AA Note of Gratitude 🍂
With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, we want to thank you for your partnership and support.
Without volunteers like you, we would not be able to provide advice and representation to families across North Carolina.
You empower people to know their rights, keep a roof over their heads, find safety from their abusers, become more eligible for employment, access needed benefits, and preserve generational property. We appreciate your willingness to share your valuable time and resources with us and our clients.
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National Celebrate Pro Bono Week Recap
During Celebrate Pro Bono Week, our volunteers went above and beyond across the state to give back to their communities. Here's a snapshot of their incredible work:
📍 Durham: Lakethia Jefferies and the NCCU School of Law team including Mekhi Harris and Kameron Smith, helped seven clients and their families navigate significant housing conditions challenges, including leaking roofs, mold, and infestations. After gathering key information, they shared what steps could be taken so clients could get closer to their goal of safe and stable housing.
📍Winston-Salem: Students at Wake Forest University School of Law – Lottie Johnson, Maurice Matthews, Elise Kim, LilyAnne Rodriguez, Grace Mohlin, Hayley Day, Juan Reyes, Nate Blankenship, Brittany Grund, Jesse DeHart, Emma Hilborn, Emma Whitaker, Ashlyn O’Hara, Roxanne Sawyer, Ian Vernon, Gabi Zernickow, Sarah Schou, Anastasia Jones-Burdick, Caroline McGinn - joined Legal Aid of NC attorney Matthew Fox for a Lawyer on the Line event with our Winston-Salem office. The group assisted six clients with their housing issues, involving mold, roof leaks, repairs, and electrical issues. We’re grateful to Matthew, Corey Frost, and our Winston-Salem team for sharing their knowledge and experience with the community and WFU law students.
📍 Charlotte: U.S. Bank and McGuireWoods LLP attorneys provided free legal advice to clients facing dangerous housing conditions. Thanks to Adam Coto, John Hunter, Katie Craig, Lexie Siegel, Rachel Robertson, Anthony Kim, Jason Schubert, Joshualan Parrish, and Jonathan Slager and Carmen Peterson from Legal Aid of NC for volunteering their time to help clients in need across North Carolina. We also held eviction courthouse clinics on October 21st and 23rd - more on these below.
📍Chapel Hill: UNC Law students assisted five clients – by gathering information and advising on possible options in the face of extremely challenging housing conditions issues. From infestations to mold, Legal Aid of NC attorneys Benjamin Holt and Allison Young provided valuable advice to clients over the course of our evening event.
Thanks to all of our dedicated volunteers for making October a month of giving back -- for their help in connecting clients to the resources they need, serving with compassion, and volunteering in solidarity, in service of our mission.
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Raleigh Pro Bono Collaborative
The Raleigh Pro Bono Collaborative wrapped up two events last month, both hosted by our partner, Kilpatrick: the first was an expunction session and the second was a Lawyer on the Line housing event where volunteer attorneys drafted advice letters for eight clients struggling with urgent housing conditions issues.
Our next expunction session is next week on Thursday, 11/20, at Smith Anderson.
Email us at probono@legalaidnc.org to reserve your spot!
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Duke Law - Lawyer on the Line
Students Eri Takamine, Daniel Gordon, Virali Patel, Daniel Limas, Emily Bass, Aaron Pezzulo, Keon Parsa, Flora Lechtreck, Benjamin Press, Lindsay Horn, and student leaders Jacob Koelsch and Abe Waserstein, assisted six clients last week as part of our Lawyer on the Line program. The students reached out to clients with housing conditions issues and shared advice with practical next steps for the clients to consider.
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Campbell Law Wills & Advance Directive Clinic
Campbell Law students Natalie Johnson, Hiranshi Patel, Elizabeth Harlan, Tyesha Williams, Jennifer Cardenas Monroy, Anna Andrews, and more, joined Legal Aid of NC for a clinic last Saturday to serve clients in Johnston County with advance directive and power of attorney preparation. Thanks to everyone who participated and to the Community & Senior Services of Johnston County for hosting us!
| | | | Charlotte Triage is a task force comprised of law firm, corporation, and nonprofit pro bono leaders dedicated to serving the Charlotte community in its areas of highest need. Learn more | | Thanks to our Charlotte Triage Volunteers! | | |
On October 21st and 23rd, volunteer attorneys from in house teams and partner firms represented tenants facing eviction through our Charlotte Triage Pro Bono Partnership.
With our Legal Aid of NC team, volunteers provided advice and representation to over 30 tenants -- and for two tenants, volunteers took cases to trial and won. Our volunteers were: Lyndsay Medlin, Sarah Beth Cain, Clare Magee, Dreshawn McFadden, Mark Taylor, Kerry-Ann Archer, Julie Leopold, David Griffin, Michael Binko, and Angel McDuffie. We're also grateful as always to our Triage Housing Champions, Julie Leopold from Dechert and Kris Pickler from Honeywell.
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📞 November 13 - Charlotte Triage Lawyer on the Line
12 PM - 2 PM @ Moore & Van Allen
👉 Sign up
⚖️ November 18 - Charlotte Triage Eviction Courthouse Clinic
8:45 AM - 12 PM
👉Sign up
⚖️ November 20 - Charlotte Triage Eviction Courthouse Clinic
8:45 AM - 12 PM
👉Sign up
📝 November 20 - Expunction Session @ Smith Anderson
📞 December 10 - Charlotte Triage Lawyer on the Line
12 PM - 2 PM
👉 Sign up
⚖️ December 16 - Charlotte Triage Eviction Courthouse Clinic
8:45 AM - 12 PM
👉Sign up
⚖️ December 18 - Charlotte Triage Eviction Courthouse Clinic
8:45 AM - 12 PM
👉Sign up
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Compliance Reminders
Did you know?
For each case -- regardless of the level of service provided -- we open a case file and are required to document the work done to satisfy funding requirements.
This is why we might be emailing you asking for a closing form!
We enter volunteer time in each of our files because it changes how the file is classified and helps us track and celebrate volunteers.
If you have an ongoing case for which you can provide an update, please reach out to your assigned case coordinator or email us at probono@legalaidnc.org.
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Chapman Cutler LLP
Chicago, IL
Chapman and Cutler LLP team Sara Ghadiri and R. Amani Smathers have been hard at work building document automation tools via Gavel as part of a pro bono project with our team. The result: a custom wills and advance directive drafting model for Legal Aid of NC.
With the goal of having pro bono attorney volunteers input information live, and a draft document generated in real time for review, Chapman is streamlining document drafting without sacrificing accuracy or replacing the key role of reviewers in will and advance directive preparation.
Next up: testing these tools in real situations to see how volunteers and clients may benefit from this innovative approach to document drafting.
Learn more about Gavel
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Robinson Bradshaw
Raleigh, NC
A joint team of attorneys from Robinson Bradshaw and Legal Aid of North Carolina recently celebrated a win in the Court of Appeals with an unpublished decision, IRA Club FBO Melissa Dahlquist IRA 2000487 v. Danzy, 915 S.E.2d 302 (N.C. Ct. App. 2025). The decision clarifies that unfair trade practice claims do not require a showing of actual injury as previously held in Omnipauper v. Dunston. The full text of the opinion is available here. Join us in congratulating Legal Aid of NC's own Tommy Holderness and Alecia Amoo, and Ethan White and Kayla Swan on their appellate win.
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Join Our Justice Legacy Circle - Make Justice Part of Your Legacy
Did you know you can include Legal Aid of North Carolina in your estate plans?
Planned gifts - including bequests, charitable trusts, and gifts of life insurance - create a legacy of justice that will continue to protect North Carolinians for generations to come.
By making a planned gift of any size, you become part of the Justice Legacy Circle, a community of supporters whose foresight ensures that Legal Aid's mission endures long into the future.
Together we can make justice not just a value we hold, but a legacy we leave.
Learn more or make your gift today:
| | | | Lead a virtual legal education presentation! | | Topics: Child custody and simple divorce | | |
Interested in giving back to your community for a few hours?
Sign up below to lead a virtual legal education presentation on child custody and/or simple divorce.
The ask: Present on either (or both) topics and answer general questions (no specific legal advice is given during the presentations). Volunteers receive training and all presentations are moderated.
When: Child custody presentations are held the second Tuesday of the month; simple divorce presentations are held the third Thursday of the month. All presentations run from 2:15 to 4:30 p.m.
Click below to learn more and sign up!
| | Looking for the right pro bono opportunity? Legal services organizations around the state, including Legal Aid of NC, post theirs on Pro Bono Go. Find out more at probonogo.org. | | |
Client is seeking assistance with title issues involving a manufactured home that was severely damaged as a result of Helene. A charitable organization has offered to donate a replacement home, but the damaged trailer must first be removed.
We're seeking a volunteer attorney who could review the facts, determine available legal options to address the title issue, and advise the client on next steps to move the donation process forward.
🗺️ Fully remote
Learn more
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Client is a Helene survivor who needs help determining whether they may have a viable claim under North Carolina's Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act or other applicable consumer laws.
Client paid more than $10,000 for repair work which the contractor failed to perform, and the client is interested in options and next steps.
🗺️ Fully remote
Learn more
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Help Helene Survivor with FEMA Appeal for Rental
Client is a Helene survivor seeking assistance with issues related to heir property and FEMA. The client’s home sustained severe flood and roof damage during the storm—only one bedroom remains habitable.
Now that she needs to rebuild, FEMA and various charitable organizations are requiring proof of ownership before rendering assistance. The client needs help understanding her ownership interest to these third parties and, if necessary, preparing affidavits or other documentation to establish her rights to the property.
🗺️ Fully remote
Learn more
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Help serve clients through our Volunteer Wills Program
We're looking for volunteer attorneys to assist with interviews and help prepare wills and advance directives.
This is primarily a remote opportunity; however, we are particularly in need of volunteers who are local to the following counties and willing to assist with occasional in-person signing day clinics: Buncombe, Cumberland, Davidson, Edgecombe, Guilford, Henderson, Johnston, Pitt, Randolph, Rockingham, and Wilson.
🗺️ Statewide; specific counties listed above
Learn more
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Help Single Mother Get Deposit Returned
We're looking for a volunteer attorney to assist with demanding payment for money owed and potentially filing a claim in Small Claims Court. Our client is owed a deposit back after a transaction fell through on a mobile home unit.
🗺️ Randolph County
Learn more
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Help Stalking Victim Collect Judgment Awarded Against Abuser
Our client was awarded a large judgment against her ex-partner and we are seeking assistance to help her collect this judgment.
🗺️ Brunswick County
Learn more
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