Free and Low Cost
Legal Resources
in Virginia
A guide for helping
low- and modest-income Virginians
obtain legal services
Facts about the Justice Gap
in Virginia
• The Justice Gap has been defined as the dierence between the level of
legal assistance available and the level that is necessary to meet the needs of
poor Americans.
• Over 80 percent of the civil legal needs of the poor in Virginia and
nationwide go unmet.
• Individuals who are represented by counsel are twice as likely to have a
favorable outcome versus those who are unrepresented.
• One in eight Virginians (approximately one million Virginians) is eligible for
free legal services from Virginia’s legal aid programs; however, there are not
enough legal aid lawyers to provide representation – fewer than 140 legal
aid lawyers.
• There is one legal aid lawyer per 7,237 poor people in Virginia vs. one lawyer
per 349 Virginians.
The Right to Counsel
The Sixth Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees the rights of criminal
defendants, including the right “to have the assistance of counsel for his
defense.” Although the US Supreme Court held in Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
that there is a constitutional right to court appointed counsel for indigent
defendants in criminal proceedings, there is no right to a free lawyer for low-
and modest-income parties in civil actions. Such actions include:
• securing or maintaining custody of their children,
• maintaining safe and habitable housing,
• obtaining protection from abusive relationships,
• securing access to critical health care, and
• receiving disability payments.
Lawyers are not required to do pro bono work. Unfortunately, too often litigants
are forced to represent themselves.
Options for Legal Assistance
by Counsel
1
Licensed Legal Aid Organizations
There are nine legal aid programs serving Virginia. These programs help
low-income families and individuals maintain the basics of life: income,
shelter, food, health care, education, and family stability and range in
size from eight employees to eighty. Volunteer lawyers also assist these
organizations through pro bono programs. Please contact your local
legal aid oce for more information about the services oered and types
of cases handled. You may also call 1-866-LEGLAID (1-866-534-5243) to
reach your local legal aid oce.
• Blue Ridge Legal Services – (540) 433-1830. Provides free civil legal
assistance to low-income residents of the Shenandoah Valley and Roanoke
Valley of Virginia; main oce in Harrisonburg, oces in Winchester,
Lexington, and Roanoke.
• Central Virginia Legal Aid Society – (804) 200-6046 or (804) 648-1012.
Provides free civil legal assistance to low-income people who live in, or have
legal problems arising in, Richmond, Petersburg, Hopewell, Colonial Heights,
and Charlottesville and the counties of Albemarle, Charles City, Chesterfield,
Dinwiddie, Fluvanna, Goochland, Greene, Hanover, Henrico, Louisa, Nelson,
New Kent, Powhatan, Prince George, and Surry; main oce in Richmond,
oces in Petersburg and Charlottesville.
• Legal Aid Works (formerly Rappahannock Legal Services) – (540) 371-1105.
Provides free civil legal assistance to low-income residents; main oce in
Fredericksburg with additional oces in Culpeper and Tappahannock.
• Legal Aid Justice Center – (434) 977-0553. Provides assistance with critical
legal problems for low-income individuals and communities through zealous
individual representation, group and class litigation, community organizing,
policy advocacy, and media relations; main oce in Charlottesville, oces in
Richmond, Petersburg, and Falls Church.
• Legal Aid Society of Eastern Virginia – (757) 627-5423. Provides free
civil legal services to low-income residents of Accomack, Chesapeake,
Gloucester, Hampton, James City, Mathews, Middlesex, Newport News,
Norfolk, Northampton, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg,
and Yorktown; main oce in Norfolk, oces in Hampton, Virginia Beach,
Belle Haven, and Williamsburg.
• Legal Aid Society of Roanoke Valley – (540) 344-2088. Provides free civil
legal assistance to low-income residents of the Roanoke Valley, including a
full range of legal services in select cases; in Roanoke.
• Legal Services of Northern Virginia – (703) 778-6800. Provides free legal
services to people living in the following cities and counties: Arlington
County, Alexandria, Falls Church, Manassas, Fairfax County, Loudon County,
Prince William County, Herndon, Manassas Park, Vienna, and limited legal
services to low-income residents of Caroline, Culpeper, Essex, Fauquier,
King & Queen, King William, Lancaster, Madison, Northumberland, Orange,
Rappahannock, Richmond, Spotsylvania, Staord, and Westmoreland
Counties; main oce in Falls Church, with oces in Arlington, Alexandria,
Fairfax, Leesburg, and Manassas.
• Southwest Virginia Legal Aid – (888) 201-2772. Provides free civil legal
services to low-income families in seventeen counties and four small cities
in southwestern Virginia; main oce in Marion, with oces in Castlewood
and Christiansburg.
• Virginia Legal Aid Society – (434) 455-3080. Provides free civil legal
services to low-income residents in twenty counties and six cities in Central,
Southside, and Western Tidewater Virginia; main oce in Lynchburg, oces
in Danville, Farmville, and Suolk.
2
Independent Pro Bono Legal Services Providers
• Legal Information Network for Cancer (LINC ) provides legal, financial, and
community resources to individuals confronted with issues arising from the
diagnosis and treatment of cancer. (804) 562-0371 ext 101
• Virginia Bar Association (VBA) assists Virginia service members getting
ready to deploy or returning from deployment find an attorney to assist
with their legal services needs on a pro bono or reduced fee basis.
(804) 644-0041
• Whitman-Walker Health provides free legal services to people living with
HIV/AIDS and members of the LGBT community with public benefits,
immigration, wills/powers of attorney/healthcare directives, and debt
collection matters. (202) 939-7627
• Hogar Immigrant Services oers immigration legal assistance at a reduced
rate. Hogar also hosts naturalization workshops every month. At each
workshop, members of the Hogar legal team, as well as trained attorneys
and non-attorney volunteers, assist eligible legal permanent residents (LPRs)
with naturalization applications. (703) 534-9805 or (571) 208-1572
• Just Neighborsprovides immigration legal services to low-income
immigrants in the northern Virginia area.Clients must make 200 percent or
less of federal poverty guidelines and must live in northern Virginia to qualify
for services.Just Neighbors has a special emphasis on humanitarian-based
immigration cases and does not handle: removal/deportation cases, asylum
cases, and family-based petitions.Clients interested in their services may be
screened by calling (703) 979-1240, Tuesday – Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
• CAIR Coalition (Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights) provides legal assistance
for detained immigrants – both adults and children – in the DC metropolitan
area, as well as training and support for immigrant advocacy groups and
service providers. (202) 331-3320
• Community Tax Law Project provides free legal help to low-wage families
and individuals with tax issues. (804) 358-5855
• Fairfax Law Foundation (Northern Virginia Pro Bono Law Center) assists
residents of Fairfax County and Northern Virginia nonprofits.
• Good Samaritan Advocates is a faith-based legal aid organization providing
free legal assistance to low-income individuals in the greater Washington,
DC, area. (703) 534-5740, ext. 524 (Fairfax County) and (703) 404-5034
(Loudon County)
• Greater Richmond Bar Foundation seeks to expand public access to the
justice system in central Virginia by facilitating the delivery of pro bono
legal services and service projects. Through its programs, GRBF helps the
Central Virginia region with its priority needs for pro bono services and
helps connect lawyers with pro bono clients. Two of GRBF’s pro bono
programs are Justice Server, a case management and referral system that
enables private attorneys to accept and work on pro bono cases from
their own computers, and the Pro Bono Clearinghouse, a referral service
linking volunteer attorneys with nonprofit organizations in need of legal
representation on a variety of transactional matters. (804) 780-2600
• Drive to Work assists qualifying low-income and previously incarcerated
persons to restore driving privileges so they can drive to work and hold
a job. Legal and other services are provided by attorneys. Clients pay an
administrative fee to cover part of the cost. (804) 358-6727; (877) 358-6727
(Toll Free)
• Hunton & Williams Church Hill Richmond Office provides pro bono
services to financially limited persons. For a modest fee, which the firm
donates to charity, the Church Hill oce oers legal services in family law
(uncontested divorce, adoptions, name changes), housing and real estate
(landlord-tenant and housing issues), and guardianships. (804) 775-2248
• Hunton & Williams Charlottesville Office provides free legal services
to low-income Charlottesville area victims of domestic violence and to
immigrants seeking asylum from persecution in their country of origin. (434)
220-3111
For information about other independent pro bono legal services providers,
please visit the Pro Bono/Access to Legal Services pages on the Virginia State Bar
website, http://www.vsb.org/site/pro_bono/resources-for-the-public.
3
Virginia Lawyer Referral Service
The Virginia Lawyer Referral Service, or VLRS, is the Virginia State Bar’s
consumer service department that connects the public with Virginia
lawyers based on specific practice of law and geographic Virginia
locations. If you have a concern that may require the services of a lawyer,
please call the VLRS. There is a $35 fee for the initial, thirty-minute
consultation, during which you may obtain information on your legal
options and discuss terms for possible representation. (800) 552-7977,
nationwide and Canada; (804) 775-0808, Richmond Metropolitan Area;
(804) 775-0502 Telecommunications Device for the Hearing Impaired.
4
Virginia.freelegalanswers.org
https://Virginia.freelegalanswers.org, is an online pro bono question and
answer website where low- and modest-income Virginians may post a
civil law question and receive an e-mail response from a Virginia lawyer.
Users have convenient, 24 hours a day, 365 days per year access to
lawyers from anywhere they have web access, such as their smartphone
or a public library.
Options for Self-Represented Litigants
• Virginia Judicial System Self-Help Website, http://selfhelp.vacourts.gov/,
provides neutral legal information in topical areas commonly sought by
self-represented litigants, such as trac tickets, divorce, and landlord and
tenant issues. At each topic, the reader will see a brief description of the
area of law in a question and answer format. This information is not intended
to replace advice from a Virginia licensed attorney but rather to provide
basic information about the topic as well as links to other sources of helpful,
reliable information, including state agency websites and legal services
organizations’ websites.
• VALegalAid.org, www.VALegalAid.org, is a website that helps people find
civil legal information, including forms, and answers to legal questions
in matters involving consumers, debtor rights, elder law, employment,
family and domestic/sexual violence, housing, education, benefits, health,
immigration, social security, tax, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF), and veterans/military.
• VA Law Help 2 Go, (703) 293-5544 or www.valawhelp2go.org, is a
mobile-friendly platform that provides legal information in video format to
the public. This project is unique because it allows users to select the desired
legal content via SMS text messaging and view brief, informational videos
(in English or Spanish) optimized for mobile devices. These videos provide
information about common topics in the area of family, consumer, and
housing law. A link at the end of each video directs the viewer to the Virginia
statewide website for more information and to connect them with the
appropriate legal aid provider in their area.
Virginia State Bar
1111 E Main Street, Suite 700
Richmond, VA 23219-0026
(804) 775-0522
www.vsb.org
Access to
Legal Services