For 50 years, Neighborhood Legal Clinics have provided free limited legal advice and consultation on civil legal matters to the King County community. We are urgently recruiting attorney and non-attorney volunteers to help meet the high demand for free legal services.
Volunteering with NLC is simple — most volunteers take two 2-hour shifts per quarter — and the impact on our clients is immense. Our volunteers come from diverse backgrounds: from newly admitted attorneys to those with 30 years’ practice experience, as well as students and community members. No experience in civil legal aid is required!
We asked current volunteers why they enjoy working with the NLC program — see their thoughts in the surrounding quotes. Overall: In addition to the inherent rewards of volunteering, NLC offers free CLE credits to attorney volunteers, networking opportunities, and a flexible volunteer environment.
Interested in getting involved? Just submit a KCBA Pro Bono Volunteer application (link below), select Neighborhood Legal Clinics as your program of interest, and we’ll reach out to you with more information about available clinic placements and training materials.
KCBA Pro Bono Volunteer Application: https://www.kcba.org/?pg=Volunteer-Application
Questions? Email NLC Program Manager Devon Stark at DevonS@kcba.org.
Here’s what our current volunteers say about working with NLC:
The legal world is not easy to navigate so I’ve always seen the guidance that our Neighborhood Legal Clinic volunteers offer as not only a great starting point to finding legal answers, but also a gift to our communities. —Tami Hamalian, Clinic Coordinator & Clinic Assistant Volunteer, 19 years of service
I volunteer because I am incredibly privileged to be able to give back. The practice of law has given me so much, and volunteering at the NLC is just a small way that I can help individuals who are in need of legal assistance. The time commitment is minimal when compared with the impact we can have on our clients. —Abbey McMahon, Attorney Volunteer, 18 years of service
I am a lawyer from India, pursuing a Masters of Law in the United States. I started volunteering with NLC to use the opportunity to learn more about the groundwork of the legal system here, identify the major problems prevalent with most of the individuals and hopefully create an impactful career path for myself. I believe everyone should volunteer as much to build a sense of belongingness towards our community. —Ayushi Bharti, LLM Candidate 2024
Volunteering at NLC is a great way to “give back,” leverage your training and experience towards a place that can really use it, and of course log some CLE credits. I also like the flexibility of the Clinic working around my workload and travel out of the area. —Jeffrey Mirsepasy, Attorney Volunteer, 16 years of service
Mr. Rogers perhaps best explained why I have volunteered almost weekly with NLC for two decades…”When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news,” my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” —Michael Goldenkranz, Attorney Volunteer, 20 years of service
The NLC provides me the opportunity to provide meaningful assistance outside of my normal practice to folks that need it. —Ashton Rezayat, Attorney Volunteer, 5 years of service
As a pre-law student, I feel privileged to gain an opportunity to be a part of a Pro Bono experience as the one offered by NLC and would encourage those who are especially looking to make a career in Law one day. Volunteering at an in-person clinic has allowed me to witness the complexity of everyday problems intertwined with legal issues and solutions which has been incredibly insightful, allowing me to expand my knowledge further. Most importantly, I feel strongly that handling client relationships should be met with empathy while guiding your client to make the most educated and beneficial decision at hand, which is exactly what I have seen taking place at NLC. —Japnoor Sandhu, Clinic Assistant Volunteer, 1 year of service
Clients are so thankful to have someone available just to hear what they are struggling with even if there is not an easy legal solution. I enjoy tackling a wide variety of legal issues that I am never exposed to in my daily job. You get to quickly find solutions to real life challenges. —Michael Hemker, Attorney Volunteer, 11 years of service
As my career has pivoted from legal practice to EdTech entrepreneurship, I find volunteering a helpful way to maintain my client counseling skills. It also keeps me grounded and reminds me of why I went to law school. In some small way, I can help with the real struggles of everyday people. —Juliet Jones-Vlasceanu, Attorney Volunteer, 16 years of service
Volunteering with the NLC program helps a lot of people in our county. It’s a great way to join with others in the local legal community to help people access legal help. — Sarah Staff, Clinic Assistant Volunteer, 15 years of service
The Neighborhood Legal Clinics help clients get their lives back on track. Clients leave feeling better than when they came in. I’m glad I can be a part of that. I believe that all of us have a responsibility to give back to the community in whatever ways we can. —Carol L. Johnson, Attorney Volunteer, 20 years of service
Volunteering with the NLC provides me with the opportunity to help those in need access and analyze critical legal resources. As volunteers, we listen to people who might not otherwise have someone to listen to them—and do our best to guide them through the complex legal system. —Rachael Lipinski, Attorney Volunteer, 4 years of service
