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CONNECTICUT PRO BONO NETWORK
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| Established in 1991, Connecticut Pro
Bono Network is a collaboration between Connecticut’s legal services
agencies and the CBA. The goal of the program is to recruit attorney and
paralegal volunteers to provide legal representation for low-income
clients who are screened by a legal services agency and deemed eligible
for pro bono services for their civil cases. In return for your
volunteer service, Connecticut Pro Bono Network provides many support
services, including free training, mentoring by colleagues, CLE
vouchers, recognition and publications. Join the nearly 4000 Connecticut
attorneys and paralegals who volunteer through the Connecticut Pro
Bono Network program. |
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Definition of Pro Bono:
As approved by the CBA Pro Bono Committee on 5/18/92
Pro bono legal services means the provision of legal services to indigent
persons without the expectation of payment. This includes provision of legal
services to organizations whose principal purpose is providing services to
indigent persons and which organizations lack funds or have no practical means
of obtaining funds for legal services.
Other Connecticut Pro Bono Network Opportunities:
- Mentoring: Experienced attorneys are needed to mentor new or less experienced attorneys. This mentoring obligation may include training or direct consultation. There is a particular need for mentors in the area of family law.
- Day Laborer Wage Clinics: Volunteer attorneys and paralegals are needed at this Stamford evening clinic to assist day laborers to access the legal means available to them to aid in enforcing their employment rights. Responsibilities may include preparing demand letters, drafting small claims court or department of labor complaints, serving judgments on employers, and conducting an assessment of more complex matters for possible pro bono referral.
- Security Deposit Clinics: Volunteer attorneys are needed to assist individuals in filing pro se small claims cases for the return of their security deposit.
- Family Law Clinics: Clinics are scheduled throughout the state to provide clients who are proceeding pro se with the opportunity to seek advice and consultation from an attorney.
- Tax Assistance Programs: 1. Volunteers are needed to prepare free tax returns for low income taxpayers during the filing season (mid-January to mid-April) at Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites throughout Connecticut. Each volunteer is asked to work a 3-4 hour shift at a VITA site each week during the filing season. 2. Volunteers are also needed to help represent low income taxpayers with regard to federal and state income tax controversies. This LITC program is run by the UCONN and Quinnipiac law school clinics. Time commitment varies by case. While a base knowledge of tax law or tax return preparation is useful, VITA and LITC clinics provide substantive and procedural training for volunteers.
- Truancy Intervention Project: The Truancy Intervention project is co-sponsored by the Connecticut Bar Association and the Connecticut Bar Foundation in cooperation with the New Britain Public School system and the Juvenile Court. The project matches interested volunteer attorneys with middle school students from New Britain who have a substantial record of unexcused absences. The attorney will represent the child in a Family with Service Needs case. The attorney will work with the student, family, school personnel and other community resources as well as act as a role model to address problems that contribute to the student’s poor attendance record. Training is provided. A six month commitment is requested.
- Evening Consumer Hotline: Volunteers are needed to cover the Statewide Legal Services Evening Consumer Hotline program two nights per month in Middletown. Volunteers work alongside SLS staff giving indigent clients advice over the telephone in consumer law matters. Both substantive and hotline operational training are provided. A six month commitment is requested.
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