Volunteer - Legal Assistance

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The Allegan County Legal Assistance Center offers volunteers the opportunity to provide legal assistance alongside experienced staff members to the underserved population of Allegan County. Volunteers will have the opportunity to enhance their practical knowledge about the civil courts and their various rules and procedures, as well as learn about the ethical considerations that go hand in hand with the legal profession. This is an unpaid position reporting to the Deputy Director.

Hours:

Part-time (Up to 20 hours)

Qualifications Preferred:

Volunteer candidates must have some basic understanding and experience with the following:

• Excellent customer service
• Microsoft Office programs
• Google Sheets
• Phone etiquette
• Office technology e.g. copiers/printers/scanners

Expectations:

Volunteers must be willing to assist patrons in difficult, emotional, and stressful situations. Volunteers must be willing to:

• Learn to differentiate between legal advice and legal information
• Provide customer service to individuals who are representing themselves in court using the ACLAC services, as well as provide technical and user support on computer software
• Make independent decisions in assessing each individual's requests and the manner in which assistance will be provided
• Answer questions and educate self-represented litigants about materials and resources available from ACLAC
• Provide patrons their legal options, but will NOT provide them any legal advice

Volunteers MUST sign a Confidentiality Agreement and keep patron disclosures private.

Duties:

A Volunteer's primary responsibility will be to assist patrons with their legal matters in the areas of divorce, child custody, parenting time, child support, personal protection orders, landlord-tenant disputes, small claims, probate matters, expungement, and other non-criminal matters. Other duties may include:

• Filing, copying, or downloading of forms
• Assisting in maintaining self-help materials
• Completing reports of the number of individuals assisted and demographic data collected from the patron sign-in process on Google Sheets
• Fielding calls and emails from patrons
• Completing projects assigned by the Associate Director and Director
• Assisting with other administrative duties necessary to ensure the ACLAC office functions in an effective and efficient manner

Training:

Volunteers will receive a Training Binder their first day in the office. This binder contains common forms and processes that are commonly seen in ACLAC when assisting patrons. This binder will be used as a guide, but will be supplemented by:

• Individual form review/training with the Deputy Director
• Guest speakers from various courthouse departments
• Hands on experience
• Continuous coaching

PLEASE NOTE: This position requires on-site participation. There are NO REMOTE OPPORTUNITIES at this time. ACLAC strongly encourages a commitment of 4 or more hours 1 to 2 days per week.