Legal Aid Defined
Legal aid is necessary assistance offered to those who cannot afford to pay for a lawyer in pursuit of legal representation. Funds are provided by the state to help those who qualify to receive legal advice and other tangible forms of assistance with their legal issues. It is important that low-income individuals have access to their legal rights and can often help them obtain benefits from government agencies, locate affordable housing, or obtain medical care. Legal aid services also help people through difficult times of finances such as guardianships, bankruptcy, and debt collection. Other cases they help to manage are domestic violence, employment discrimination, and child custody, support, and visitation. In Virginia and the city of Virginia Beach , the Virginia Legal Aid Society provides free services to those who cannot pay for a private attorney to assist with legal matters. They provide intake services every day and the individuals who are eligible will be referred for services directly through them or through one of the other legal aid attorneys in the area. The goal of legal aid is to provide assistance to those who cannot afford it otherwise. This service grants access to justice and allows individuals to have their cases heard in court. Often the lawyers associated with legal aid also represent low-income clients with legal matters performed by private lawyers at no cost to the client as a way of providing pro bono legal representation that is in line with their requirements.
Legal Aid Services Offered
Legal aid services in Virginia Beach offer a wide range of assistance coverings a majority of legal matters of concern to large segments of the local population. While services vary by case type, specific assistance is provided for family law and housing/lending concerns among many others.
Family law assistance covers child custody and child support issues, protective orders, divorce and modification of restraining orders. Housing assistance extends to support for wrongful eviction cases, as well as concerns over Housing Authority disputes, landlord and tenant issues and mortgage fraud. Non-divorce post-judgment family law assistance includes families with developmental or physical disabilities, grandparents seeking visitation, adoption or custody, and spousal support and alimony issues. Child custody, domestic violence and guardianship are also handled.
Criminal law assistance includes protection for those facing criminal charges in petty crimes. Specific coverage includes financial exploitation of seniors, domestic violence issues or stalking charges, as well as veterans’ rights assistance.
Non-family civil issues include consumer protection, education, bankruptcy, immigration, tax and military rights assistance and food stamp concerns.
Who May Be Eligible for Legal Aid in Virginia Beach
Legal aid is not available to everyone. The income ceiling on who gets legal aid is well below the federal poverty line for a family of four. The Lawyers’ Cooperative Disaster Fund, which administered legal aid before being taken over by the Legal Aid Society in 2014, used to have a policy that people who made less than 300% of the federal poverty level would qualify for free civil legal aid. In 2022, three-person households applying for legal aid with Legal Aid Society of Eastern Virginia may bring in $62,000 or less annually. There are income levels for obtaining legal aid for a household of four, five and six members as well. These levels are a sliding scale based on the number of household members. In addition, legal aid in Virginia also has a rule that applicants must reside in Virginia. Overall, if you earn more than the federal poverty level for your household size, you will probably not qualify for legal aid. The types of legal assistance provided are meant for low-income families, not the middle class. If your income is above the legal aid threshold, you can ask for a sliding fee schedule from a private attorney or professional organization to help you get the legal guidance you need.
How to Access Legal Aid in Virginia Beach
In addition to being a member of the Virginia State Bar, I also work as a staff attorney for Central Virginia Legal Services (CVLS), which is a part of the Legal Services Corporation. CVLS serves individuals who live under the federal poverty guidelines and are facing a civil legal matter in areas such as family law, housing, consumer, and employee rights.
Some people think they cannot afford an attorney when faced with a legal problem, but they may qualify for free legal aid assistance or representation. Each year, CVLS helps thousands of people with legal problems so they don’t have to go to court without an attorney.
Legal aid attorneys work within the bounds of state and federal guidelines to assist people who are:
In Virginia Beach, residents can go online, in-person, or by phone to apply for legal aid.
Online: Visit the CVLS website and use the online intake questionnaire.
In-person: Virginian’s can walk into any of the CVLS offices across the state. The nearest location for Virginia Beach residents is at 700 E. Broad St. in Richmond. You should bring the following documents in case you are eligible for legal aid services:
Phone: You can start your request for legal aid over the phone. Simply call (804) 510-5491 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. A representative will take down your information.
If you qualify for assistance, you will be paired with a staff attorney who is knowledgeable in your particular area of law. Legal Aid does not require that you go through the entire application process. As soon as you make first contact with the organization, you will automatically receive free legal advice. Your particular case will be reviewed and assessed to see if you are assigned to a staff attorney for additional legal services, like representation in court.
Perks of Consulting Legal Aid Attorneys
Benefits of Legal Aid Lawyers
With access to trained legal professionals, there is a greater likelihood that potential legal issues will be treated as they arise. Ensuring that you are bringing your case before the right court system, filing necessary documentation on time, and meeting other procedural requirements is difficult when you are not familiar with the law. Legal aid lawyers help low-income clients to avoid missing important deadlines and filing improper documents that could hurt their case.
A legal professional can also assist you in collecting the appropriate information from a case and advising you on how best to prepare for a court hearing. For example, if you have medical documentation that is important to your case, you may not know how to relay that information to the court so that is relevant to your case . Legal aid workers can guide you in how to organize your information and relay it in a manner that is most beneficial to your case.
Your legal aid representative will also work to help you assess how you feel about the proceedings against you, or how you feel about a particular case that you are involved in. They can help reassure you, or help you develop a plan of action to take in your case so that you feel comfortable with the next step in your proceedings.
A legal aid attorney will help you proceed through your case in such a way that you understand what is going on in your case, and why you face a particular issue. Whether you are facing criminal charges or a messy divorce, these volunteers will assist you in understanding the law as it pertains to your situation.
Reviews from Legal Aid Recipients
Juan was facing an eviction from his apartment in the Lynnhaven area of Virginia Beach when he found out about the legal aid services offered by a local non-profit legal aid organization. After contacting the organization, he was paired up with a pro bono lawyer who represented him pro bono in his landlord/tenant case. Even though the case was contentious, Juan won and avoided being evicted from his home. His affordable security deposit return has allowed him to pay back his bill to Dominion Power. After getting some advice from his lawyer about collection actions in Virginia, Juan is more determined than ever to pay down his debt and avoid having a negative credit experience from Dominion Power.
Marie is a widow who grew up in the Tidewater area. She came into the office looking for assistance with her estate planning needs. Marie saw ads on television and read about it in the newspaper, that free legal consultations were being offered through these local legal aid assistance programs. After the initial consultation with a volunteer attorney, she returned with her daughter, who was able to provide relevant information about her mother’s assets, now being managed by a corporate trustee. Together, they formulated a good strategy for getting the new will in place, and made plans to return in a few months as the new will got closer to being prepared by a staff attorney.
Belinda received a phone call from her now ex-husband, after being separated from him for two years. He threatened to burn down her house at 3:00 a.m. She decided to contact a domestic violence shelter and then work with a local legal aid organization to file a full protective order. She obtained the protection order along with a court date to acquire a full, one year protective order. Belinda decided to not pursue the full protective order but to get a one year injunction with the district court attorney. She also sent her daughter to the child support clinic to help her obtain child support from her husband, who had been ignoring his obligations under the law.
Barriers to Legal Aid
Despite the noble goals and invaluable services provided by legal aid programs, it is no secret that they face challenges. The need often far outstrips their ability to assist. In the city of Virginia Beach, there are three primary challenges that help explain why even those who are eligible for legal aid do not always receive it when they need it the most: funding, availability of lawyers, and high demand.
Funding to legal aid programs often comes from federal, state or private sources, and can be easily impacted by public policy decisions and overall economic conditions. As demand rises for legal aid, the proportionate funding often does not keep up. For instance, in Virginia Beach, the Legal Aid Society of Eastern Virginia received $232,000 less in funding in 2015 than it did in 2008. Likewise, the Commission of the Virginia Beach Bar recently surveyed its more than 400 members about how little they know about legal aid in the community. Of the 127 who responded, 61% agreed that the legal aid program’s resources were limited. And of those, nearly half indicated they have contributed financially to a legal aid organization over the past five years.
Attorneys, like all of us, have many pressures on their time. Between court appearances , client meetings, and billing hours, many attorneys find it difficult to take on pro bono work. Legal aid programs require lawyers to write reports, attend trainings, and meet with clients, which also requires valuable time. While some seasoned attorneys may find the process of working with a legal aid organization refreshing, especially after years of only taking on paying clients, many newer lawyers who are expected to get it right the first time, may not feel able to tackle a case outside of their regular office.
As for the needs of citizens requiring legal aid, they often exceed the available resources. Legal aid organizations frequently find that one of the most difficult services they offer is education of the public at large about their programs. Many people assume that legal aid is only for those in poverty or that they are required to work directly through them. While not untrue, these assumptions do not tell the whole story. Even those who are eligible and educated about aid programs may be under so much financial stress that they cannot afford to wait for representation. A case with the Legal Aid Society discussed in the PBS News Hour highlights this concern specifically.