Pro Bono Update

Meet our 2024 Pro Bono Hero Award winners!

We marked this year's National Celebration of Pro Bono, held during the last week of October, by announcing the 2024 winners of our Pro Bono Hero Awards!

Launched in 2023, the awards recognize remarkable pro bono service on behalf of our clients and our firm — service that we hope serves as an inspiring example to the NC legal community. The awards also celebrate the diversity of the forms of pro bono service from which our clients and organization benefit, and the diversity of the volunteers themselves.

Allison Constance, Director of Pro Bono Programs for Legal Aid NC, said, “This year’s slate of honorees shows just how varied in form — but equal in impact — pro bono service can be.

“Whether it’s serving numerous clients in a single year or serving a single client for numerous years, helping us launch a new program or dedicating oneself to an existing one, serving our clients or serving our firm as a client, all of this year’s honorees are vital partners on our mission to provide equal justice for North Carolinians in need.”

2024 Pro Bono Hero Award winners

Honeywell
Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A.
Sneed & Stearns, P.A.
Aishah Reed Foster
Amily McCool
Brad Banias
David Lindsay
Jon Powell
Peter Robinson

Watch videos of Legal Aid NC leaders discussing the remarkable service of this year's winners: legalaidnc.org/pro-bono-hero-awards-2024.

Join our Pro Bono Programs team!

Want to make a real difference in the lives of North Carolinians in need? Join our Pro Bono Programs team by applying for one — or more! — of our three open positions:

Not in the job market yourself but know someone who is? Help spread the word by forwarding this email to them!

Tropical Storm Helene update

Thank you to the 1,000+ legal professionals from around the country who have signed up to provide pro bono services to survivors of Tropical Storm Helene. The widespread devastation means there will be more than enough work to go around, so we're still looking for volunteers.

Meet our local pro bono coordinators!

Much of our pro bono activities are run by our central Pro Bono Programs team, which is based in our Raleigh headquarters, but four of our field offices have staff members who manage pro bono in their offices' service areas.

Learn more

Drink Legalade!

Did we launch a sports drink to promote equal justice for low-income North Carolinians? Nope! But we did create a fun fake commercial for this year's sports-themed Wake Co. Bar Awards, an annual variety show/fundraiser for Legal Aid NC.

Watch the video!

CLE Calendar

Serving those affected by Tropical Storm Helene

Thu, Nov 21 · 6.5 hrs · Live In-person/Live webcast

We are partnering with the NC Bar Association and NC Bar Foundation to present a CLE for legal advocates interested in serving survivors of Tropical Storm Helene. The event will be presented live in-person at the NC Bar Center in Cary and webcast live. Click the links below to learn more and register.

Learn more · Agenda · Register

Free for Disaster Legal Services volunteer attorneys! Sign up

Charlotte Triage Pro Bono Partnership

Charlotte Triage is the Queen City legal community's concerted effort to use pro bono to meet residents' most pressing legal needs. An inaugural member of the partnership, we help coordinate services to housing clients and domestic violence survivors. Learn more.

Thank you, Lawyer on the Line volunteers!

On November 7, legal professionals from Dechert LLP, Sysco, Wells Fargo and Womble Bond Dickinson — and a student from Elon Law! — provided pro bono legal advice to Legal Aid NC clients living with dangerous and unsanitary living conditions.

Learn more

Program Spotlight

Pro bono for nonprofits

Did you know that some of our clients are nonprofit organizations? It's true! While most of our clients are individuals, we can provide free legal help to nonprofits that further our mission.

For example, we are currently seeking a pro bono attorney who can provide advice and brief counsel to a Wake County group that provides fruits and vegetables to low-income families. See fourth item in Pro Bono Go section below.

Are you interested in providing pro bono service to NC nonprofits? Drop us a line at probono@legalaidnc.org.

Volunteer Spotlight

Bárbara Herrera

Morrisville

Morrisville attorney Bárbara Herrera is one of the 1,000+ legal professionals from around the country who have signed up to provide pro bono service to survivors of Tropical Storm Helene.

She recently provided critical legal advice to a Buncombe County client whose car and subsidized apartment were damaged by the storm.

Bárbara advised our client on applying for FEMA assistance, communicating with their landlord, engaging the local housing authority, contacting their car insurance provider, and more.

Thanks to Bárbara, our client now has a clear path to achieving a full and equitable recovery from the storm.

Thank you, Bárbara!

Diana Santos Johnson · Waldrep Wall

Winston-Salem

Huge thanks to Legal Aid NC alum Diana Santos Johnson and her colleagues at Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC for helping one of our clients eliminate $85,000 in debt by filing for bankruptcy! Our client could not continue to pay his credit card debt and personal loans after losing his job and being unable to work.

Diana and her team also helped secure waivers for the hundreds of dollars in fees for our client's bankruptcy filing and required credit-counseling courses.

“Our staff works tirelessly to meet the civil legal needs of people across the state," said Allison Constance, our Director of Pro Bono Programs, "but we cannot even come close to meeting that need without the help of pro bono volunteers. Attorneys in private practice are an essential piece of providing access to justice, especially in bankruptcy law.”

Thank you, Diana and Waldrep Wall!

Learn more

Pro Bono Go

Pro Bono Go is a one-stop shop for pro bono opportunities from NC's leading civil-justice groups. Check out our latest opportunities below. More at probonogo.org.

Housing conditions advice (attorneys only)

Statewide · Serve remotely

Our Lawyer on the Line program seeks attorney volunteers willing to receive referrals for brief advice on housing conditions and landlord-tenant issues. Training provided.

Learn more

Brief advice in rural DV Protective Order cases

Statewide · Serve remotely

One-hour phone consultation with a client preparing for a pro se 50B hearing. Sign up for a 2-week period and receive 1 referral within that time. Experience required.

Learn more