Posted June 6, 20153:06 pm
June 6, 2015 by Elizabeth Dobbins
Lawyer Richard Panza thinks his decision to offer legal counsel during the upcoming free legal advice clinic at El Centro in Lorain is not just a choice but a responsibility.
“I think it’s my responsibility in the community to attend these clinics and help out. … Legal advice is important for everybody, and there are many of those who can’t afford it,” he said.
The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland is hosting this free clinic 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. June 20, where volunteer attorneys will provide drop-in counseling for Lorain County residents with civil legal problems.
Melanie Shakarian, director of development and communications at The Legal Aid Society, said the goal of the clinic is to offer low–income and otherwise vulnerable residents access to legal advice.
“We always serve low-income individuals that are facing a legal issue that threaten their basic needs,” she said.
Shakarian listed safety, shelter and economic security among these needs. Last year, attorneys from the Legal Aid Society consulted with more than 20,000 clients with legal issues from custody disputes to foreclosures to eviction notices.
“In the last few years, we’ve helped thousands of people in Lorain County,” Shakarian said.
The Legal Aid Society and Free Advice Clinic only counsels people with civil legal problems. While the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to an attorney for criminal cases, the same does not hold true for civil cases. As a result, a 2009 study by The Legal Services Corporation reported that less than 20 percent of low-income individuals with legal needs receive assistance.
To counter this statistic, the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland regularly hosts similar clinics throughout Northeast Ohio, which generally draw between 30 and 40 residents. Shakarian said that recently the organization has been trying to increase the number of clinics offered.
“We’re trying to diversify the neighborhoods we’re going into,” she said.
On June 23, the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland will host a targeted clinic for residents undergoing the naturalization process at the Spanish American Committee in Cleveland. The society also will hold another general clinic at Cleveland’s Fatima Family Center on June 27.
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Click here to see more information on Legal Aid's upcoming FREE Brief Advice Clinics.