Pro Bono Program
Overview
In keeping with its history and its mission, to foster in students “a commitment to public service and to meeting the needs of under-served and under-represented people and communities,” NCCU Law School actively encourages and supports law students’ involvement in pro bono service. The NCCU Pro Bono and Public Interest Program, housed in the Legal Clinic, offers a wide range of opportunities for students to engage in pro bono.
In 2007-08, one hundred fifty-four law students, more than a quarter of the student body, provided hundreds of hours of pro bono service to legal aid offices, non-profit public interest law organizations, government agencies, private attorneys representing low-income clients, law student pro bono projects, and the public schools.
Information for Law Students
The Pro Bono Program facilitates volunteer placements with public interest law organizations in the area and across the state. Click here for a list of organizations where NCCU Law students have volunteered during the past two years.
Law students can also volunteer with several established student group pro bono projects. These include VITA (volunteer income tax assistance for low-income taxpayers); the Know Your Rights Immigration Law Project; Elder Law Pro Bono Project; and Foreclosure Prevention Project. Assistance and support is available for students who want to develop their own pro bono project.
The Pro Bono Program sponsors events throughout the year, including nationally known speakers, panels featuring local public interest attorneys, and a Pro Bono Open House, a student-to-student recruiting event for pro bono. Together with the Office of Career Services and the student Public Interest Law Organization, NCCU-PILO, the Program co-sponsors the annual Public Interest Law Fair, an opportunity for students to meet representatives from public interest organizations from across North Carolina, learn about pro bono opportunities, and interview for summer internships.
Students who perform 75 or more hours of pro bono service during their law school careers are honored during Law Week with a certificate of recognition awarded by the Law School and the North Carolina Bar Association.
According to a recent study by the Legal Services Corporation, eighty percent of low-income Americans who need help with a civil legal matter, such as an unemployment, housing or child custody case, go without representation by an attorney. The North Carolina and American Bar Associations recognize that providing pro bono service to those who could not otherwise afford an attorney is part of every lawyer’s professional responsibility.
As a student at NCCU Law school, you can help make the promise of “equal justice under law” inscribed above the doors of the United States Supreme Court a reality. Whether you plan a career in private practice or public service, by involvement in pro bono you will gain valuable experience, enhance your legal skills, and experience the satisfaction of making a difference to real clients with real needs.
Information for Members of the Public
PLEASE NOTE: THE NCCU LAW PRO BONO PROGRAM AND NCCU LAW STUDENTS CANNOT DO LEGAL WORK OR GIVE LEGAL ADVICE DIRECTLY TO MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC. NCCU LAW STUDENTS MAY ONLY WORK UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF A LICENSED ATTORNEY AT AN ORGANIZATION OR PROJECT APPROVED BY THE PROGRAM.
If you are seeking help with a legal problem, please click here for a list of legal resources and links.
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Elder Law Project volunteers |
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Elder Law Pro Bono Project: under the supervision of a volunteer attorney, law students prepare simple wills, durable powers of attorney, living wills, and health care powers of attorney for eligible clients in Durham and surrounding counties. To be referred to the Elder Law Project, call the Durham office of Legal Aid of North Carolina, (919) 688-6396.
Foreclosure Prevention Project: under the supervision of a volunteer attorney, law students assist clients in Durham County threatened with foreclosure in preparing pro se motions to continue, negotiating loan modifications, and sending out qualified written requests. To be referred to the Foreclosure Prevention Project, call the Legal Clinic office, 919-530-7166 or email Timothy Peterkin, tpeterkin@nccu.edu.
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VITA volunteers |
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VITA Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Project: law student volunteers certified by the IRS will assist eligible taxpayers (generally those with family incomes of less than $42,000) with preparation and filing of tax returns on Wednesday evenings and on Saturdays from 9am to 3 pm at the law school from mid-January through March.
Know Your Rights Immigration Law Project: law students give presentations on immigration law to the community in English and Spanish. Volunteer immigration law attorneys are available to answer questions. To schedule a presentation at your organization, e-mail
knowyourrights.nccu@gmail.com.
File It Yourself Divorce and Custody Workshops are offered monthly in Durham and Wake Counties by students and faculty of the NCCU Family Law Clinic.
Information For Attorneys
The Pro Bono Program seeks to support attorneys who are handling cases on a free or reduced-fee basis. To request law student assistance with a pro bono case, call the Legal Clinic office, 919-530-7166. Only nonprofit or government organizations or attorneys working on pro bono matters may request law student assistance.
Resources for Public Interest Law Students
The Pro Bono Program serves as a resource, together with the Career Services Office, for students planning a career in public service or public interest law.
As students at an Equal Justice Works member school, NCCU Law students are eligible to attend the organization’s annual Conference and Career Fair, the largest national public interest job fair, held each October in Washington, DC and to participate in Equal Justice Works summer stipend and post-graduate fellowship programs.
NCCU Law is a member of PSLawNet, the on-line resource for public interest employment and information on public interest careers, and participates in NC-LEAF, the North Carolina Legal Assistance Foundation, which assists law school graduates in public interest and public service employment with repayment of their student loans.
NCCU-PILO, the student Public Interest Law Organization,facilitates a network of support for students interested in public service and works to promote awareness of public interest law, foster relationships with public interest organizations, encourage student involvement in pro bono service, and increase opportunities for students to intern and work in the public interest arena.
Organizations Where NCCU Law Students Volunteer
- American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
- ACLU Capital Punishment Project
- Center For Child And Family Health Legal Project
- Center For Death Penalty Litigation
- Child Advocacy Commission of Durham
- Disability Rights North Carolina
- Durham Mediation Center
- Fair Trial Initiative
- Guardian Ad Litem Program
- NCABL Land Loss Prevention Project
- Legal Aid of North Carolina
- NC Center on Actual Innocence
- NC Coalition Against Domestic Violence
- NC Department Of Justice
- NC Department of Secretary of State
- NC Gay & Lesbian Attorneys Civil Rights Project
- NC Justice Center
- NC Prisoner Legal Services
- Teen Court & Restitution Program
Legal Links
NC Free Legal Help, a service of North Carolina Advocates for Justice, is a database of 500+ attorneys who have agreed to provide a free 10-minute initial consultation by phone or e-mail. http://www.ncfreelegalhelp.com/
The North Carolina Bar Association maintains a database of lawyers who agree to charge no more than $30 for the first 30 minutes of an initial consultation. Please note that this service DOES NOT make referrals to pro bono (free) attorneys. Call 919-677-8574 in the Raleigh area or toll-free 800-662-7660 and ask for the Lawyer Referral Service. http://www.ncbar.org/public/lrs/public.aspx
Legal Aid of North Carolina provides legal assistance with civil matters to eligible clients. http://www.legalaidnc.org/
North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services assists inmates in North Carolina correctional institutions with their civil legal needs. http://www.ncpls.org/
North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence identifies, investigates and advances credible claims of innocence made by inmates convicted of felonies in North Carolina. http://www.law.duke.edu/innocencecenter/
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