For client information, please visit Community Legal Services’ Free Legal Assistance page.
Program Overview
The Neighborhood Legal Clinics (NLC) began in 1973 when three young and energetic attorneys open the first clinic at the Country Doctor Medical Clinic in the Capital Hill neighborhood of Seattle.
Now, over 500 volunteer attorneys and 150 non-attorneys assist over 7,500 people per year by providing individual sessions of advice and consultation.
Volunteer Positions, Expectations, and Commitment
Program wide, the top three issues seen at the clinics are Family Law (30%), Consumer/Finance and Bankruptcy (20%), and Housing-Landlord/Tenant (10%).
In a typical two hour shift, NLC attorneys will be scheduled to meet with 4 to 6 clients for up to 30 minutes each.
NLC attorneys provide “legal triage” by helping a client determine:
- Do they have a legal issue?
- What are their goals?
- What is the best path to achieving those goals?
- What is the reality of achieving those goals through the legal system?
- Is there an agency, self-help resource or attorney that may assist the client further?
No further follow-up with clients is required, though Clinic Attorneys may provide additional assistance if desired. Clients who are making progress in resolving their issue pro se and may require additional clinic assistance may return though they will not be scheduled to see the same attorney.
Volunteers are placed at a clinic and enter into a schedule rotation with other volunteers at that clinic. Most clinics schedule volunteers on a quarterly basis. Clinics are two hours in length and volunteers generally work one clinic shift every 4 to 8 weeks. Volunteers may participate at more than one clinic. We ask for a one year minimum commitment.
Specialty Clinic Attorneys: Attorneys with experience in high demand areas. Attorneys with experience in certain areas of practice that are in high demand are placed in specialty clinics in the areas of family law, elder law, bankruptcy, immigration, federal court civil rights, and community-based non-profit organizations. There are also specialty clinics focused on serving particular non-English speaking communities including Spanish, Korean and other Asian languages. The program does not have the capability to train or mentor attorneys in substantive areas of law that will enable them to volunteer at a specialty clinic.
General Clinic Attorneys: Attorneys with other specialties. Attorneys who do not have specialties in the areas listed above under “specialty clinic attorneys” are placed in general clinics. Attorneys at general clinics will also see some of the above legal issues along with a mix of consumer/contract claims, employment, landlord/tenant disputes, torts/PI, small claims, traffic infractions and more. The program does not have the capability to train or mentor attorneys in substantive areas of law that will enable them to volunteer at a specialty clinic.
Clinic Assistants: Law students, paralegal students, paralegals, or non-attorneys working in the legal field. Clinic assistant volunteers are placed at a legal clinic to greet clients when they arrive, help with client intake, regulate the flow of the clinic’s schedule, answer clinic-related questions, track statistics and assist attorneys and clients with resource materials that may help them further. This position is administrative.
Clinic Interpreters: Certified interpreters in languages spoken by clinic clients. Interpreters of various languages are used at a variety of clinics on an as-needed basis. Spanish interpreters are needed on a regular rotation at the Bilingual Spanish & Immigration clinics on Wednesday evenings in downtown Seattle. Legal and/or professional interpreting experience is required. Contact Victoria at CLS@KCBA.org or 206.267.7100 for more information.
Training and Support
The program hosts an NLC Volunteer Training and CLE typically twice a year on a Friday every March and September. There is currently a surplus of General Clinic Attorneys so the Program Manager keeps a placement list. Because of the broad nature of legal issues that may present at the general clinics, potential attorneys there must attend this training to receive placement. All potential volunteers on the placement list will receive an invitation to this training via email. CLE credit is available for this training. A video can also be checked out from the Program Manager; however, taking the live training is strongly encouraged. There is a waitlist for the video.
Once a placement is open for a volunteer and the volunteer has accepted that offer, the Program Manager will schedule an observation shift at the placement clinic, usually scheduled with the Clinic Coordinator.
Because the need for specialized services is great, Specialty Clinic Attorneys may receive priority in placement. Currently, NLC does not have training or mentoring capability to bring attorneys without existing specialties (family law, elder law, bankruptcy, immigration, civil rights) up to speed to volunteer at the specialty clinics.
The Neighborhood Legal Clinics also holds an Issue Spotting for Pro Se Clinic Clients CLE Training Series for Volunteers (CLE credit available) on a variety of substantive topics that are commonly seen at the clinics. These are usually held on Friday mornings for 3.5 hours in downtown Seattle. These trainings are free to all KCBA volunteers and available by teleconference – check the training list for registration needs. These trainings are separate from the NLC Volunteer Training & CLE mentioned in the previous paragraph.
Resource materials are available at the clinics for use by volunteers. These include RCWs, Washington Lawyers Practice Manuals, and Court Rules along with various pamphlets and handouts. Some clinics have Internet access.
All volunteers are required to read the NLC Clinic Manual. Volunteers are given a hard copy of the Clinic Manual at the NLC Volunteer Training and CLE.
To view up-coming training opportunities with this and other programs, visit the Free Trainings for Volunteers page.
Benefits of Volunteering
NLC is a discreet volunteer opportunity allowing busy professionals to make a valuable contribution to the community, gain practical skills, and earn CLE credits. NLC volunteers enjoy the rewarding experience of helping community members who otherwise would not have access to legal advice or representation and who are often confused about their options and overwhelmed by the complexity of the legal system.
Volunteering provides a forum for networking with other professionals, building client interaction skills, and gaining confidence in fielding a variety of substantive legal questions.
Additionally, attorneys can earn Continuing Legal Education credit for the initial CLE as well as for pro bono activity in the same calendar year as the CLE.
In addition to the malpractice insurance maintained by a volunteer and/or their firm (which serves as the volunteer's primary insurance), KCBA provides volunteers with secondary malpractice insurance for all clinic work.
Ready to volunteer?
Contact Rebecca Fogarty, the NLC Program Manager at CLS@KCBA.org or 206-267-7029 and indicate areas of practice or specialty, 2nd language skills, and clinics where you would consider placement. If you are a general clinic attorney and would like faster placement, it is best to be broad in your placement consideration. You will then be put on the placement list. Your next contact from the program staff will be several months later in the form of an invitation to the next scheduled training, which is sent via email to everyone on the placement list. Placement for general clinic attorneys may take up to one year.
To view up-coming training opportunities with this and other programs, visit the Free Trainings for Volunteers page.
The purpose of the Neighborhood Legal Clinics program (NLC) is to offer free, limited legal advice and referrals to King County residents and those Washington state residents with legal matters in King County who might otherwise have no access to the legal system. It is the goal of the program to make the clinics accessible regardless of a person’s disability or lack of fluency in spoken English.