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As a nonprofit organization, Thurston County Volunteer Legal Service relies on volunteers to provide direct services to our clients. We welcome your time and your skills. Contact Us Today!
Attorneys
TCVLS promotes access to justice through volunteer attorneys. As a volunteer, you will help low income clients resolve their civil legal problems by providing them legal advice, information and, sometimes, direct representation. The benefits of volunteering include:
- real-time experience providing legal consultation,
- being mentored by our seasoned volunteer attorneys,
- networking opportunities with other lawyers in the community, and
- malpractice insurance that covers your volunteer practice,
- free monthly CLEs,
- pro bono hours that can count toward CLE requirements, and
- the satisfaction of leaving a valuable impact with the individuals and families you advise.
Don’t worry if you are not an expert in one of the areas we typically see — we use a model that provides on-site mentors at each clinic.
Attorneys who are well-versed in family law are encouraged to volunteer to be Mentors for our legal clinic. About 80% of the clients we see at legal clinics have family law issues.
You must be a member of the Washington State Bar Association in order to volunteer at our clinics.
To get started, download and email your completed application to coordinator@tcvls.org: Volunteer Attorney Application
LEGAL ADVICE CLINICS
Attorneys interview clients, identify issues, confer with a mentor and then give advice on a range of civil issues. You do not need to have expertise in the subject matter; the mentor will provide expertise. There are clinics in Olympia, Shelton, Aberdeen, and South Bend who would benefit from attorney volunteers. These clinics are held in the evenings.
On Friday mornings, volunteers for the Housing Justice Project represent low income clients on the Unlawful Detainer (eviction) calendar. This is a great experience in an ever-changing environment.
Please click HERE for information on our clinics.
DIRECT REPRESENTATION
Direct Representation goes beyond legal advice and includes negotiating, drafting letters and documents and/or providing in-court representation on behalf of a low income client. TCVLS volunteer attorneys do this for free. Representing those who are unable to provide their own legal representation can be a rewarding experience. We will work with you to find a mentor or other support if you find its needed when doing direct representation. TCVLS will also cover your malpractice insurance.
Find out more about TCVLS Direct Representation Initiative here!
Non-Attorneys
We also have volunteer opportunities for non-attorneys. Each of our clinics requires that clients go through an initial interview done by a non-attorney before they are seen by an attorney. The volunteer interviewer, called an Administrator, establishes income eligibility and gathers general information about the legal issue. The volunteer Administrator then presents the case to an attorney and provides support as needed.
To get started, download and email your completed application to coordinator@tcvls.org: Volunteer Administrator Application
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We would love to have you volunteer!
[icon type=”phone”] Please contact the Clinic Coordinator at:
(360) 915-7488 or
via e-mail here
For our records, we will need your name, address, telephone, fax, email, practice areas, volunteer interests and WSBA member number.
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