The Project's Staff Attorney, Jenny Abshier with a pro se litigant at the 24th JDC who completed her own divorce paperwork with guidance from Jenny.
With the guidance of and funding from the Louisiana Bar Foundation (LBF), The Pro Bono Project, Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS), the New Orleans Bar Association (NOBA) and the Family Justice Center (FJC) and the will team up to staff the Orleans Parish Civil District Court (CDC) Self-Help Desk. The Project will serve as the operation lead.
Beginning in January, the Desk will be open three mornings a week for pro se litigants to visit and receive help on navigating their way through the court system.
Like the 24th Judicial District Court (JDC) Self Help Desk, which The Project also manages, the CDC Self-Help Desk will offer only guidance to pro se litigants – volunteers do not provide legal advice or extended representation services.
“The CDC has a large number of pro se litigants, many of whom are not able to afford to pay for legal counsel, so they rely on the Desk to help them understand the court filing process. We appreciate our partners stepping up to work with us so that no one organization will have to carry the entire operational framework alone. By partnering, we create a win-win for everyone, including the court” explains The Project’s Executive Director, Jennifer Rizzo-Choi.
The Desk is a great place to volunteer. If you want to learn more and possibly take a shift at the CDC Self-Help Resource Center or the 24th JDC Self-Help Desk, please send an email to Kathleen Legendre.