The 15th Annual 4ALL (Virtual) Statewide Service Day will be held on Friday, March 4, 2022, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The 4ALL Statewide Service Day is a pro bono program of the North Carolina Bar Foundation and held in conjunction with the North Carolina Bar Association. During 4ALL, North Carolina lawyers provide free legal answers, information, and resources to callers seeking information regarding North Carolina-related legal matters. This year’s event will be virtual, and it will provide an opportunity for paralegals to participate as call screeners.

So what would you, as a paralegal volunteer, do? Paralegal volunteers will act as call screeners for attorneys. Working from your home or office, you will utilize a phone service called Telzio that can be accessed by website or mobile app. You will be the caller’s first point of contact and obtain information based on the caller’s legal issue at hand. You will then place the caller in a queue to have their questions answered based on the information obtained. This will allow attorneys to have an idea of what type of issue is to be expected, and to know what kind of question they will be asked. All callers, paralegals, and attorneys remain anonymous, so there is no attorney-client relationship established.

I have been involved with the 4ALL Statewide Service Day every year and have served as co-chair of the Greenville call center and as co-chair of the 4ALL Statewide Service Day Committee. The in-person event was always a great day to be in the legal profession, but paralegals were not able to help assist since the calls came into a phone bank at each 4ALL call center, and attorneys had to answer the phones. Last year when the event was virtual, we had several paralegals who were able to volunteer as call screeners. We hope to have more paralegals join us this year to screen calls. We are asking for people to volunteer for a two-hour shift, but we would love to have you assist in more than one shift if you can. You just need to register for the earliest shift you are willing to serve, and then you can stay logged in to Telzio and help as long as you would like. You also will be able to log in and log out during the day and assist when you can.

Please join me in volunteering for the 2022 4ALL (Virtual) Statewide Service Day! The greatest need is for volunteers is for the 5 to 7 p.m. shift, but you can always sign up for additional shifts! To register, please go to: https://www.ncbarfoundation.org/our-programs/4all/.

Call Screener Volunteer Instructions, Telzio Instructions, and additional resources can be found on the 4ALL (Virtual) Volunteer Information & Training webpage at: https://www.ncbarfoundation.org/our-programs/4all/4allvirtual-volunteer-resources/

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The Paralegal Division Blog is managed by the Division’s Communications Committee. Via the blog, the Communications Committee provides information written by attorneys, paralegals, and other experts designed specifically for paralegals in the areas of substantive law, ethics, technology, paralegal practice advice, and more. If you are interested in signing up to submit a blog post on a future date, you can do so here. When you are ready to submit a blog post, you can do so by using this form.

You may also wish to participate in the Division by using our virtual suggestion box to submit suggestions/ideas to the Division Council, nominating a paralegal for Paralegal Spotlight, or completing the Paralegal Spotlight Questionnaire if you are nominating yourself. If you are interested in volunteering with the Communications Committee, please contact the Communications Committee Chair at [email protected]. If you are interested in joining other division committees, you can review a list of committees and sign up here.

February 16, 2022/by Paralegals