Maine Volunteer Lawyers Project Email Format
Legal ServicesMaine, United States11-50 Employees
The Maine Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP) is a statewide civil legal aid organization that mobilizes volunteer attorneys and trained community members to assist people in Maine who cannot afford legal help. Since 1983, VLP has built a responsive network that delivers free legal assistance through clinics, online brief advice, courthouse-based support, and full pro bono representation. It operates a range of programs, including a clinic model offering brief advice and limited representation in family law, workers’ rights, small claims and other targeted areas; Free Legal Answers Maine (FLAME) provides an online entry point for civil legal questions; the Court House Assistance Program (CHAP) places volunteers in courthouses to help self-represented litigants; and the Maine Homeless Legal Project and other short-term opportunities extend support into community settings. Volunteers and staff address civil matters that affect safety, stability, and economic security, including divorce and parental rights, protection from abuse, debt and foreclosure, bankruptcy, wage and hour issues, unemployment, Social Security Disability, and simple wills and probate, with community and student volunteers expanding intake and clinic support. For more than forty years, VLP has served as Maine’s pro bono infrastructure, coordinating volunteers to strengthen the civil justice system and ensure that people marginalized by poverty have a practical pathway to resolve civil legal problems. The organization is based in Portland, Maine, with a mailing address of PO Box 547, 04112, and operates in the legal services sector; it has between 11 and 50 employees and maintains a website at vlp.org.