Category Archives: SC Bar Pro Bono Program

COVID-19 Disaster Hotline Volunteers

The SC Bar has set up a COVID-19 Disaster Hotline and is need of a team of volunteers to help retrieve and manage the incoming calls. Right now we have limited knowledge how much this hotline will be used but just in case Betsy Goodale, the SC Bar Pro Bono Program Director and I have talked and are working on step by step instructions. Bottom line, volunteers will be assigned a scheduled day of the week, when they will retrieve any messages recorded.  Once retrieved the student will determine several lines of inquiry. Is the issue COVID-19 related? Is the issue civil or criminal? The volunteer will follow a series of steps to secure more information, keep track of the process and hopefully be able to refer the client to either a local organization for help or to one of the many lawyers who have volunteered to answer questions.  The lawyers will be asked if they would like additional help from the student thus allowing for a continued connection and more experience.

At this time to sign up, simply go to: https://uofsclawprobono.azurewebsites.net/forms/volunteer-enrollment-form/. Complete the form and enter COVID-19 as the project. I will respond with much more information.

January 23, 24, 2020

For the next couple of days the SC Bar will hold its annual convention in Columbia. All day Friday, volunteer law students will be paired with attorneys attending the convention to respond to questions posted by the public to the SC Bar online forum.  Watch this space, Twitter @USCLawProBono and Instagram @USCLawProBono for photos and updates.

 

SC Bar Convention Special Blitz Days

A networking bonanza!!!!!

23 January – 24 January

This special Blitz will match teams of 4 students in shifts of 2 hours with lawyers attending the SC Bar Convention at the Columbia Convention Center. Each team will respond to questions posted by the public to www.SC.FreeLegalAnswers.org

Sign up for a shift at this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0445A8A82EA1FC1-scbarconvention

Laptop required. No additional training needed but experience at at Friday Blitz is preferred.

Thursday’s hours are 11-5 and Friday, 9-5.

The Palmetto LEADER will roll into Columbia in March

The Palmetto LEADER is the Law School’s fully operational, mobile law offices that will take legal advocacy, education and resources to the rural, underserved places in SC. Website and blog, with photos of the bus being built, under construction and coming soon. Read more about it here:

Driven to Serve

A new access-to-justice program rolls into rural communities this spring.In Spring 2020, a new form of justice will begin rolling across South Carolina. Literally.

That’s when the School of Law is expected to unveil a self-contained mobile law office that will provide rural communities with access to legal services and information.

Called the Palmetto Leader (an acronym for “Legal Advocacy Education Resources”), the custom-built bus will include two private offices, a waiting area, and the necessary technology to allow for on-site delivery of services such as drafting wills, reviewing legal documents, and providing legal counsel to those who are otherwise unable to afford assistance.

It’s the brainchild of Pamela Robinson, director of the Pro Bono Program, who saw an overwhelming demand for legal aid at numerous “know your rights” presentations she and students would give at public libraries around the state. However, she says those sessions weren’t ideal for meeting the communities’ needs.  When she struck upon a possible solution—a mobile office—she jotted it down on a sticky note.  But with no budget, that note languished under her keyboard for years.

Then in 2018, the School of Law received a donation from the Konduros Fisherman Fund, through alumnus James Konduros ‘54.  According to Konduros, this gift was to be “dedicated to providing further dimension and depth to the experiences” available to law students.

“Our goal working with Mr. Konduros was to find a way to put students in a position to help in rural areas where access to legal services can be a significant problem,” said law school dean Rob Wilcox. When Robinson made her proposal, “it brought together a lot of the ideas we had discussed.”

The more the two talked, the more Wilcox liked the idea of students and professors traveling to small communities and partnering with local attorneys, churches, and organizations to offer both legal services and education to parts of the state that might otherwise not have ready or affordable access to lawyers.

“We want for this to be a cooperative venture with the South Carolina Bar and with local community leaders; we’re asking how we can help,” says Wilcox.

Robinson stresses that this is not just a Pro Bono project.  “The bus can be used in so many ways, from expanding the reach of our clinical programs—especially for veterans—to offering legal aid in the aftermath of a natural disaster,” she says. “It tells people we’re out there ready to help, and it also opens up opportunities for students to gain valuable hands-on experience and skills development.”

As the only school-operated mobile law office in the country, the bus also sets South Carolina Law apart. “I think it’s going to attract students who are interested in public service and helping the community,” said Wilcox.