Christian Legal Aid of Pittsburgh joins Pro Bono Center
By Jason Green
For The Lawyers Journal
Oct. 12, 2007—Christian Legal Aid of Pittsburgh (CLA), a legal clinic that helps low-income and indigent individuals with civil law issues, has joined the Allegheny County Bar Foundation’s Pro Bono Center.
“The advantage is that we will have better training for volunteers,” said Livia Langton, the society’s president and clinic manger. “We’ll have a broader pool to pull from.”
The clinic, which opened in January 2004, is staffed by 20 attorneys and 30 University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University law school students who volunteer their time on a monthly or quarterly basis. It is open from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. four evenings per month—at the Church of the Ascension in Oakland on the first Thursday of the month and at the Allegheny Center Alliance Church in the North Side on the second, third and fourth Tuesdays of every month.
The clinic is operated by two attorneys and three law student staff members each night it is open, said Langton, an attorney with Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott. The volunteers counsel clients, providing advice and referrals on a variety of non-criminal issues, including estates and trusts, landlord-tenant, protection from abuse and bankruptcy matters. Christian Legal Aid members do not regularly accompany clients to court, Langton said.
Langton hopes the clinic will be able to acquire private funding to hire a paralegal, and eventually, an attorney, to staff the clinic on a full-time basis.
Once the city purchased these properties, the mayor’s office began receiving calls from individuals who were interested in acquiring particular properties. Many of the properties had title issues that could make purchasing the property difficult. Graziani said that this was when the mayor’s office decided to reach out to community groups, developers, and members of the bar.
As a member of the Pro Bono Center, resources will be available to the CLA. The resources include assistance with recruiting attorneys, providing malpractice coverage to the volunteers and providing the CLA with access to free legal research through the Pro Bono Center’s LexisNexis grant.
Lorrie Albert, the Allegheny County Bar Foundation’s director and former pro bono coordinator, said the CLA will be an asset to the Pro Bono Center because it offers a convenient location to city residents.
“For as long as I have been in the role of pro bono coordinator, I have had requests for legal services that just were not covered by any of the member organizations/projects of the Pro Bono Center or were not conveniently located to offer assistance,” she said. “I have referred numerous clients to the clinics in Oakland and North Side.”
Taskforce volunteers will be working with the mayor’s office to assist with reducing blight and placing properties with title issues back on the tax rolls in order to begin rebuilding neighborhoods. The taskforce will also be involved with educating the public on real property matters that are important to community residents, real estate investors, and prospective buyers of “problem” properties.
Albert said she also has also provided mentors to attorneys who work at the clinics on occasion.
“It just made sense to make CLA a Pro Bono Center member so that we can join forces to help expand legal services to the community,” she said. CLA also expands the volunteer opportunities that the Pro Bono Center can offer.
“In the way of volunteering, we have also discovered that one size does not fit all,” Albert said. “This offers another volunteer opportunity for ACBA lawyers who may be interested in serving in such a clinic setting.”
Langton said CLA can also be an asset, taking clients that other agencies, like Neighborhood Legal Services, cannot help. “I think it is actually going to be wonderful for both the Pro Bono Center and for us,” Langton said. “If Neighborhood Legal Services Association cannot help them, hopefully, we can fill the gaps.”
While the CLA’s name suggests a religious connection, the group works with clients of all faiths, Langton said.
“We service anyone,” she said. “If they are willing to come into a church building, we’ll help them.”
The group’s affiliation to Christianity stems from a common commitment to faith pledged by all of the CLA’s volunteers, Langton said. People who lend their time to work in the clinic are from a variety of faith, she said.
For more information about the clinic or to volunteer, contact Livia Langton at 412-622-0232, or clapittsburgh@yahoo.com. Volunteers, Langton said, are provided with training materials and have an opportunity to shadow another volunteer before working in the clinic.