Alaska attorneys provide a variety of free legal services for the Anchorage community. One program, free legal clinics around Alaska planned annually on Martin Luther King Day, has continued for a decade and assisted more than three and a half thousand Alaskans. Partners in this effort include the Alaska Court System and Alaska Legal Services Corporation, a private nonprofit law firm established in Alaska in 1967.
On the near horizon, free legal help following the Nov. 30 earthquake is imminent through FEMA. That program will offer pro bono guidance on:
- help with insurance claims for doctor and hospital bills, loss of property or life
- drawing up new wills and other legal papers lost in the disaster
- help with home repair contracts and contractors
- advice on problem landlords
While the state budgeting process is only beginning, the 2020 budget proposal currently zeroes out state funding for Alaska Legal Services Corporation, an agency that provides free civil legal services to low income Alaskans.
Who are the constituents for all these services? Why do attorneys work for free to provide them? We’ll talk about that and more on the next Justice Alaska on Hometown Alaska. Your questions and comments are welcome throughout the program.
GUESTS:
- Krista Scully, pro bono director, Alaska Bar Association
- Russell Winner, founder of MLK Day free legal services, attorney owner, Winner & Associates
- Leslie Need, MLK Day free legal services core member, partner at Landye Bennett Blumstein LLP, member of NeighborWorks
LINKS:
- National Disaster Legal Aid website (went live Feb. 26, 2019)
- National Disaster Legal Aid Hotline: 1-855-743-1001
- MLK Day: Not a day off for Alaska attorneys giving free legal help, Anchorage Daily News 1.16.2016
- MLK Day clinic one of few options for affordable legal advice, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, 1.18.2018
- Alaska Legal Services Corporation, website
- NeighborWorks Alaska,website
- Alaska Bar Association, Facebook page
- Alaska Bar Association, website
FEMA ASSISTANCE LOCATIONS, ALASKA EARTHQUAKE:
- Spenard Community Recreation Center
2020 W. 48th Ave. - University of Alaska Anchorage
University Center Mall
3901 Old Seward Hwy, Room 153 - Community Covenant Church
16123 Artillery Road
Eagle River 99577 - Christ First United Methodist Church
2635 S. Old Knik Road
Wasilla, 99654
PARTICIPATE:
- Call 550-8433 (Anchorage) or 1-888-353-5752 (statewide) during the live broadcast (2:00 – 3:00pm)
- Send e-mail to hometown@alaskapublic.org before, during or after the live broadcast (e-mails may be read on air)
- Post your comment or question below (comments may be read on air)
- LIVE: Monday, February 25, 2019 at 2:00 p.m.
- REPEAT: Monday, February 25, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.
