The Reward Of Serving As A Saturday Lawyer Through AVLF

By: Jeffrey Blake, Partner, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP

My practice as an intellectual property attorney provides the opportunity to work on a variety of legal matters, but few opportunities are as rewarding as working in the Saturday Lawyer Program sponsored by the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation (AVLF). Atlanta’s legal community has a rich tradition of participation in pro bono matters, and AVLF is at the center of that tradition. The AVLF Saturday staff -- Michael Lucas, Tamara Caldas, Dionne Hines Morse, Tamara McClendon-Coleman, and JoQuita Etchison – all devote countless hours to AVLF’s various pro bono projects and helping those in need.

One of the AVLF’s most successful projects is the Saturday Lawyer Program, which is jointly sponsored by the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. I recently served as a volunteer Saturday Lawyer for a second time, and I’m a better lawyer for the experience. The AVLF staff members do a great job establishing a relationship with new clients and pre-screening them to determine the nature of their legal problems. Volunteer attorneys arrive on Saturday morning to a helpful training session and a chance to review the file of information gathered by the AVLF staff during pre-screening. Each volunteer attorney then meets with one or two clients with legal issues ranging from security deposit disputes to unpaid wages to illegal evictions. . These meetings offer clients a chance to tell their story, which often is the thing clients need most, and allow the volunteer attorney to explain the available legal options and potential next steps in enforcing the clients’ legal rights.

Once the legal options are discussed, a volunteer attorney determines if it makes sense for him or her to continue working with a client to pursue a matter on a pro bono basis. AVLF does not push volunteer attorneys to take the cases beyond their Saturday commitment, but most attorneys establish a rapport with a client that makes them want to take the case.

On the Saturday I volunteered, I was assigned to meet with Mr. C about his dispute with his landlord over the condition of his leased apartment. Mr. C and a roommate leased a two-bedroom apartment only to find the apartment in disrepair from the time they moved in and through the lease. Mr. C and his roommate reported numerous problems to the landlord, including backups in the sewage, excessive mold in the apartment, and non-functioning heating and air conditioning units. The landlord made very little effort to fix these problems, and Mr. C was forced to live in substandard conditions for much of the term of the lease. To make matters worse, Mr. C’s roommate moved out of the apartment during the middle of the lease.

Mr. C and the landlord became involved in a dispute over the condition of the property and the payment of the rent for the remainder of the lease. Mr. C located a new place to live and sought to terminate the existing lease. The landlord sought all of the remaining rent from Mr. C as a joint and severally liable tenant. Eventually, the landlord started eviction proceedings.

Mr. C, who is indigent, sought help from AVLF and the Saturday Lawyer Program. He was quite upset by the situation, but the AVLF staff reassured him that we would protect his legal rights. AVLF helped Mr. C collect the proper documents relating to his lease, and, after meeting with him on Saturday, I agreed to represent him in the eviction proceedings with his landlord. We were able to get the case into the Fulton County court’s mediation program, and, as a result of the mediation, the landlord agreed to let Mr. C out of his lease without any further rent payments. Mr. C was extremely happy with the outcome, and I was extremely happy to help someone who couldn’t otherwise afford a lawyer.

All of this was made possible by the Saturday Lawyer Program and the great staff at AVLF. The program is well-run and has any number of resources to help resolve the legal issues that arise. It helps build your client relationship skills and hone your skills at uncovering facts that will support your client’s ability to improve his/her position. Further, many cases offer the opportunity for attorneys to gain additional experience in a courtroom or in mediation. And, above all, my experience put a smile on both my client’s face and mine.

Everyone should take the opportunity to get involved in the Saturday Lawyer Program!

To learn more about the Saturday Lawyer Program, or to discuss volunteer opportunities, please contact Dionne Hines Morse at dmorse@avlf.org.