Pro bono is a Latin term meaning “for the public good’ and Coffee County Bar Association President Shannon Clark said that’s the goal of two legal aid clinics planned in Enterprise and Elba this month.
Clark told Coffee County commissioners the Advice and Counsel Clinics are being held in conjunction with National Pro Bono Week.
There is no charge to attend the clinics and they are open to the public, Clark said. The first clinic is Oct. 26 from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the Elba Public Library.
In Enterprise, the clinic is at 5 p.m. at the Enterprise Recreation Center. Advance appointments are not required.
Lawyers will be available for general consultation on civil issues and will prepare advanced health care directives, powers of attorney and simple wills on site, she said.
Attorneys nationwide participate in Pro Bono Week, she said, as an effort to help their communities. It’s the second year the Alabama Bar Association has participated.
Nearly 20 percent of the Coffee County legal community donates time in free legal services each year, Clark said. “But a huge unmet need for legal assistance remains for the disadvantaged in our area.”
In proclaiming Oct. 24 through Oct. 30 Pro Bono Week in Coffee County, Commission Chairman Jim Thompson said there are less than 55 paid legal aid lawyers to serve the more than 422,1119 low-income households in the state.
Pro Bono Week is designed to educate the public about the extensive work Alabama lawyers are doing in donating their time to improve the lives of vulnerable members of their communities, Thompson said “It will assist people who greatly need legal assistance, but cannot afford to pay for that help.”
“We felt like this was a way to assist the community without cost and to provide access to civil legal justice that is fundamental and our ethical responsibility as attorneys,” Clark said.
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