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Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, Inc. (SMRLS) does not have enough attorneys to handle all of the cases of everyone who is financially eligible for our services. This means we must turn down some people who cannot afford an attorney and who could really use one. We set up the Volunteer Attorney Program to help at least some of the eligible persons we must turn down. Through this program, we refer cases to local attorneys in private practice who agree to handle a limited number of cases for free each year for those financially eligible persons our staff cannot assist. Will SMRLS find a volunteer attorney for me? If you contact our Volunteer Attorney Coordinator and pay the $50.00 referral fee, we will make every effort to find a volunteer attorney to assist you. However, sometimes we are unable to find an attorney for you. If that happens, we will refund the referral fee to you and it will be up to you to get your own attorney. How long will it take to find a volunteer attorney for me? It may take several months to find a volunteer attorney to handle your case if we can even find an attorney for you. Generally, we try placing cases in the order that people pay the $50 fee. Will I have to pay SMRLS or the volunteer attorney if I participate in the Volunteer Attorney Program? SMRLS will ask you to pay a $50 referral fee before we try to find a volunteer attorney for you. This money is used to cover the fees necessary to administer this referral program. In some cases, we won't require this payment or we may be able to work out a payment plan. The volunteer attorney will handle your case without charging any additional fee if you remain eligible for the program during the course of representation. The $50 will be returned to you if we cannot find a volunteer attorney to handle your case. How do I ask for a volunteer attorney? If you wish to be further screened for the Volunteer Attorney Program or need any more information, please contact the SMRLS Office for your county.