Volunteer Lawyers Birmingham (VLB) is a corps of attorney volunteers coordinated by a professional staff driven to improve access to justice for low-income residents of Jefferson County. VLB is the only non-profit in the state of Alabama that provides immediate access to free high-quality attorneys so low-income families can obtain critically needed legal services.
Last year, VLB served over 3,500 low-income clients, more than any other pro bono organization in Alabama. Over 650 attorneys volunteered, donating 4,500 hours of their time. This total can be equated to $1 million of donated time and legal services from the Birmingham legal community per year.
VLB serves low-income clients by deploying more than 20 legal Help Desks per month throughout the city, overseeing two special court dockets for low-income clients, and managing an extended representation program for clients whose issues cannot be solved in a one-time Help Desk engagement.
Our legal services focus on four tenets: Safe Families, Safe Housing, Safe Finances, and Serving Veterans.
VLB only exists because of the generosity of our donors. We value our supporters and take every action necessary to uphold complete transparency. According to a study by the Alabama Civil Justice Foundation, for every $1 invested in VLB, the Birmingham community receives an average of $12.13 in immediate and long-term return on investment. Alabama is one of only three states in the country that provides no funding for civil legal aid.