Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts

  • Location:
    Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston
    15 Channel Center Street, Suite 103
    Boston, MA 02110
  • Map: maps.google.com

For the past 25 years the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts of Massachusetts, Inc. (VLA) has been supporting the Massachusetts Arts Community by counseling artists and arts organizations on their legal issues. Through our legal referral service alone, the VLA has assisted over 4,500 artists and arts organizations since 1989.

The VLA supports a pro bono panel of over 400 hundred attorneys. These dedicated lawyers donate their time and expertise to artists and arts organizations that would otherwise be denied access to quality legal services. On a biweekly basis, the VLA sends an email to our pro bono panel and to our VLA Members. This email contains a list of the cases needing legal assistance in addition to requests for the VLA's other programs.

Interested attorneys also can participate in the VLA's Speakers Bureau and Board Bank Programs.

We often need attorneys to give brief presentations to artists on various legal issues. These are usually one or two-hour seminars with a question and answer period.

  • State(s) of Volunteer Opportunity: Massachusetts
  • Area of law: Arts, Housing, Life Planning, Nonprofit Organizations, Taxes, Copyright, trademark, contracts, licensing, landlord/tenant, tax and non-profit issues, estate planning, evaluation, first amendment concerns.
  • Populations Served: Low Income, Nonprofits, Artists and arts-related organizations.
  • Opportunities For: Law Students, Lawyers
  • Malpractice insurance is provided for volunteers: Yes
  • Training Provided: No
  • Training Required: No
  • CLE credit for trainings: No
  • CLE credit for pro bono: No
  • Mentoring or supervision offered: Yes
  • Volunteer lawyers need to meet a caseload or hours requirement: No
  • Types of projects in need of Pro Bono help: Client counseling (e.g., brief advice), Litigation: Trial/Direct Representation, Prepare legal education materials, Transactional work
  • Other Project Types: community legal education presentations
  • Volunteers may participate long-distance: No
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