Civil Legal Aid Groups Soon to Receive Funds from the Indiana Supreme Court

The Indiana Supreme Court has money going to agencies that can provide legal help for your child custody situation, if you cannot afford a lawyer. Visit the agencies listed in their press release below and seek help to fix what the courts did to you in the first place. Good luck...

	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 23, 2009	Contact: Kathryn Dolan 317.234.4722
	INDIANA SUPREME COURT PROVIDES $750,000 IN FUNDING TO CIVIL LEGAL AID GROUPS IN JANUARY 2010

In January 2010, agencies that provide low income Hoosiers with civil legal services will receive funding from the Indiana Supreme Court. The Indiana General Assembly appropriates the funding for the Civil Legal Aid Fund and the Indiana Supreme Court awards the grant money to qualified agencies across the state.

Civil cases involve a conflict between people or business, such as foreclosure or divorce. In criminal cases, the government brings a charge against a person accused of a crime and an attorney is provided at state expense if the defendant cannot afford one. The Supreme Court is committed to ensuring that individuals involved in civil matters also have access to attorneys. The Supreme Court will provide $1.5 million to civil legal aid groups in 2010. The first installment, totaling $750,000, will be provided in January 2010 to the following eleven agencies.

Legal Aid - District Eleven
$8,369.19

Community Organizations Legal Assistance Program
$24,675.72

Elkhart Legal Aid Service, Inc.
$12,344.39

Indiana Legal Services, Inc.
$479,012.74

Indianapolis Legal Aid Society, Inc.
$46,126.50

Law School Legal Service, Inc.
$24,675.72

Legal Aid Corporation of Tippecanoe County
$5,020.32

Legal Aid Society of Evansville, Inc.
$13,650.05

Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic
$80,315.63

Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Inc.
$24,675.72

Volunteer Lawyer Program of Northeast Indiana, Inc.
$31,134.02

TOTAL: $750,000.00

To qualify for Indiana Supreme Court Civil Legal Aid funding, an agency must be an Indiana non-profit that provides civil legal aid services to the poor without charge. The above agencies across the state meet those specifications.

In a separate effort to help civil legal aid, the Court also recently agreed to provide funding to the Indiana Bar Foundation’s Justice Givan Loan Repayment Assistance Program for Indiana or LRAP-IN. That program is designed to help civil legal aid attorneys with lower incomes and often high educational debt to repay student loans. The Court will provide up to $200,000 to LRAP-IN to help Indiana civil legal aid groups recruit and retain qualified attorneys.

Both efforts are designed to help provide legal service programs for the poor. For more information about the Indiana Supreme Court and the Civil Legal Aid Fund, visit courts.in.gov.