The Ins and Outs of Legal Aid Services in Lakeland, FL

What Exactly Is Legal Aid?

Legal aid is a term used to refer to the provision of legal assistance to individuals who are unable to afford an attorney. The precise scope of services can vary by organization, but legal aid attorneys typically offer representation in civil cases to individuals who meet income requirements and reside in the geographical area where the legal aid office is located. Notably, legal aid attorneys do not represent clients in criminal matters or provide legal services on a pro bono basis, as defined by Florida statutes.
The goal of legal aid is to make access to justice a reality for as many citizens as possible. Pro bono service is an important part of this vision, designed to obtain legal representation for clients when a legal aid attorney cannot take on a case . Pro bono lawyers accept cases after verifying that their clients are financially eligible.
Legal aid clients must have a financial need to receive legal representation from an agency like Bay Area Legal Services. In Florida, clients who earn approximately 125 percent of the federal poverty level may qualify. For many legal aid offices, this figure equates to a total annual income of just over $30,000 for an individual and $61,500 for a family of four. Depending on the issue at hand, other financial eligibility criteria may apply.
The income guidelines for eligibility typically change each year to reflect the fluctuations of the federal poverty level. A staff attorney will determine if applicants meet the criteria during the intake process.

Availability Of Legal Aid In Lakeland, Florida

For Lakeland, Florida residents seeking legal assistance, there are various legal aid services that offer help. One of the prominent organizations in Polk County that provides legal assistance is Florida Rural Legal Services. There are locations in Lakeland, Winter Haven, and Bartow. The agency offers short-term legal help on issues like eviction, divorce, and foreclosure. Other organizations that offer varying legal aid services include Florida Rural Legal Services, The Way 180, Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, and various local pro-bono commissions. Florida Rural Legal Services serves residents in Polk County, including Lakeland. At present, there are three locations, with one in the nearby city of Bartow. The agency provides residents with short-term legal assistance regarding issues such as immigration, foreclosure, domestic violence, and landlord/tenant conflicts. Its mission is to increase access to justice for low-income Floridians through the provision of legal services. The Way 180 specializes in providing legal assistance for runaway youths, homeless families, and victims of human trafficking. It helps as much as possible over the phone and hopes to start a similar service in Lakeland soon. It provides legal assistance in the following areas: The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis serves 16 counties, including Polk. Its legal aid services focus on employment discrimination and other civil rights-related matters. It doesn’t provide any social services but does connect clients who have pressing social needs with other agencies that offer social services. It also features the Atty Law Firm, which is comprised of professional lawyers volunteers to provide free case work, legal advice, and representation. It prohibits attorneys on its roster from directly billing clients and ensures legal advice is provided as part of the service.

Eligibility For Legal Aid In Lakeland

Legal aid services are available to those who cannot afford the services of an attorney. However, there are eligibility criteria that must be met to receive appropriate legal aid. For instance, your income must fall below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. A family of four, for example, must make less than $50,200 to qualify.
You also must be able to prove your financial need in order to qualify for legal aid. That generally means gathering all of your financial records. Your legal aid attorney will want to know how much you have in savings accounts and how much you have left over each month after you’ve paid your obligations.
Most income is considered when determining whether or not someone can qualify for legal services. For example, government assistance payments, such as Social Security, SSI and unemployment benefits, do not count against one’s ability to qualify. Otherwise, it’s a good idea to be as transparent as possible about your income.
It is important to note that not everyone who meets these financial requirements will qualify for pro bono legal services. Determining factors include how many people reside in your home, your housing situation and your relationship status.

Types Of Issues Handled By Legal Aid

Within the realm of legal aid services, there are certain areas of the law that legal aid attorneys manage more often than others. In Lakeland, FL and throughout Polk County, low-income residents have access to a diverse range of legal aid services. Among them, the following classes of legal issues tend to come up more frequently:
Family law
In many cases, legal aid services are played an essential role in helping families who need legal assistance. Most commonly, this assistance takes the form of help with divorce, custody and/or child support. In many cases, a divorce filed by a spouse with limited financial resources can take time to resolve. If the couple has children, for example, the associated custody and child support issues can create further complications and prolong the process.
Housing
Another class of legal issues frequently managed by legal aid services involves housing. Some of these cases may involve the challenge of securing affordable housing. However, even residents who are able to secure affordable housing may encounter difficulties. For example, they may be dealing with an aggressive landlord, or they may be facing eviction. In some cases, low-income residents must fight to keep their utilities turned on.
Health
Sometimes, the legal aid services provided to the residents of Lakeland, FL also involve health issues. These services span many aspects of health-related law. They include drafting wills, timelines for medical consent and guardianship. Sometimes, these issues overlap with family law matters.
Consumer
Sadly, financial exploitation is sometimes a risk that low-income residents face. In some cases, when a resident’s income is insufficient to cover the necessities, they may be arranged in loans with exorbitant interest rates. Other times, they may be victims of abusive collectors.
Criminal
Some of the most serious legal issues encountered by low-income residents are criminal in nature. In some cases, they may be involved in legal matters concerning their children. In the worst cases, low-income residents will face heavy sentences. Among other things, quality legal representation can be a matter of life and death.

How To Seek Legal Aid

Applying for legal aid in Lakeland, FL is a process designed to determine your eligibility and the type of assistance you need. Legal aid organizations in Florida, although different from standard legal services, require a number of steps. For residents in Polk County, getting legal aid in Lakeland is the same as anywhere else in Florida.
The first step is determining if you are eligible. All legal aid organizations have specific criteria, which prevents individuals who do not qualify from applying. For Polk County, FL, those interested must be either low income, elderly, or disabled. Of course, legal aid organizations take into consideration the potential impact of an individual’s situation. For example, the organization may accept a case even if it does not meet its standard income criteria. It may accept a case involving elder abuse even if the victim does not meet income guidelines.
Eligibility aside, the next step is to determine which legal aid organization best fits your needs. Residents looking for a Lakeland, FL family law attorney may not find help with an organization that provides trust and estate services. Along with basic qualification requirements , residents should also seek out organizations that provide legal aid services they need.
The third step in obtaining legal aid in Polk County, Florida is to fill out the application. Every legal aid organization has its own, but all applications require the same basic information:
Once you have this information, fill out the legal aid application for the organization you believe will best accommodate you. The application will provide you with the next step.
Once you submit your application, you will learn the next step for securing legal aid in Lakeland, FL. In most cases, an attorney or paralegal will contact you to discuss your situation and gather more information. They may also ask you to provide various documents. Detailed documentation is crucial to the process. Some organizations may ask you to provide tax returns, proof of government assistance, or other documentation. The goal is to prove eligibility to receive legal aid services.
Meet with your legal aid attorney once they contact you. If you are granted legal aid, you may meet with the lawyer at your home or at a nearby location. Your lawyer will provide counseling on your legal options and how to proceed with your case.

The Benefits Of Legal Aid

Lakeland legal aid is provided to those who cannot afford to be represented by hired counsel on any number of issues, such as immigration, child custody, divorce, bankruptcy, foreclosure, personal injury, and trafficking. These legal aid services have their own guidelines for determining whether or not to grant requested access. Legal aid means the statewide process of presenting an eligible applicant’s need for legal counsel to the appropriate agency or to a volunteer attorney through use of a telephone service or Face-to-Face interview. The applicant is provided with the names and addresses of such agencies and volunteer attorneys upon request. An eligible applicant is one meeting state agency criteria, and who is in need of the services of counsel in order to enforce or protect his or her rights under the law. Representation shall include, at a minimum, the provision of assistance by a qualified individual prior to, or at the time of, judicial proceedings which may result in loss or deprivation of liberty, property, or the opportunity to work or to obtain services which are necessary to avoid hardship, danger, or physical suffering. The Florida Bar Foundation, a non-profit corporation headquartered in Orlando, awards interest on lawyers’ trust accounts (IOTA) grants to local programs that deliver civil legal aid. With the help of more than 3,200 volunteer attorneys, these programs serve the more than 90,800 needy people who call them each year. In addition, grants go to law schools for clinical law assistance and to non-profit organizations to increase access to the courts. Legal Aid service provides competent and experienced professional legal advice. Whether it is for a meeting with a Lakeland lawyer or an online correspondence with a Lakeland attorney, it saves you from the trouble of finding a good attorney. In most cases a legal aid lawyer is much cheaper compared to a private lawyer.

Challenges To Legal Aid Providers

In Lakeland, FL, legal aid organizations and special-purpose law firms often try to do what they can to fill the gaps in civil services, although they like to have clients who meet their eligibility criteria. The national average for the percentage of clients that qualify for services at a legal aid nonprofit is 20%. In Lakeland, that number can be less than 10%.
Through the Florida Code of Ethics, created by the Florida Bar Association, legal aid services are encouraged – but not required – to accept clients with a good case, even if the client does not meet the general requirements. By following the rule, legal aid services can be established on an ethical footing, and the attorneys and staff are more likely to successfully advocate for their clients.
More than 90% of agencies that provide legal aid services to low-income people in the United States are non-profit organizations. They may charge clients small fees, such as costs for copies or filing fees, as they see fit, but they generally do not charge hourly or flat fees for their services. Most of these providers are unable to meet the needs of all clients, which leads legal resource centers to prioritize cases involving housing, domestic violence, consumer matters, unlawful discrimination, education, public health, and income security.
The other 10% of legal aid options are special-purpose firms, and while these businesses have the same ethical obligations and the same restrictions on charging fees, they may have special exemptions for providing services to particular clients. These clients tend to be large, multinational corporations, cities, or other large law firms. Because many of the large firms in the area already provide pro bono services, there tends to be little competition in the Lakeland area. Still, providers struggle to get funding, which means that their services are limited to pro bono work that ranges from legal consultation to full representation.

The Success Stories Of Legal Aid

Maria had been struggling for months to keep her home. As a single mother of two children, she found herself fighting against a difficult landlord who had refused to make necessary repairs and had threatened eviction when the rent was due. She learned about our Lakeland office through a friend, who also received assistance from Legal Aid of Manasota. Maria called our office, and after conducting a brief screening, she was referred to an experienced attorney who agreed to take her case for free.
With attorney representation, Maria was able to reach an agreement with her landlord, forcing him to fix the property and assuring her that he would not evict her without proper notice and opportunity to respond. Her kids are now much happier and more stable at home. She still enjoys living in her house, and her neighborhood has noticeably improved. It even seems her relationship with her landlord has improved , as he continues making repairs to the house as needed. Maria says she feels much safer in her home than before.
Richard is a two-time Iraqi war veteran who found himself homeless when his wife left him and took their three children. He was desperate for a new place for himself and his kids to live. Fortunately, Richard contacted us and spoke with staff attorney Ellen Robinson, who handles housing law and works out of our Sarasota office. Ellen was able to help Richard find an apartment for him and his children. Richard was then fortunate to be selected for a VSO (Veteran’s Stand Down) event where he received two months of free hotel accommodations.
Based on this success, Richard went to Veterans Counseling and Benefits, where he applied for benefits for himself and all three of his children. Richard was pleased to report that he has begun regularly receiving more than $1,000 a month in benefits. He currently pays $900 a month in rent, manages to reserve at least $100 for food, and has money for his transportation and daily living expenses. Due to the continuity of care he receives from LLS, Richard feels he will continue getting the assistance he needs to support himself and his kids.