Civil
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Volunteer at Legal Aid!
Check out our newest video!
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If you are excited about our pro bono opportunities, please consider volunteering in Gwinnett or Cobb counties! Interested in other projects, contact our Pro Bono Director Laura Rashidi-Yazd at [email protected].
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Special Projects at Legal Aid
Atlanta Legal Aid has special projects for work in areas of disability, seniors, domestic violence, cancer, HIV/AIDS, veterans affairs, and grandparent/relative caregiver adoptions.
Since 1988, the AIDS Legal Project has provided
civil legal assistance to low-income people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. We serve clients through outreach to local providers, on-site client intake at the Grady Infectious Disease Program, education and training, and legal advice and representation of low-income people in legal matters.
"Robert" was referred to Atlanta Legal Aid by AID Atlanta. Roberts's AID Atlanta subsidized townhouse was in disrepair. The
landlord promised renovations; however, no work was done. His landlord sent a contractor out, who stated that the bathroom was not safe, and Robert should move out. His landlord wanted him to move, but AID Atlanta stated that they could not pay for a deposit for a second apartment. The landlord eventually agreed to let Robert move to a temporary apartment while his unit was renovated. Robert moved back into his current apartment four weeks later.
Six months after moving back in, Robert called Legal Aid requesting emergency assistance, as his townhome was condemned that morning. He stated that
shortly after he moved back into his apartment, the ceiling started to cave
in. He also explained that the City came out to inspect two weeks ago and stated that the pipes were corroded, and that he should not be drinking the water!
Staff attorney Stefanie Sparks represented "Robert" when he was served with the notice to vacate. Stefanie represented him in a hearing and was able to get the eviction dismissed and won $5,710 in damages for him!
Legal Aid attorneys work tirelessly to ensure the safety and security of our clients!
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Unable to volunteer, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution today!
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Keeping Families In Their Homes
While in her fifties, Ms. Johnson suffered serious health problems. By 2014,
after suffering a stroke, she could no longer work. She applied for Social Security Disability, but the Social Security Administration denied her application. She retained an attorney and filed an appeal. During the two years she had to wait for her appeal to be heard, Ms. Johnson fell behind on her mortgage. Ms. Johnson worked with a housing counselor to submit an application for a loan modification.
When the servicer denied her application, Ms. Johnson contacted Legal Aid. Staff attorney Dina Franch investigated and found several problems with the original application. The most significant problem was a failure to document monetary contributions by her 83-year-old mother. Her mother had recently moved in with her in order to pool resources. Dina helped Ms. Johnson submit a new application and supporting documents.
A few weeks later, the servicer's attorneys sent Ms. Johnson notice of intent to foreclosure and a foreclosure sale date. Dina immediately contacted the servicer's attorneys. Under Federal law, if a borrower submits a complete application more than 37 days before a scheduled foreclosure sale, the servicer must review a loan modification application and offer a loan modification if the borrower is eligible.
The servicer cancelled the foreclosure sale, completed its review of the application, and eventually approved the loan modification!
When Ms. Johnson contacted Legal Aid, she was 22 months behind on the mortgage. Under the loan modification, Ms. Johnson's account was brought current, and her monthly mortgage payment was reduced by $150.
Thanks to her Legal Aid lawyer, Ms. Johnson and her mother are able to stay in their home!
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Welcoming Summer Interns
 We thrilled to welcome our newest class of summer interns! Our summer intern program dates back almost 50 years to 1968. We are proud to have the second largest class in the Atlanta Metro area with 28 undergraduate and law school students-only one behind King & Spalding.
This year was extremely competitive; we received over 125 applications!
Our class is very diverse representing 13 national law schools including Harvard University, Yale University, New York University, University of Michigan, Cornell University, University of Oregon, and many more. I am happy to say that all five Georgia law schools are well represented with eight students from Emory University and four students from Georgia State University. This class of students speaks Spanish, Farsi, French, German, and Japanese. When the Department of Education could not afford their summer interns, we offered to help. During this process, we welcomed one intern from the Department of Health and Human Services to our program.
A number of them will be spending part of their summer with us, and part of their summer doing judicial clerkships, working with private law firms, and other public service employers. For the first time ever, we are sharing our interns with federal judges. At her suggestion, Judge Jill Pryor of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit will have two of our interns to clerk with her this summer.
Our summer internship committee, led by staff attorney Cristina Dumitrescu, has worked very hard to put together trainings as well as activities and experiences for our interns to participate in. We are excited that they will be attending the Carter Center's Board of Councilors meeting on Friday June 16.
If you see an intern around the office or at one of our events, please welcome them to the program. We look forward to having a productive and successful summer with them!
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5th Annual Beer Tasting & BBQ Battle with AVLF
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