LEGAL AID SERVICE
OF COLLIER COUNTY

About

Services

ABOUT COLLIER LAWYERS CARE


Collier Lawyers Care “”CLC”) is a cooperative effort between Legal Aid Service of Collier County (“LASCC”) and the Collier County Bar Association (“CCBA”), using private attorneys to provide pro bono civil legal services to the disadvantaged in Collier County.  CLC enables busy attorneys to make a difference in their community by streamlining the administrative process so that the attorneys can use their valuable time actually handling g cases.  CLC prescreens cases for merit and financial eligibility, tracks and reports pro bono hours, covers pre-approved court and litigation costs, furnishes malpractice insurance coverage, and matches the attorney’s area of expertise with the legal needs of low-income clients.

YOUR HELP IS NEEDED


The public interest attorneys at Legal Aid Service of Collier County need your help today to meet the ever growing, critical legal needs of the underserved population in Collier County. 
In an increasingly complex society, the poor are all too often oppressed by the inability to pay for and obtain any representation at all on legal matters that greatly affect their lives.  More volunteers in CLC are needed to ensure that qualified low-income clients with meritorious cases are not turned away from the competent representation they so desperately need due to a lack of pro bono attorneys.  You can do something about a critical problem – the unmet legal needs of children who live in poverty and 41% live in low-income households. 
Rule 4-6.1 – the Pro Bono Service Rule.


What is the Pro Bono Service Rule?

Rule 4-6.1 states each member of the Florida bar in good standing, as a part of that member’s professional responsibility, should:

1. Render Pro Bono services to the poor and
2. Participate, to the extent possible, in other Pro Bono service activities that directly relate to the legal needs of the poor.

The professional responsibility to provide Pro Bono legal service to the poor may be discharged by:
1. Annually providing at least 20 hours of Pro Bono legal services to the poor; or
2. Making an annual contribution of at least $350 to a legal aid organization.

Each member of the bar shall annually report whether the member has satisfied the member’s professional responsibility to provide Pro Bono legal service to the poor.  This rule applies to al members of the Florida Bar in good standing except those members of the Bar who are retired, inactive, suspended or have been placed on the inactive list for incapacity not related to discipline.  Application of the rule is deferred to judges and their staffs unless and until legal prohibitions to Pro Bono legal services are removed.

Membership in Collier Lawyers Care

“We make a living by what we get.  We make a life by what we give.” -Winston
Churchill.

In Collier County, Collier Lawyers Care is the recognized agency for administering Florida’s pro Bono Plan, Rule 4-6.1, Rules Regulating the Florida Bar.

There are two ways to join CLC:
1. By signing up as a volunteer attorney to handle cases on a pro bono basis placed through CLC; or
2. By making a contribution of at least $350 to Legal Aid Service of Collier County on an annual basis.

Each year CLC mails out a “call for assistance” from the legal community – along with a participation form to be completed and returned to LASCC.  An appeal is made to assist CLC by becoming a volunteer attorney or making a monetary contribution as set forth above.  It is requested that each attorney in Collier County donate 20 hours of Pro Bono service through the CLC program each year.  For those who are not in a position to donate their time and / or who would like to help in another way, please consider making an annual donation of at least $350 to LASCC to increase and improve the delivery of legal services to the poor in Collier County. 

To sign up as a Pro Bono attorney in the CLC program, simply contact the Pro Bono Coordinator:

Jeffrey A. Ahren
Pro Bono Coordinator
Legal Aid Service of Collier County
4125 East Tamiami Trail
Naples, FL 34112
Main:  (239) 775-4555
Direct:  (239-298-8130
jahren@legalaid.org

To make a monetary contribution to CLC, kindly send payment to LASCC at the above address, and make your check payable to “Legal Aid Service of Collier County.”  Please make a notation that the check is being furnished to fulfill the “Pro Bono service requirement” by referencing Rule 4-6.1.

For those who perform Pro Bono work under CLC, LASCC:
• Provides $1,000,000 in malpractice insurance coverage for matters handled under CLC
• Screens all clients
• Matches the attorney’s area of expertise with the legal need of a particular client. 
• Follows up on client appointments and case status
• Covers pre-approved court and litigation costs
• Allows attorneys to retain 100% of any awarded fees
• Calculates and reports Pro Bono service hours donated through the CLC program concerning Rule 4-6.1.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is Pro Bono Service mandatory?

No.  Providing Pro Bono services is voluntary.  The rules only require that all Florida Bar member report annually whether they did or did not provide Pro Bono Services; please see Rule 4-6.1.  This information is reported on the Florida bar annual dues statement.

2. What kinds of activities are considered Pro Bono Service?

Pro Bono service can include:
• An attorney’s professional work on cases for which no money is charged, received or expected
• Representing a client through an organized Pro Bono program (such as CLC)
• Making a contribution of $350 or more to an organized Pro Bono Program
• Conducting legal clinics

Pro Bono service does not include:
• Work by attorneys on cases where clients don’t pay their bill
• Serving on a Board
• Bar activities
• Preparing a will for a relative
• Representing a close friend in a traffic offense

3. My practice doesn’t involve areas of law I associate with “Pro Bono”, like family law or consumer law – is my help still needed?

Yes!  There is a growing need for attorneys to assist indigent clients in many non-traditional “Pro Bono” areas of law.  Diversity specialization in practice areas by CLC attorneys allows the program to help more clients with a high-quality of representation.  CLC is always looking to expand the kinds of civil cases we help our low-income constituency with.

4. My firm has a formal Pro Bono program in place already.  Why join CLC?

There are compelling reasons to perform all your Pro Bono work through CLC besides the furnishing of court and litigations costs and substantial malpractice insurance coverage.  CLC tracks closely the legal needs of the low-income community in Collier County, and continually sets and adjusts priorities and allocates resources to meet the most critical needs.  Therefore, working with CLC promotes efficiency, and helps to ensure that your time is devoted to matters that have the greatest impact on the lives of the clients.

The success of CLC promotes Pro Bono service throughout Collier County, and Naples funding for a sustainable program to provide legal services to the poor in this area.  As the number of volunteers increases, the demand on individual lawyers to perform Pro Bono service decreases.

Finally there are also reporting incentives, as well as opportunities for local and statewide recognition.  For example, over the last two years, CLC attorneys were awarded the Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award for the 20th Judicial Circuit.