The Virginia Legal Aid Society has created a Suffolk Pro Bono Task Force to recruit volunteers to provide free legal help to VLAS clients.

“We have a pretty active pro bono program in our Lynchburg office that got off the ground by two prominent attorneys years ago,” said Pro Bono Director Kristine Smith. “It has grown from there, and we thought we would see if that would work in our other service areas.”

While VLAS attorneys in Suffolk, Farmville, Danville and Lynchburg close about 3,000 cases a year, pro bono lawyers only close roughly 150 cases for the organization. The task force is meant to increase the number of pro bono attorneys to accommodate more cases.

VLAS provides resources on many legal topics — consumer, education, employment, family and domestic violence, health and health care, housing and landlord-tenant disputes, and public benefits. Pro bono attorneys have the ability to choose what topics they would like to help with.

There are ones chosen more often — uncontested divorces, power of attorney and wills, advance medical directives and guardianship, Smith said. “That’s one of our goals to expand the number of lawyers and expand the types of cases. Housing is a huge need for any legal aid program.”

The task force is a mix of lawyers with practices in the area. Nicole Harrell, Jeanette Ojeda, Andrew Page, Richard Railey, Whitney Saunders, Martin Speroni and Daniel Vinson make up the current team VLAS has assembled.

Attorneys who agree to work pro bono are covered by the society’s liability insurance while they work on their cases, and they have the opportunity to be mentored by other lawyers in subject matters with which they are unfamiliar.

There are no special eligibility requirements for lawyers to be pro bono with VLAS. The attorneys need only be licensed to practice law in Virginia.

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised and happy to meet the lawyers in that area. They have been so kind,” Smith said.

The society offers legal information, advice and representation in civil cases for those who could not hire an attorney on their own.