DANVILLE (WSLS 10) - A new program is trying to increase the amount of lawyers across the state...including in Danville...offering pro bono services.
Virginia Legal Aid Society is putting together teams of local judges, lawyers, and members of the legal aid society.
The teams will try to recruit lawyers to participate in Virginia Legal Aid's Pro Bono volunteer program.
Teams will also be formed in Farmville and Suffolk to recruit lawyers to service those areas.
"Danville, Martinsville, Henry County these are all areas where we don't have a lot of big firms with the resources to devote a lot of attention. We have a lot of solo practitioners," explained David Weilnau, a staff attorney in the VLAS's Danville office.
Specifically, VLAS hopes to, within two years, double the number of attorneys and cases in its pro bono volunteer program.
The program is being funded by a $327,899 grant from Legal Services Corporation's Pro Bono Innovation Fund.
The new program will also allow Liberty University law students to do supervised pro bono work in Danville, Farmville, and Suffolk.