Requests for legal assistance are outpacing the resources of Middle Tennessee’s Legal Aid Society, even with increased volunteerism among local attorneys.
The Legal Aid Society works with people who can’t afford to hire a lawyer. The organization has attorneys on staff, but it also places cases with law firms that have agreed to donate time.
So far this year, Legal Aid has had 29,000 requests for assistance-2-thousand more than it got in all of 2008.
Executive Director Gary Housepian says most are from people who’ve fallen behind on payments to creditors and are scared of what might happen to their houses, their belongings, or even themselves.
“Some people are afraid they’ll go to prison if they can’t pay their bills, so a lot of it is just giving them information about what can be done on it and what can be done to protect their resources and income.”
The number of law firms willing to offer help or increase their pro bono caseload is rising. The organization has placed 962 cases since January, ahead of last year’s pace. Even so, Housepian says the group can currently assist only one of every five people who ask for help.
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