• Search for:
    20Jul, 2023
    Legal Aid NC Expands Housing Justice Services in Raleigh and Eastern North Carolina

    A variety of factors are responsible for housing instability in low-income communities. In the Tar Heel state, the two most common causes are heir property and eviction, according to Legal Aid North Carolina, a nonprofit that provides legal advice to North Carolina residents to help them avoid displacement and homelessness.

    Predominantly seen in Black and rural communities in the state, heir property refers to arrangements whereby homes and land are passed down outside of the courts, often through families and over several generations. Issues arise when family members die without leaving a will. 

    Then there’s eviction, which affects low-income communities everywhere. 

    But with a $450,000 grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation, Legal Aid NC plans to target both of these causes—and expand housing justice services for homeowners and renters in this region.

    The statewide law firm provides free legal help in civil matters to low-income people who are often battling legal problems that affect basic human needs, including caring for family, finding housing, continuing education, finding employment, and receiving income.

    The two-year grant will be divided into two segments: $300,000 of the funds will go toward launching Legal Aid’s Heir Property Pro Bono Project, an effort to involve the law firm in heir property work within the region.

    The Heir Property Pro Bono Project will partner with the North Carolina Bar Association’s Real Property Section to recruit North Carolina real estate lawyers and paralegals that can help heir property owners formalize their homeownership and resolve complex issues that arise from not having clear titles to their home and land. Lawyers will help property owners establish clear title to their home and land in order to preserve generational wealth in families and affordable housing in low-income communities. 

    Overall, the grant is aimed to provide opportunities for more people to

    … Read the rest
    18May, 2023
    Lawyer fees draw scrutiny as Camp Lejeune claims stack up

    By Michelle Andrews 

    David and Adair Keller started their married life together in 1977 at Camp Lejeune, a military training base on the Atlantic Coast in Jacksonville, North Carolina. David was a Marine Corps field artillery officer then, and they lived together on the base for about six months.

    But that sojourn had an outsize impact on their lives.

    Forty years later, in January 2018, Adair was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. She died six months later at age 68. There’s a chance her illness was caused by toxic chemicals that seeped into the water military families at the base drank, cooked with, and washed with for decades.

    When the PACT Act passed last August, David asked a neighbor who worked at a personal injury law firm in Greenville, South Carolina, if he thought he might have a case. Now Keller is filing a wrongful death claim against the federal government under a section of that measure that allows veterans, their family members, and others who spent at least 30 days at Camp Lejeune between August 1, 1953, and the end of 1987 to seek damages against the government for harm caused by exposure to the toxic water.

    The Camp Lejeune Justice Act didn’t attract the spotlight like the aspects of PACT that deal with the harms soldiers experienced from burn pit fumes overseas. But for veterans who served at this North Carolina post, it is the realization of a decades-long effort to hold the government accountable.

    As cases begin to proceed through the legal system, some veterans’ advocates worry that families who have already suffered from toxic exposure may get shortchanged by a process that’s supposed to provide them with a measure of closure and financial relief. They support limiting lawyers’ fees, some of which may exceed

    … Read the rest
    3Dec, 2022
    Legal Aid of North Carolina debuts new website

    Legal Aid of North Carolina has fully launched its new website at the existing legalaidnc.org address. Designed and developed by Charlotte-based Kelso Communications and Priceless Misc, the website features the new Legal Aid NC brand debuted earlier this year to celebrate and honor the organization’s 20th anniversary.

    Navigation has been updated to better tell the organization’s story and demonstrate the incredible impact the organization makes in all 100 counties of North Carolina. Most importantly, client resources and self-help materials have been reorganized to be easily accessible and searchable. The new legalaidnc.org website also makes it easier for the community to donate and get involved. 

    “While I am thrilled with how fresh and friendly the design of our new website is, I am even more excited by how well it will serve our clients,” said Ashley Campbell, CEO of Legal Aid of North Carolina. “Our attorneys, paralegals and staff are always happy to help, but this website will help our community educate and empower themselves.”

    The new Get Help section of legalaidnc.org: 

    Puts front-and-center a news carousel where clients can see important alerts and time-sensitive information like application deadlines and emergency-specific resources. 

    Features “one stop shop” sections dedicated to housing, domestic violence and sexual assault, healthcare access, government benefits, seniors, family law, consumer issues, employment and more. 

    Neatly organizes specific resources, events and links to other articles within each topic area (see the Housing section for example). 

    Highlights local offices, how to contact Legal Aid NC for assistance and self-help clinics where users can learn to handle certain basic legal issues without hiring an attorney. 

    In addition to better serving clients, the robust Pro Bono section of legalaidnc.org caters to members of the legal community across North Carolina who

    … Read the rest
    17Sep, 2022
    Southeast law firm opens Charleston outpost amid hot Carolinas legal market

    REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao

    Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

    • Baker Donelson now has 23 offices
    • Firm opened a six-attorney North Carolina office in October

    (Reuters) – Baker Donelson is continuing its expansion in the Carolinas by opening a Charleston, South Carolina office, the firm said Monday.

    The Southeast U.S. regional law firm opened an office in Raleigh, North Carolina, in October and has had a Columbia, South Carolina office since 2016. It hired lawyers away from Womble Bond Dickinson and Parker Poe for its new Charleston office.

    The move comes in a busy year for legal markets across the Carolinas. Greenberg Traurig said in April that it hired a Winston & Strawn partner to open a Charlotte office. Another Florida-founded global firm, Holland & Knight, expanded its Charlotte office in June with five private equity partners from Moore & Van Allen. Dallas-based Haynes and Boone also expanded in Charlotte with the addition of three lawyers in October.

    Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

    Milwaukee-based law firm Michael Best & Friedrich said in January that it acquired the 23-lawyer Forrest Firm, adding offices in Asheville, Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro, Grenville, Wilmington and Winston-Salem.

    The founding shareholders in Baker Donelson’s new Charleston office are health law attorneys Alissa Fleming and Catherine Wrenn, who joined from Womble, and corporate attorney Ashley Cooper and employment attorney Jennifer Dunlap, who joined from Parker Poe.

    A representative from Womble did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Kristen Leis, chief marketing and business development officer at Parker Poe, said the number of attorneys at the firm grew 38% over the last three years and it is “unequivocally” looking to grow in Charleston.

    Mark Carlson, Baker Donelson’s chief growth officer, said the firm is working to create full service offices in its Carolinas

    … Read the rest