How We Can Help

If you don’t speak English, get someone to help you contact us. Ask us for an interpreter. We will provide an interpreter free of charge.

We will ask you to answer some questions to see if you are eligible to speak with one of our lawyers. This is called the “intake” process.

For example, we will ask you questions about:

• personal information such as address, telephone number, date of birth, Social Security number and how many people are in your household
• the problem or issue you are calling about
• your income and assets in order to determine if we can help you

All information you give us is protected by attorney/client privilege and will not be shared without your permission.

Our staff will decide how best to help you.

Depending on your situation and if you qualify for help, you may get:

• legal advice over the telephone
• information sent to you by mail or email
• limited legal research
• legal representation by one of our lawyers or a volunteer lawyer
• referral to a private attorney for advice or representation
• referral to other agencies that can help you

Vermont Legal Aid, Legal Services Law Line of Vermont and other civil legal services organizations represent people in “civil legal matters.” Civil legal matters are law suits and other legal issues that aren’t about crimes.

For example, civil legal matters include most landlord/tenant and family court issues, bankruptcy, credit cards, unlawful discrimination, Reach Up and SSI benefits cases and similar issues.

On the other hand, Public Defenders and other legal services organizations represent people in criminal cases – when the government has accused a person of committing a crime.

Please note:  We won’t defend you in a criminal case or traffic violation. We also can’t represent you in a personal injury case.

We hope the Vermont Law Help website will help you understand the law better. The information you find here is no substitute for meeting with a lawyer or paralegal, if you can, when you have a legal problem. We may be able to help some people find a lawyer who may work for free or low cost.

Vermont Law Help is a website created and maintained by Legal Services Law Line of Vermont (Law Line) and Vermont Legal Aid. Law Line and Vermont Legal Aid are nonprofit legal services law firms. The Vermont Law Help website is supported in part by a grant from the Legal Services Corporation.

Please use our feedback form to tell us how we can make our website better.

Do you live in the Burlington area? There is a free legal clinic at Legal Services Law Line of Vermont, 274 North Winooski Avenue, Burlington, Vt., most Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon. You can get free legal help there. Call us at 1-800-889-2047 to check on the exact schedule.

You can view a list of other legal clinics and projects around Vermont on the Vermont Bar Association website. See the link at the bottom of this VBA web page.

See the More Help section at the bottom of this page for other free or low-cost legal resources.