The Taxation Section of the D.C. Bar is a long-time supporter of the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program Advice & Referral Clinic. With the section’s assistance, the Advice & Referral Clinic served more than 1000 people in the last fiscal year, providing much-needed legal information, advice, and brief services on issues that ranged from tax questions to consumer disputes. Were it not for the assistance of the Advice and Referral Clinics, the vast majority of the clinics’ clients would have nowhere to turn for legal services.

The Advice & Referral Clinic is a Community Outreach Project of the Taxation Section, and the section is responsible for recruiting and coordinating volunteers to ensure that each clinic is adequately staffed with at least one lawyer from the section with relevant substantive expertise. Qualified volunteers should have at least 3-5 years of relevant experience and be capable of counseling other attorneys in their subject area.

In addition to providing valuable mentoring, section volunteers also directly serve clinic clients, alongside volunteers from local law firms, government agencies, and other organizations. Because of the large number of clients seeking services through the Advice & Referral Clinic, the Pro Bono Program depends on section volunteers to ensure that all clients are served and served well.

To help volunteers understand their role, additional information about volunteering is provided below, along with a list of clinic dates. Volunteers are encouraged to provide full service at the clinic and brief follow-up afterwards when necessary. Most volunteer attorneys approach their clinic work with the idea of helping clients to the greatest extent possible, which may include drafting a letter during the clinic or making a phone call for the client during the week after the clinic. While this involves a small time commitment by the attorneys, it makes a tremendous difference for clinic clients, many of whom would not be able to pursue these steps on their own.

Your participation is more important than ever, as demand for legal services is increasing while budget cuts have forced many legal services providers to reduce their hours and staff. With this in mind, we hope section members will consider providing extended pro bono representation to clients they meet at the clinic. The Pro Bono Program will continue to provide all the intake, screening, and support volunteers need to provide high quality extended services.

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact James Joseph at James.Joseph@aporter.com to sign up.

About the Advice and Referral Clinic

It is estimated that about 70% of those individuals requesting free legal assistance require only brief services—and not full representation—to solve their legal problems. The D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program Advice & Referral Clinic is designed to provide those brief services by offering pro se individuals the opportunity to discuss with volunteer attorneys certain kinds of matters governed by D.C. or federal law, including bankruptcy/debt collection, consumer law, employment law, family law, health law, housing law, immigration/asylum, personal injury, probate, public benefits, and tax law. All services are provided free of charge.

The Clinic is limited to providing general information, advice and brief services, and does not provide representation.

Providing “brief services” may not always be achievable by the end of the clinic session. For example, calling a third party or government agency to ascertain information about a client’s matter, writing a demand letter to a landlord or a judgment-proof letter to a creditor, or reviewing a contract or settlement agreement may require some of the volunteer attorney’s time after the clinic. However, clinic volunteers do not appear in Court or otherwise establish an extended attorney–client relationship unless they wish to do so and discuss the matter with Pro Bono Program staff.

If brief service is not enough to resolve the problem or if a different type of service is required, clinic volunteers attempt to refer individuals to or provide information about a legal or social service provider appropriately suited to handle the case.

What Volunteers Need to Know

On the second Saturday of every month from 10:00 AM until noon, the Advice & Referral Clinic operates out of 2 locations —Bread for the City, Northwest Center, located at 1525 7th Street, NW and Bread for the City, Southeast Center, located at 1640 Good Hope Road, SE Parking is available at both locations.

Volunteers should arrive at the clinic by 9:30 AM for a brief orientation of clinic operations. Bagels and juice will be served. Dress is very casual. Volunteers should be prepared to stay until the last client is served (usually around 1:00).

Although it is impossible to predict, most individuals have pretty basic questions. However, volunteers are not expected to be familiar with every area of law. In fact, we anticipate that most volunteers will have very little, if any, experience in the types of matters on which they will advise. Therefore, Pro Bono Program staff and expert mentors are available on–site, as well as access to www.LawHelp.org/dc, reference manuals and guidebooks.

This is a great opportunity for attorneys to engage in a very important, although very manageable pro bono project. The D.C. Bar Advice & Referral Clinic is providing incredible services to hundreds upon hundreds of individuals each year in their own communities. If you are signing up to volunteer for the Taxation Section, please contact James Joseph at James.Joseph@aporter.com. For more information, contact Leah Myers, staff attorney, at (202) 737-4700, ext. 3380 or at lmyers@dcbar.org.

2010 Advice & Referral Clinic Date

01/9
02/13
03/13
04/10
05/8
06/12
07/10
08/14
09/11
10/9
11/13
12/11