Legal Aid Orange County Fl

If you need legal assistance, please call our helpline on Monday and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Our helpline specialists will guide you through a short aptitude testing process. If you are eligible for our services, speak to a lawyer who will discuss your problem with you. Cases that require more than one telephone consultation are handled at local offices according to our case acceptance criteria. CLSMF offers free legal assistance to eligible clients. Our terms and conditions are based on where you live and whether you comply with certain guidelines described below. When you call the helpline, we will ask you questions to determine if you are eligible to receive our services. Appropriate legal aid is available to all eligible clients, regardless of race, age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, religion, creed, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, disabled veteran and/or Vietnamese-era veteran, or other features protected by federal, state, or local laws. The Legal Aid Society was founded in the early 1960s as a volunteer organization and was founded by lawyers who are members of the Orange County Bar Association.

Volunteer lawyers agreed to accept referrals in civil and criminal cases for residents who could not afford a lawyer. In 1967, the organization was officially founded in Florida as a non-profit organization under the name Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar Association, Inc. It hired its first manager and full-time employee and offered free civil law services. Currently, Legal Aid employs approximately 45 people, including 18 lawyers, and coordinates the time and cash contributions of over 3,000 volunteers – lawyers and non-lawyers. The primary goal of the Legal Services Society is to provide quality legal services to low-income residents, working poor, children and disadvantaged groups with special legal needs in Orange County, Florida, and to help provide legal aid services to like-minded residents of neighboring counties through an efficient and financially sound program through the joint efforts of staff and lawyers. Volunteers. Help. You can send us your request for legal assistance at any time by clicking here to complete an online application. You`ll need 15-30 minutes to answer all the app`s questions, and your app can`t be saved halfway, so plan accordingly.

To determine eligibility for our services, we will ask you questions about your household income. Please prepare with all documents regarding your legal issue. Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida (CLSMF) is the oldest and largest provider of free legal aid to low- and middle-income residents of Central Florida. Since 1966, we have provided legal advice and advocacy to help the people of Central Florida meet the basic needs of life: food, shelter, health care, safety, and education. If you believe you have been deprived of legal services or unlawfully discriminated against on the basis of any of the protected characteristics listed above, you may contact one of the following entities to file a complaint: Lawyers in a legal aid office provide the same legal services as all other lawyers. They can advise and represent you in most areas of civil law, although each program has priorities for the type of cases they will accept. If you have a civil law problem but can`t afford to hire a private lawyer, you can still access the legal system through your local legal advice and legal aid organization, which provides free or low-cost legal services to low-income people. Information on many of these local services can be found online at the websites listed below. In addition, legal aid firms generally do not deal with cases where a person asks for money as a settlement. In such cases, a private lawyer usually represents a client with no upfront costs and only charges a fee if the client`s case is won. Attorneys` fees are a percentage of the client`s compensation.

This is called contingency fees. CLSMF can help you with a variety of legal questions, including: Legal Aid remains a local program with centralized support from volunteers whose dedication allows it to provide civil law services primarily in Orange County. Legal Aid is particularly proud of its pro bono programs and one of them, the Guardian ad Litem program. Since the number of people using legal services exceeds the number of staff and money available to process cases, the CMHLC cannot handle all cases. Criminal cases are not dealt with because the State provides court-appointed lawyers to represent persons accused of criminal offences who cannot afford private lawyers. To receive free assistance, you must be eligible for services by complying with policies based primarily on income, wealth and household size. Generally, you are eligible if your income does not exceed 125% of the federal poverty income guidelines. In some counties and in some cases, domestic violence and elderly clients may not be subject to income guidelines. There are also different policies for residents of certain counties who seek help with mortgage foreclosure. Since its inception, the program has been located at various locations in downtown Orlando. In 1978, the Orange County Bar Association and Legal Aid purchased a building on North Orange Avenue.

In 1990, Legal Aid moved to its current location at the corner of Magnolia Avenue and Robinson Street. No, call your local public defender or ask the court to appoint a lawyer for you. Legal Aid welcomes contributions from the public as well as lawyers. We offer secure online donations through Acceptiva. We are a 501(c)3 organization and contributions are tax deductible. CLSMF can also assist with probate matters, including guardianship defence, wills, living wills, small estates and powers of attorney.