Thursday, May 23, 2013

Forms Of Affordable Legal Assistance

By Vicki Diaz


During the course of life, there may come a time when one requires the services and advice of a lawyer. When starting up a company, a lawyer and an accountant are the two key professionals that should be hired. However, the cost of seeking or consulting their services may be very high. It is therefore necessary to learn about the various forms of affordable legal assistance that one can acquire.

Having a family member, a relative or a close friend who is a qualified lawyer would be the best place to seek such counsel. You can ask basic questions about any issue that you are facing and their recommended steps of action. Caring relatives and friends would not want to let you down so they would take the best course of action. They can also be easily persuaded to offer their services at lower costs.

The other way to acquire this help at low rates is through contacting legal aid agencies. These provide free services to people below a certain income level. It is therefore necessary for you to prove that you are below that income level before they can start representing you. These agencies also limit their services to cases related to issues that affect your daily life. These could be employment issues, domestic violence cases, evictions and immigration problems.

Most Bar Associations around the world have provided a way to assist the less fortunate in society. This is by requiring lawyers to offer pro bono services. This means that they offer legal counsel for free for specific hours per year. Identifying the lawyers who have not met the required hours is not easy and will involve a lot of research.

It is also common practice for law schools to hold clinics that allow their students to get hands on experience by representing low-income people. The students are permitted to offer legal counsel to their clients but under the supervision of their teachers or experienced attorneys. The clinics may however be limited in the fields of law that they can actually involve themselves in.

Employees in some organisations have the opportunity to join prepaid plans that can help them in future. One must choose the plan that they consider relevant in their life. Monthly payments are made towards the plan and counsel can be obtained in form of brief consultations. The only problem with such plans is that you do not get to choose your lawyer. Instead, you must work with the one who is assigned to you.

There are also services designed to help the public look for lawyers. They are referred to as lawyer referral services and through them you can identify those who offer free or low-cost services. Other lawyers are known to offer free consultation the first time you seek their advice. You should use such an opportunity to learn all you can about their services.

Agencies that help people aged sixty years or more have also been started. This age group is composed of retired citizens who cannot easily afford to pay a lawyer. For people seeking affordable legal assistance, they can choose any of the methods discussed above.




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