What is Legal Aid
For many residents in Huntsville, access to legal representation is a luxury often dreamed about than actually achieved. The unfortunate truth is that the American legal system can be an intricate web of complexities and challenges, especially for those who lack formal legal training. That’s where legal aid comes into the picture — the savior for countless low-income individuals in need of essential legal assistance.
So, what exactly is legal aid? Legal aid services are organizations that provide free or low-cost legal support to individuals who cannot afford to hire a lawyer. With federal funding cuts further straining government resources, legal aid services across the United States are essential for protecting low-income people from civil injustices and constitutional violations.
Legal aid services help the most vulnerable people in our society navigate complex legal matters, such as housing, income maintenance, domestic violence, and immigration issues. Most legal aid services focus on specific areas of law, as well as particular geographic locations. Notably, there is often a strict income cap for those who need to seek help from legal aid services , which is further categorized based on the number of family members being considered when calculating household income levels.
In Huntsville, as the city continues to grow, there have been more efforts to increase the availability of legal aid services to those who need it. Legal aid can be extremely valuable for those with civil cases, as lawyers typically do not represent people in these matters pro bono. Citizens can choose to represent themselves in civil cases, but the outcome is not always in their favor. A strong legal representation is crucial when it comes to achieving a favorable outcome in civil court cases, so a bit of professional advice or legal assistance may go a long way.
Being denied benefits, living in unsafe or unsanitary housing, being a victim of domestic violence, or being forced into immigration proceedings are just a few situations in Huntsville in which having legal representation could be critical to proving a case. While a well-crafted online search for "Huntsville legal Aid services" will likely bring forth a series of results, the comprehensive guide below will help you determine if legal aid services are right for you and how to navigate the complexities of accessing them.
Who is Eligible for Legal Aid in Huntsville?
Eligibility for legal aid varies widely by jurisdiction, and in Huntsville, eligibility is determined by income needs as well as the type of services required. Community Legal Services Alabama (CLSA) is the nonprofit legal aid group that provides Huntsville residents with civil legal advice and representation at no cost. CLSA also serves residents in 11 other counties—Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Calhoun, Clanton, Dallas, Escambia, Franklin, and Marshall.
Over the years, CLSA has served thousands and thousands of low-income residents, with $2.6 million worth of legal aid services in the past year alone. These services included 3,155 cases focused on family law, housing, consumer rights, public benefits, immigration, child support, and elder law.
Most importantly, to be eligible for Huntsville legal aid services, your income needs to meet CLSA’s poverty level guidelines as set forth by the US Department of Health and Human Services. According to the 2019 HHS poverty guidelines, a family unit of one in Alabama needs to have an income less than $12,490 in order to qualify for legal aid, while a family unit of four needs to earn less than $25,750. These amounts increase slightly on an annual basis. The guidelines increase by $4,720 for each additional household member up to a maximum of eight. While income is the primary factor in determining eligibility for CLSA legal aid services, you must also be facing a legal problem that CLSA accepts. Realty work, bankruptcy, and criminal law are all areas of law that CLSA does not provide assistance in.
Huntsville Legal Aid Cases They Take
Huntsville legal aid serves a wide range of cases, predominantly focusing on civil actions. As civil cases do not involve the risk of conviction or prison time – just legal penalties such as injunctions, property repossession and monetary damages – clients are only sporadically referred to Huntsville legal aid by the criminal court system. Instead of convictions, most Huntsville legal aid clients have broken homes, unresolved injuries and outstanding warrants. Family law cases dominate Huntsville legal aid. Groups such as Legal Services Alabama handle many cases within this area. Divorce, child custody and child support are some of the most common case types. Domestic violence is unfortunately common as well. Victims of domestic violence can receive protection orders in the form of full injunctions or temporary restraining orders. With the help of Huntsville legal aid, victims of domestic violence can dissolve abusive relationships through divorce action, arrange supervised visitation with their children and obtain the financial support necessary to make a fresh start after abuse. Housing cases also feature prominently in the Huntsville legal aid system. Housing issues such as eviction and foreclosure arise frequently in the low- and fixed-income population. Without the assistance of Huntsville legal aid, those who suffer from an inability to pay cannot access their Fair Housing rights. Without access to Fair Housing rights, the poor are easily victimized by abusive landlords and lenders. Huntsville legal aid helps these victims recover their homes through housing litigation. Employment disputes also feature prominently for Huntsville legal aid clients. Huntsville legal aid organizations such as Legal Services Alabama are experienced in dealing with a variety of common employment disputes. Unpaid overtime is a common issue. Employees who work long hours for low pay need to pursue unpaid compensation in order to survive. Legal Services Alabama’s Huntsville office is eager to assist clients who have been denied overtime pay. Other issues arising from employment include employee misclassification, discrimination and harassment. For a fee, Huntsville legal aid lawyers will file charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and they can provide clients with representation in Court. Since Huntsville legal aid operates on a sliding scale, people who seek legal help but have struck out with the public defenders’ office should give Huntsville legal aid a try. Huntsville legal aid often lacks long wait lists and it can act in cases that the public defender would be unable to handle.
Legal Aid Options in Huntsville
The Alabama State Bar is committed to ensuring that all individuals can find and use legal aid. The Legal Aid Center, a service of the Alabama State Bar, is responsible for a statewide, toll-free legal aid line, as well as the on-site providers listed below.
Please be aware that while the Alabama State Bar makes every effort to maintain current information on the organizations listed below, the bar cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information and does not endorse any listed organizations. Please feel free to contact the organizations directly for more information.
ALS seeks the successful passage of fair and just laws enforced in a fair and impartial manner for all people, particularly for those who are the most vulnerable and marginalized. These include people who are in poverty, people who are discriminated against on the basis of race, ethnicity, language or other status, people who experience disabilities, and victims of domestic violence and other crimes, including trafficking, etc.
533 Washington St.
Huntsville, AL 35801
Phone: (256) 539-2275
ALS provides law services to the low-income communities in our 11-county Huntsville Region (Colbert , Franklin, Lauderdale, Limestone, Lawrence, Madison, Morgan, Winston, Jackson, Marshall and DeKalb counties) and in their 3 partnering counties (Cullman, Cherokee and Calhoun). ALS also serves counties in the Shoals for mobile clinics and events.
855-456-3910
The Mobile County Bar Association created the Mobile County Lawyer Referral Service to provide access to competent, responsible attorneys who are in private practice. Participating attorneys have agreed to provide a half-hour office consultation to clients for up to $50; additional time may be charged at the normal rate of the attorney. This program is available only for persons with a legal problem and not for persons with a legal question. Each legal problem is referred to only one attorney.
828 Adams St.
Huntsville, AL 35805
Phone: (256) 851-0000
The Legal Services Alabama Huntsville Office provides free civil (non criminal) legal assistance in the categories of family law (including domestic violence cases) and housing, as well as referral services for other issues. The Office also operates two rural programs (Franklin and Marshall counties) for free civil legal assistance.
Advice for Legal Aid Attorneys
Advice for Working with Legal Aid Attorneys
Client Relationships: Client-initiated cases are times the attorneys are faced with their most challenging and the most gratifying of cases. Basically the attorneys maximize their chances of success through a solid attorney-client relationship. There are several aspects of the relationship that can have a great impact on the outcome of the case. Most importantly, client should be aware that his/her attorney is likely to "own" the case, so client might find it difficult to make decisions without consultation with the attorney and client might find it surprising that some decisions he/she makes may be overruled by the attorney. All information about the case must come through the attorney and not the attorney’s staff. Personal information, for example, should not be discussed with the staff. The attorney-client relationship is one based on trust. The attorney must trust the client to tell the truth; for instance, to disclose any criminal record or lies made in court. Clients should not hide the truth from their attorney because the attorney will find out eventually (as is always the case) this will endanger the case and perhaps the attorney-client relationship. Clients should also never sign documents (by understanding and agreeing to the content) without discussing it with the attorney. Because the attorney must understand the full content of the document before signing, clients must understand that the attorney does not want to be told by the client to sign without prior review of the document. When clients are not true to their attorney, the attorney can no longer own the case. At this point, the case is doomed, and someone other than the client must be held responsible.
Lawyer Relationships: Legal Aid can provide the client with a number of attorneys during the course of his/her case; however, it is very important to maintain a good relationship with the client’s primary (case) attorney. These client relationships are as important to the case and the attorneys as are the client-attorney relationships. All communication and information should come through the primary attorney and not through the others. Clients’ other attorneys should be encouraged to work through the primary attorney. Sharing all information makes the primary attorney’s job easier. If the primary attorney leaves the agency, the client should request that any other attorneys involved with the case forward all information to the new primary attorney. If the client changes addresses or phone numbers, these must be shared with the primary attorney. Any information that the client may discuss with his/her attorney needs to be communicated to the primary attorney to allow the attorney to have the best chance of success. Conflicts of interest need to be avoided. In the case of an attorney in a multiple-attorney household, there needs to be sufficient space in the house hold so that the attorneys can keep their cases separate. On the surface, the case should be understood to be the primary attorney’s and that attorney’s assistant (if one has been assigned). To avoid conflicts in representation and potential waiver of confidentiality, if the household leather is unable to maintain sufficient separation, then separate counsel should be sought.
In addition to nurturing the client-attorney relationship, legal aid employees must also maintain a good working relationship with legal aid attorneys. Legal aid attorneys are officers of the court and must be treated with courtesy and respect, as should judges and court personnel.
Huntsville Legal Aid Alternatives
While legal aid services have a specific place in the legal system, sometimes those who seek legal assistance do not meet the necessary criteria to qualify for legal aid. Fortunately, in Huntsville there are other resources available to help provide the legal support you need.
Pro Bono Services
Many legal professionals voluntarily participate in the pro bono system and take on cases for free or significantly reduced fees. For citizens of Huntsville, Alabama who qualify, this may mean that you can set an appointment for a case evaluation and some legal assistance. The Alabama State Bar keeps a comprehensive list of local and statewide pro bono services for you to review. An attorney may also advise you on whether they can accommodate you on a pro bono basis .
Legal Clinics
For those seeking legal assistance or representation but who have been ineligible for legal aid, legal clinics may be a good resort. Organized by practice area, these clinics can connect you with lawyers experienced in your specific issue. Clinics may be held at various venues throughout Huntsville, but are often in or near the courthouse. A lawyer will see you for a brief consultation in exchange for a small fee, usually under $20.
Organization-Specific Services
For persons with disabilities, low income, limited English proficiency, or other special needs, there may be other options for legal assistance. The General Practice Section of the Alabama State Bar offers lists of organizations providing free or reduced-cost legal services in Huntsville, including domestic violence shelters, disability and healthcare centers, and non-profits.