chevron-down Created with Sketch Beta.

    Spotlight on ABA Approved Paralegal Programs Involved With Access to Justice and Pro Bono Initiatives

    The ABA Standing Committee on Paralegals recognizes programs that are teaching the next generation of paralegals the importance of pro bono work as well as how they can help provide access to justice. Learn more about the important work of these paralegal programs. 

    Bristol Community College Paralegal & Legal Studies Program, Fall River, MA

    The Bristol Community College Paralegal & Legal Studies Program partners with a local non-profit legal incubator to provide free "ask A Lawyer" sessions for the college’s community. A few times a semester, an attorney comes to campus (currently via zoom) for a couple of hours and provides legal information to individuals in 15 minute sessions. Members of the college’s community must pre-register for the appointments. This program has been replicated by other larger colleges in the area. This approach is thought of as 'legal triage' where individuals can receive some basic legal advice about next steps available to them. People often do not even know if they need an attorney or if they have a case and this program tries to minimize the stress associated with the process.

    Visit the - Program Website

    Clarion University Paralegal Program, Clarion, PA

    The Clarion University Paralegal Program has been involved with pro bono work throughout its existence. Students prepare for and conduct the client interviews. Clients are screened for need and their cases are screened for appropriate legal subject matter. Students research the law relative to the client’s case and conduct subsequent interviews, if necessary. The clients include students and disadvantaged residents of the area. The students in the legal clinic operate as if in a law firm setting, so courses of action are discussed by the students as a group. At all times the students operate under the close supervision of a professor and attorney.

    Read - More

    Daemen University Paralegal Studies Program, Amherst, NY

    Daemen University Paralegal Studies Program, in a collaboration with the local bar and the New York State Majority Leader Peoples-Stokes office, assisted with organizing a series of community clinics offering free legal services to expedite the expungement of certain marijuana convictions from a person's records. Daemen Paralegal Studies students volunteered for this event. The paralegal students were supervised by attorney volunteers and teams were able to help many members of the Buffalo community.

    Learn - More

    Davenport University Legal Studies Program, Grand Rapids, MI

    Davenport University’s Legal Studies Program offers low income individuals in the Grand Rapids community free estate planning services. This program is called the Davenport Estate Planning Services (DEPS) and is integrated in the LEGL308 - Estate Planning class in the program curriculum.

    Read - More

    Illinois State University Legal Studies Program, Normal, IL

    The Illinois State University Legal Studies Program launched an expungement clinic in fall 2020. The clinic provides hands-on legal experience to all Legal Studies students who assist low-income individuals seeking to expunge and seal old criminal records. The clinic gives these clients access to employment, rental, and lending opportunities necessary for moving forward with their lives. This venture is a collaborative project with the Bloomington office of Prairie State Legal Services (PSLS). The effort is consistent with objectives of the ISU and CAS strategic plans: enriching engagement and facilitating academic excellence.

    Read - More

    Lakeland Community College Paralegal Studies Program, Kirtland, OH

    The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland contacted Lakeland Community College about holding some Brief Advice Clinics on our campus during the 2021-2022 academic year. In-person clinics had been suspended due to the pandemic, but there was interest in returning to a face-to-face format to better serve clients. The Paralegal Program worked with the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland and local attorneys to host and staff the sessions and have paralegal students also serve as volunteers. The Clinic was successful in the fall, and plans are underway for a spring clinic again involving Lakeland paralegal students as volunteers.

    Visit the - Program Website

    Madison College Legal Studies/Paralegal Program, Madison, WI

    Legal issues, sometimes having nothing to do with the college, can be real barriers to students in studying and even taking classes. Madison College has partnered with Lawyers for Learners in offering free legal services to students and community members. Lawyers for Learners is an organization that helps people overcome legal obstacles, empowering them to move forward with their lives and achieve their educational and career goals.

    Read - More

    Manchester Community College Paralegal Program, Manchester, CT

    Students in the Manchester Community College Legal Studies Capstone class are involved with a Pro Bono Bankruptcy project in cooperation with Statewide Legal Services and the Connecticut Bar Association. Requests for assistance come in through Statewide Legal Services where prospective clients are screened and qualified based on income levels. Contact information is then sent to Professor Deb Boyle, who teaches the Capstone course. She then assigns small groups of students (2-3 in each group) to the client. The students contact the client and work through a Connecticut Bar Association application in which the Bar will consider whether or not to appoint an attorney to the case. Students were trained on Bankruptcy Law and the application process by staff at Statewide Legal Services. This semester was the start of the program but it is hopeful this will become an ongoing project.

    Visit the - Program Website

    North Hennepin Community College Paralegal Program, Minneapolis, MN

    In Fall 2021, North Hennepin Community College’s Paralegal Program, in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, led by Mary Gillen Fenske, J.D., enrolled its first cohort of 5 incarcerated scholars in the first ABA-approved Paralegal Certificate delivered behind bars.

    Read - More

    Pima Community College Paralegal Program, Tucson, AZ

    The Paralegal Program is involved with an initiative based on a collaboration with the Pima Paralegal Club and The Immigrant and Refugee Student Resource Center (IRSRC) in partnership with the Pima ColLEGAL Program. The initiative helps DACA students with legal issues through a referral program with volunteer attorneys. The Referral Program is an opportunity for paralegal students to participate in a service-learning program in collaboration with external participating attorneys.

    Read - More

    Sinclair Community College Legal Studies Program, Dayton, OH

    On May 5, 2020, George Floyd’s public execution at the hand of a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota was a call to action for many institutions and individuals. It was a catalyst for Sinclair Community College to issue a statement against racism and to commit to an Equity Plan for all faculty, staff and students at the college and in the community.

    Read - More

    South Puget Sound Community College Paralegal Program, Olympia, WA

    Many students in the South Puget Sound Community College Paralegal Program intern with the Thurston Volunteer Legal Serivces. The Program has also been working on a Paralegal Clinic, but plans have been postponed due to the pandemic.

    Visit the - Program Website

    South Suburban College Paralegal/Legal Assistant Program, Holland, IL

    The South Suburban College “SSC” Paralegal Studies Program, located in the South Suburbs of Chicago, recently opened a pro-bono Paralegal Expungement Clinic that is the first of its kind in the Chicagoland area. Paralegal students work under the direction of Legal Aid Chicago attorneys to prepare expungement packets for graduates of the Problem-Solving Courts.

    Read - More

    Western Technical College Legal Studies/Paralegal Program, La Crosse, WI

    Students in the Western Technical College Legal Studies/Paralegal Program assist the community by supporting various legal clinics in La Crosse County and assisting attorneys and legal entities with projects as needed.

    Visit the - Program Website