“The only way we can face the realities of what goes on day-to-day in our community is to do pro bono work.”

Heryka Knoespel, Access to Justice pro bono attorney, McGuireWoods LLP

Pro Bono at the Advocacy Center

Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy relies on our pro bono volunteers to help us narrow Mecklenburg County’s justice gap. Individuals who cannot afford an attorney or access critical information are unlikely to prevail in complex court systems designed for those with legal representation.  Volunteer attorneys can be critical advocates in an otherwise inaccessible legal system. 

Attorneys who volunteer with us are provided with:  

• Malpractice Insurance 
• Trainings 
• Toolkits and templates 
• Mentorship and support throughout the life of the case 
• Use of our offices and conference rooms for client meetings 

The Advocacy Center provides comprehensive training and support to place cases in the following practice areas. No prior experience is required.

Criminal Record Expunctions
Healthcare
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status
Wills & Simple Estate Planning

The Advocacy Center also places cases with experienced attorneys in other practice areas:

Consumer Protection
Immigration Screenings
Tax Controversies

How to Get Involved

Contact Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy directly by clicking on the blue button below.

Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy also posts some of its volunteer opportunities on Pro Bono Go, a collaboration with other North Carolina legal services organizations to expand pro bono practice across the state. View and express interest in specific opportunities by visiting the Pro Bono Go website.

Pro Bono Spotlight: Special Immigrant Juvenile Status Project

Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) is a path to permanent residency for minor immigrants. This special status is intended to help protect children who have suffered abuse, neglect, or abandonment at the hands of one or both parents. To qualify for this status, an authorized state court must find that reunification with one or both of the child’s parents is not viable due to the abuse, abandonment, or neglect and that it is not in the child’s best interest to return to their home country or last country of habitual residence. The Advocacy Center has relied on pro bono attorneys to handle these state court proceedings, the first step towards permanent legal status for this vulnerable population.

The Advocacy Center presented its annual pro bono award at the Mecklenburg County Bar Association Annual Meeting highlighting this important work. Miranda Goot, Anna O’Neal, and Elizabeth Murphy serve as pro bono champions through Charlotte Triage on our SIJS project and have been invaluable in assisting this worthy client base. In early June, the Advocacy Center hosted a training with their support to train and recruit attorneys and their summer associates allowing for the placement of nearly all clients awaiting SIJS representation.

Our thanks and congratulations to the stellar advocates who have helped on our SIJS cases!

In 2023, the Pro Bono Program…

• Provided over 2,800 hours of pro bono service with individual representation to clients across all practice areas, not including clinics; these hours represent 133 clients served by approximately 100 pro bono attorneys
• Hosted three wills clinics to draft simple estate planning documents serving 56 clients (including 13 veterans) and two expunction clinics resulting in records expunged for over 80 clients in Mecklenburg and surrounding counties 
• Through our clinics and Charlotte Triage, provided training to over 120 pro bono attorneys and legal professionals on expunctions, estate planning, healthcare navigation, and special immigrant juvenile status custody proceedings