonymously online, providing brief legal information and advice. Questions generally take 5-7 minutes to respond to. Sort and filter features make it easy for you to find questions that align with your practice and interests. You can take up to 3 days to research a response. To register, visit NC Free Legal Answers.

Wills for Heroes is a free estate planning program for first responders and their families. We are planning to hold semi-virtual clinics starting in the coming months. No prior estate planning experience is necessary. Training is provided. To participate, visit Wills for Heroes.

Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Lawyer on the Line program is a partnership between the North Carolina Bar Foundation and Legal Aid of North Carolina. Volunteers provide one-hour telephone sessions with Legal Aid clients in need. Volunteers choose the number of referrals they receive (up to four per month) and the types of cases referred to them. Clients are pre-screened for eligibility and need brief advice in one of the following areas of law: bankruptcy, consumer, child custody, employment, criminal record expunction, foreclosure, government benefits, government housing, landlord/tenant, and unemployment. Visit Legal Aid of North Carolina to volunteer.