Community Legal Aid Services seeks volunteers for its “Peace of Mind” Uncollectible Clinic.The clinic is designed to assist clients whose income and assets are of a type that is exempt from garnishment or attachment through legal process. Students will attend a training session on the day of the clinic. Student volunteers will work individually with each client to review and verify their financial situation. Afterwards, clients and their assigned law student will participate in an educational presentation on Ohio’s exemption statute (O.R.C. 2329.66). The client and student will then meet individually with an attorney who will review the client’s documents, verify that the client is “exempt from collection upon judgment,” and confirm that creditors have been correctly identified. In order to determine the effectiveness of the “Notice of Uncollectibility” letters and identify potential violations of the Fair Debt Act (U.S.C. 15 §1692), students will be required to make follow up contact twice with each assigned client.
Each volunteer for the clinic must commit a minimum of five hours. This includes the clinic and client follow up. One clinic will satisfy the pro bono of limited means’ graduation requirement.
The next clinic is scheduled for May 16, 2013. Students must be at Community Legal Aid Services, Inc. at 3:30 p.m. for the training. If you are interested, please e-mail Professor Joann Sahl.