Legal Services in Atlanta & the Metro-Atlanta Area

Welcome.  This guide is designed to direct those in need of legal representation to available resources.  Please note the restrictions listed for each entry.  There may be some crossover between the General Legal Assistance and subject-specific tabs in the left menu, so be sure to check both.  

Atlanta Bar Association

Address: 

229 Peachtree Street NE, Suite 400

Atlanta, GA 30303

Phone: 

(404) 521-0781 (Service is only available via phone calls)

Website: 

www.atlantabar.org

Referral Request form: 

Lawyer Referral (atlantabar.org)

(404) 521-0777

• Referral and Information Service refers over 14,000 citizens to attorneys.
• Modest Means Program
  • you can find the application at: Modest Means Application (atlantabar.org)
    • Fax at (404) 522-0269 or email at: modestmeans@atlantabar.org

Information: 

• A public service program sponsored by the ABA’s Lawyer Referral and Information Service.
• Meant to help GA residents who are not financially eligible for Legal Aid, but who also do NOT have the resources to retain a private attorney at the standard market rate.
• A Private Attorney will agree to the specific terms of the program (an initial retainer fee of no more than $600 OR billable hours of $75 an hour maximum).
• Only available to residents of Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Dekalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Paulding, and Rockdale counties.
• Modest Means program accepts applications in these areas:
  • Flat fee services:
    • Advanced directives for healthcare
    • Bundled services (power of attorney, advance directive for healthcare, and simple will)
    • Name Change
    • Power of Attorney
    • Simple Will
    • Uncontested Guardianship of Minor
  • Hourly fee cases
    • Bankruptcy
    • Child support
    • Contested guardianship of a minor
    • Custody
    • Deed transfer
    • Divorce
    • legitimation/paternity
    • Separate maintenance

American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia

Mailing Address:

ACLU of Georgia
P.O. Box 570738
Atlanta, GA 30357

Phone:

(770) 303-8111 (Requests for legal assistance will not be taken over the phone)

Website:

www.acluga.org

Email:

info@acluga.org

Information:

• Preserves the civil liberties through litigation, lobbying in the GA capitol communication.
  • Freedom of speech
  • Religion
  • Right to equal treatment under law (the right to be free from discrimination by the government on the basis of race, gender, national origin, religion)
  • Right to privacy
  • Voting rights (right to register and vote)

NOTICE:

• Does NOT accept walk-ins at their office
• You must request legal assistance in writing only
• They take a limited number of cases- sometimes have to turn down some requests no matter how serious of injustice
• TYPES OF CASES ACLU DOES NOT ACCEPT
  • Criminal case at any stage
  • Complaints against lawyers
  • Divorce, child custody or neglect matters
  • Denial of government benefit
  • Tax
  • Immigration/asylum
  • Landlord-tenant problem

Atlanta Legal Aid Society

Website: 

www.atlantalegalaid.org

Types of work:

• Disability integration project
• Senior citizens law project
• Georgia senior legal hotline
• Health law
• Home defense program
• Kinship care project
• Housing (maintaining homes, increasing access to affordable housing, and improving conditions)
• Debt collectors/ unfair and illegal collection practices
• Family law: child custody, child support, victims of domestic violence
• Offers free civil legal aid for low-income people across the metro ATL area
• TO QUALIFY FOR SERVICES, one must meet certain low-income guidelines

Other services:

Senior hotline: (404) 389-9992 OR 1 (888) 257-9519

• A branch of Atlanta Legal Aid Society
• Lawyers can give brief legal advice and referrals
• Consultants are free for those over the age of 60

Spanish Speaking Applicants: (404) 377-5381

Hearing impaired GA relay center: 711

Fulton/Downtown Headquarters

Address: 54 Ellis St. NE Atlanta, GA 30303

Phone: (404) 524-5811

Clayton and S. Fulton Counties

Address: 777 Cleveland Ave. SW, Suite 410 Atlanta, GA 30315

Phone: (404) 669-0233

Cobb County

Address: 30 South Park Sq., Marietta, GA 30060

Phone: (770) 528-2565

Dekalb County

Address: 246 Sycamore St., Decatur, GA 30030

Phone: (404) 377-0701

Gwinnett County

Address: 324 W. Pike St., Suite 200 Lawrenceville, GA 30046

Phone: (678) 376-4545

Georgia Legal Services Program (for Rural Georgians)

Address:

104 Marietta St. NW #240
Atlanta, GA 30303

Phone:

(404) 206-5175 OR 1 (800) 498-9469

Website: 

https://www.glsp.org

Information:

• An independent, non-profit organization, provides free legal services to low-income people in civil matters in Georgia counties outside the Atlanta metropolitan area.
  • Specifically, for Georgians who:
    • Live in 154 counties outside of Metro-Atlanta,
    • Earnings do not exceed 200% above the federal poverty line OR
    • Aged 60 years or older.

Available legal services:

• Consumer law
• Education law
• Farm workers rights
• Family law
• Housing law
• Public benefits

Georgia Legal Aid

Website:

https://www.georgialegalaid.org/

Information:

• GeorgiaLegalAid.org is a joint project of Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Inc. and the Georgia Legal Services Program
  • It’s a statewide self-help website
• The website provides:
  • Step-by-step interactive guides for court and legal forms
  • Answers to FAQs
  • Educational materials and brochures
  • Videos and legal issues (family law, public benefits, housing)
  • Database of contact information for Legal Aid Offices, community organizations, courts, bar association information

Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation

Address:

235 Peachtree Street NE, Suite 1750

Atlanta, GA 30303

Phone:

(404) 521-0790

**NOTE: Once you call AVLF, the program either (1) helps callers directly via one of their programs, OR (2) identifies the very best resource available in the community.

Website:

https://avlf.org/

Types of services:

• Domestic violence
• Landlord/tenant disputes
• Probate issues
• Unpaid wages
• Evictions

AVLF Programs that offer help to callers:

• Saturday Lawyer Program: helps Fulton and Clayton Counties’ working poor with access to high-quality legal advice and representation by trained volunteer attorneys in areas vital to economic security.
• Safe Families Office/Domestic Violence: provides consultation services for survivors and information about their legal options. Each appointment includes safety planning advice and focuses on the survivor’s goals.
• Standing with our Neighbors: an initiative that promotes safe, stable, and affordable housing.
• Eviction Defense: helps low-income and unrepresented tenants facing eviction with attorneys to represent them in court in their critical time of need.
• Dollars for Judgments: creditors’ rights attorneys work on behalf of low-income clients who have obtained a judgment as a result of an injustice done to them.
• Guardian ad Litem: helps judges decide which parent a child of divorcing parents should live with, especially if the parents are fighting over the custody of their child. Guardian ad Litem are asked to help evaluate the children’s best interest in high conflict cases.

Georgia Lawyers for the Arts

Address:

887 West Marietta St. NW., Suite J-101 

Atlanta, GA 30318

Website:

https://glarts.org/

Email:

gla@glarts.org

Information:

• Nonprofit organization that provides free legal assistance and education programming to artists and arts organizations in Georgia.
  • Common legal issues:
    • Securing copyright protection
    • Cases involving idea misappropriation,
    • Artists negotiation with galleries and
    • Reviewing recording,
    • Publishing and licensing agreements

Georgia PATENTS (under Georgia Lawyers for the Arts)

Website:

https://gapatents.org/

Information:

• Separate program from Georgia Lawyers for Arts; offers assistance to Georgia and South Carolina inventors.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice

Address:

5680 Oakbrook Parkway, Suite 148

Norcross, GA 30093

Phone:

(404) 585-8446

Website: 

https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/

Information:

Dedicated to protecting the civil rights of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (AMEMSA) communities in GA and the Southeast.

4 major program areas:

1. Civic engagement and organizing
2. Direct legal services
3. Impact litigation
   1. Expands legal protections for marginalized communities and to advocate against laws and policies that are unjust or oppressive.
   2. FOCUS: areas of immigrant justice and voting rights; civil rights litigation that seeks to protect and empower immigrants, refugees, and people of color.
      1. Immigration detention practices, expanding language access at the polls, and fighting other discriminatory elections practice
4. Policy advocacy

Catholic Charities Atlanta

Address:

2401 Lake Park Dr

Smyrna, GA 30080

Phone:

Immigration Legal Services: (678) 222-3920

Information and Referral Services: (770) 429-2369

Website:

https://catholiccharitiesatlanta.org/

Information:

• Free legal and supportive services that enable families to overcome barriers and achieve self-sufficiency on limited issues, like immigration rights and housing issues.
• The Main office, located in Smyrna, does not offer client service because it is primarily used for purposes such as: administration, management, volunteer services, finance, and development.

The Chamblee Office

Address:

3669 North Peachtree Road

Chamblee, GA 30341

Phone:

(404) 920-7745

Services offered here: (English and Spanish)

• Counseling
• English instruction
• Citizenship and naturalization classes
• Financial literacy education
• Foreclosure prevention counseling
• Parenting education
• Veteran services
• Public benefits screening
• Mental health counseling

The Northlake Office

Address:

2305 Parklake Drive

Suite 150, Building 9

Atlanta, GA 30345

Services offered here: (English and Spanish)

• Refugee resettlement
• Immigration & legal services
• Refugee parent services

Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta

Website:

https://www.pbpatl.org/

Fill Out & Complete the Legal Assistance Request Application:

Legal Assistance Request Form

Information:

• Strengthens our community by engaging volunteer attorneys to provide nonprofits with business legal services.
• Allows nonprofits to thrive and transactional attorneys to have meaningful pro bono experiences.
• Who they help:
  • 501 (c ) (3) tax-exempt nonprofit organizations that serve low-income or disadvantaged individuals AND are unable to pay for legal services .
  • Our clients work to improve the lives of the homeless, domestic violence survivors, at risk-youth, senior citizens, individuals with disabilities, and other groups in need.
• Matches eligible organizations with volunteer attorneys from the leading corporations and law firms in ATL.
  • Our staff screens the nonprofits and identifies their legal needs, THEN matches eligible clients with attorneys who have the appropriate expertise.
• Assist nonprofit with business legal matters in areas including:
  • Corporate governance
  • Contracts and leases
  • Employment
  • Trademark and copyrights
  • Tax compliance
• Volunteers are primarily transactional attorneys at law firms and corporations who provide pro bono help in their area of expertise- corporate, contracts, employment, healthcare, intellectual property, real estate, tax, bankruptcy, or technology.

State Bar of Georgia - Pro Bono Resource Center

Address:

104 Marietta St. NW, Suite 100

Atlanta, GA 30303

Phone:

(404) 527-8763

Website: 

https://www.gabar.org/committeesprogramssections/programs/probonoproject/index.cfm

Information:

• Referral system to help people find the pro bono lawyer to help them with specific legal issue
• Provides legal assistance to low-income Georgians to resolve legal issues by helping them find lawyers who will handle their issues pro bono

Dekalb County - Public Defender

Address:

320 Church Street

Decatur, GA 30030

Phone:

(404) 371-2222

Website: 

https://dekalbstatecourt.net/public-defender/

Information:

• Provides legal representation to those unable to afford an attorney in all criminal cases in Dekalb County
• Promotes equal justice, fairness and respect for all people in the judicial system through effective and excellent legal advocacy

Public Defender Qualification Application:

https://dekalbstatecourt.net/public-defender/

Application fee by money order of $50

Lambda Legal

Address:

1 West Court Square, Suite 105
Decatur, GA 30030

Phone:

(404) 897-1880

Website:

https://www.lambdalegal.org/helpdesk

Information:

• Goal: Recognition of the Civil Rights of LGBTQ and People Living with HIV through these services
  • Impact litigation
    • They select cases that will have the greatest impact in protecting and advancing the rights of LGBT people and those with HIV
  • Education
    • Lead campaigns to help people exercise the rights to build public support for equality
  • Public policy work