Who qualifies for pro bono legal services in Indiana?

The general definition of “poverty law” is representation of a client that “does not have the financial resources to compensate counsel.” For real world applications, we look to Indiana’s civil legal aid organizations and their rules and guidelines for determining eligibility for their services.

Each civil legal aid organization has their own rules for what types of clients and cases they can and will accept. These rules are dictated by grant funders, organizational priorities, and availability of legal professionals to provide the services.

Typical eligibility factors include:

• Financial, such as the applicant’s household income and available assets;
• The type, difficulty, and urgency of the legal issue presented;
• Residency and/or jurisdiction;
• The applicant’s citizenship or legal residency status; and/or
• If the applicant is a member of a special population, such as veterans, LGBTQ, or over 65 years old.

Of course, not everyone that qualifies for civil legal aid services will get them, because there are simply not enough legal aid attorneys to meet the need.