Frequently Asked Questions

Legal Aid of West Virginia is a law firm and advocacy organization. LAWV serves:

• low income people with civil (not criminal) legal matters;
• victims of domestic violence, regardless of income;
• residents in nursing homes and other long term care settings, and their family members;
• West Virginians who face challenges brought about by behavioral and mental health disorders.

We have twelve offices throughout West Virginia. Dial 1-866-255-4370 to apply for our services.  We are committed to searching out the patterns, causes and solutions of the fundamental legal problems facing our client community.

"Pro Bono" is a Latin phrase that means "for good." Some lawyers volunteer their services for free, and handle cases for clients referred by Legal Aid without charging a fee. They are "pro bono" lawyers.

"Pro Se" is a Latin phrase that mean "for self." Some individuals handle their own legal cases without the assistance or representation of a lawyer. They are "pro se" or "self represented" litigants. Legal Aid of West Virginia offers some clinics in which we try to help people learn to handle several different types of their own cases.

When someone is arrested and charged by the government with committing a crime, they have a criminal case. A defendant in a criminal case, who may receive more than 12 months in jail, has a constitutional right to a lawyer. If they cannot afford one, a lawyer will be provided to them. This may be a lawyer with a "public defender" organization, or a private lawyer appointed to represent the criminal defendant. Public Defender organizations are not permitted to handle non-criminal matters.

Civil cases generally involve disputes between individuals. Sometimes they involve disputes between individuals seeking services or benefits from the government. Civil cases do not involve any criminal penalties or procedures. There is no constitutional right in a civil case to have a lawyer provided if you cannot afford one. etc.

Legal Aid handles only civil cases. LAWV is not permitted to handle any criminal matter. Some examples of civil cases LAWV handles are: landlord/tenant issues, bankruptcies and consumer problems, family law cases, and public benefits such as welfare, unemployment, medicaid or Social Security. There are many other types of cases Legal Aid handles.

The public defender program handles only criminal cases, and no civil cases. Legal Aid of West Virginia handles only civil cases, and no criminal cases.

There are different eligibility requirements for different types of cases. So there is no simple answer to this question. For many types of cases (but not all) a person must have limited income and financial resources. Therefore most of the time Legal Aid will need to get information about your entire household’s financial situation. Then we will need some basic information about the kind of legal problem you have. For more information on the types of cases we do handle and do not handle, click here.

The short answer is that if you think you need a lawyer, you probably do. Unfortunately, Legal Aid of West Virginia does not have enough lawyers and funding to help everyone who needs it. Call 1-866-255-4370 to apply for services.

Call 1-866-255-4370 to apply for services and find out if we can handle the kind of case you have.

The WV State Bar also offers two services that may assist you. One is the Lawyer Information Service, to provide basic legal information to citizens throughout West Virginia. Every Tuesday evening from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., lawyers volunteer their time to answer questions that are presented by men and women throughout West Virginia on a toll free telephone line - 1-800-642-3617. The lawyers listen to the citizens’’ comments and provide general basic legal information.

The other is the State Bar Lawyer Referral Service. This system provides the residents of West Virginia with a means to locate an attorney who practices within their area. All lawyers participating in the Lawyer Referral Service have agreed to provide a consultation of up to 1/2 hour for a fee of no more than $25 which should be paid at the time of the consultation. Any further fees or retainers will be charged at the attorney's regular rate.

You may want to contact the State Bar Lawyer Information Service (Tuesday nights, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m., 1-800-642-3617), or the State Bar Lawyer Referral Service.

Otherwise, talk to friends, family members, people in your church or community, to get suggestions for a lawyer who has experience in the subject of your problem and who has a good reputation.

As early as possible. The sooner you get accurate information, the better. It may turn out that you can resolve the difficulty by yourself if you get the right information. You may be able to avoid going to court, or handing things over to the lawyers, if you get good information about your options and choices.

We cannot provide legal assistance or advice via email. We cannot respond to requests for legal assistance submitted by email. This is for two reasons.

First, we have to figure out whether you are eligible for our services. We are not permitted to use our limited resources to assist anyone who is not eligible for Legal Aid of West Virginia. Second, most legal problems involve lengthy and detailed facts and circumstances. There is just no way to get an understanding by e-mail that is accurate enough to allow us to give the proper advice and opinion.

Call 1-866-255-4370 to apply for services and find out if we can handle the kind of case you have.

For more information about civil legal aid programs in the United States, you might want to look at these web sites.

• The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) in Washington, DC. LSC distributes federal funding from Congress to local legal aid programs like LAWV all over America. See www.lsc.gov.
• The National Legal Aid and Defender Association. This is an organization working to strengthen and support legal aid programs and public defender programs in America. See www.nlada.org.

We would love to have your comments and suggestions. If you looked for some information but couldn’t find anything, please tell us what you were looking for. Click here for contact information, or feel free to write our main office.