By Bonnie Dean, Jefferson County Bar Association
The Jefferson County Bar Association will host a clinic offering free legal advice for area veterans who may need assistance with benefits, consumer issues and other legal issues.
The event will be held 8:30 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Aug. 25, at Lumberton Fire & EMS, 228 Country Lane Drive (421), Lumberton.
Appointments are encouraged by calling the bar office at (409)835-8647, but walk-ins will be welcomed.
Volunteer attorneys will provide legal advice on issues such as family law, wills and probate, consumer issues, landlord/tenant law, tax issues, bankruptcy, employment and foreclosures, as well as veterans' benefits and disability claims.
For veterans needing legal representation and who financially qualify, pro bono attorneys will be assigned. The guidelines have been adjusted for veterans so that they may have income up to 200 percent above the poverty level and still qualify for services.
The clinic is open to any Jefferson, Hardin, Orange, Liberty or Chambers county veteran or spouse of a deceased veteran free of charge.
The JCBA's legal advice clinic is part of the statewide Texas Lawyers for Texas Veterans initiative, a program begun by the State Bar of Texas and funded by The Texas Access to Justice Foundation to ensure that organized legal clinics exist throughout the state to specifically assist military veterans who cannot afford or do not have access to basic legal services.
TAJF is the leading funder of civil legal aid to the poor in Texas. Created in 1984 by the Supreme Court of Texas, TAJF awards millions of dollars per year that benefits hundreds of thousands of low-income Texans annually including victims of crime, abused and neglected children, veterans, the elderly and the homeless.