Pro Bono Project of Santa Clara County
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The Pro Bono Project was founded in 1986 to assist the
low-income residents with cases in
Santa Clara
County courts by offering access to free, high quality legal
representation in civil disputes. The Project uses volunteer
attorneys, the bulk of whose work focuses on family and consumer
law.
The Pro Bono Project is often the legal services provider of
last resort. Clients have meritorious cases but no other legal
services agency is able to meet their legal needs. Not all of
the Pro Bono Project client cases require litigation. Many can be
solved with education about legal process and procedures. Therefore,
self help seminars and mediation are offered in addition to
personalized client assistance in Client Intake Clinics and Staff
Appointments. For volunteers, the Project offers a series of
training seminars with expert lawyers and judges. The Project also
provides mentors. The Project expands the legal services
available to low-income residents through skilled volunteer legal
representation. In 2002 the Project launched a Parenthood Project
to reconnect non-custodial parents with their children. Research
shows involvement of both parents is best for the child’s social and
emotional development. Through advice clinics, and attorney
representation, the Project hopes to improve the lives of parents
and children.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Whether you want to make a substantial time
commitment, or offer occasional hours, you can help our clients. We
practice unbundling: you can accept a complete case for one client
or perform individual services for several clients, based on the
time you have available. We currently have clients who need
assistance with divorce, child custody, division of property,
spousal support, small claims, and domestic violence restraining
orders. Examples of occasional pro bono opportunities include
representing a client at a hearing, or reviewing the work of a
volunteer law student.
Have some free time on Monday evenings? You can volunteer for
Lawyers in the Library.
Volunteer attorneys offer free basic legal consultation to the
public at public libraries on Monday evenings, from 6pm – 8pm.
For more information visit the agency’s
website.
To find a specific volunteer opportunity for this agency,
go to the Probonomatch.org
search page
and select the agency’s name.
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