(Directions, Attire, and More)
Follow these six easy steps to prepare for your Saturday Lawyer Day appointment:
1. Remember the Goal
During your Saturday Lawyer Day shift, your goal is to gather information from a potential client in the format of a detailed interview and limited consultation. If you are volunteering for an in-person Workshop, you will want to stay focused on the specific issue the client needs assistance with that day. If you are volunteering for a virtual appointment, you will want to gather more information and start building rapport with the client, as this is hopefully the beginning of an ongoing representation.
2. Dress for Success
Please prepare to dress in at least business-casual attire, even if you’ll be volunteering via Zoom.
3. Know Where You’re Going
Some Saturday Lawyer Days are held in-person at AVLF’s Peachtree Center office, and others are held virtually via Zoom. Be sure to note which type of Saturday Lawyer Day you signed up for! If you’re volunteering in person, click here for directions. If you’re volunteering virtually, we will email you a Zoom link before your volunteer date.
4. Review the Legal Primers & Questionnaires (30 Minutes)
Most Saturday Lawyer clients are tenants dealing with landlord disputes. No experience with either area of law is necessary to volunteer, but we encourage you to take a few minutes to skim these legal primers so you have some context for the issues you may hear about and the questions you’ll probably ask.
5. Brush Up On Cultural Humility (10 minutes)
AVLF clients are living in poverty and experiencing a legal crisis. The experience of working with an AVLF client may be very different from working with your paying clients. Please review these brief tips on cultural humility so you can be as effective as possible in your interviews.
6. New Volunteer
If you are a new volunteer, please fill out the Volunteer Interest Form.