Please read these instructions carefully before submitting an application.
In order to work with an attorney through Community Law Center, your organization must first submit this Application for Legal Services with all necessary organizational documents.
All submitted information will remain confidential.
Check your eligibility before applying.
Are both of the following true?
1. You are a nonprofit organization that has a board of directors.
[Click to read more…]
Community Law Center only represents nonprofit organizations. You must already have a board of directors, the majority of whom are unrelated to one another by significant business or family relationship.
We will be asking for a list of board members and written confirmation that your board decided to have CLC represent your organization on the matter(s) for which you are applying.
2. Your organization qualifies based on limited income... Or you are specifically seeking assistance with a tax exemption application as a new nonprofit (regardless of income eligibility).
[Click to see more on incomes…]
(Note: Organizations that do not meet income requirements might still obtain CLC legal services at an hourly rate.)
Pro bono legal services through Community Law Center are only available to organizations that meet income eligibility requirements
(whether the membership, the board of directors, or the population served by your organization).
If your organization is a neighborhood association or similar group with specific boundaries within Baltimore City, refer to this Planning Department data of neighborhood profiles (click) —
click to expand the “Demographics” layer and checkmark the box for “Median Household Income”
Check your neighborhood’s median household income in their Profile for the average household size against the income limits chart (found in the application’s affidavit section, and also shown above) to verify that your organization qualifies.
If your organization’s composition differs from what you find in the Planning Department data, please provide an explanation.
Also, please note:
If nonprofit start-up is what your organization is seeking assistance for, then at least one Board member must attend our “How to Start and Maintain a Nonprofit” workshop before the application will be considered complete.
For application questions, contact:
Ingrid Hitchens-Hall, Senior Paralegal & Resource Manager
Community Law Center, Inc.
3355 Keswick Rd, Suite 200
Baltimore, MD 21211
Phone: 410‐366‐0922 x 113
Fax: 410‐366‐7763
IngridH@
communitylaw.org *
*If submitting materials to us via email, please ensure attachments are no more than 35 MB in size.
The Application Package
A complete application package will include**:
1. A CLC Application form (for each legal issue), including signed affidavit;
(See blue button options below.)
2. Board List and Authorization:
A list of your Board members, as well as evidence of authorization (such as Meeting Minutes or a Board Resolution) showing that your Board wants CLC’s legal services on the matter you are requesting assistance with;
3. Your Bylaws (signed, or latest draft if none is adopted yet);
4. Your Budget for the current year; and
5. Application Fee:
Community Law Center charges a non‐refundable sliding scale application fee to cover our administrative costs; this one-time nominal fee is not meant to be a barrier to services, and once a case is placed with an attorney, the attorney’s time will be provided free of charge.
** Additional items may also be required (based on the type of case) such as copies of your Form 990, IRS tax exemption determination letter, or fiscal sponsorship agreement if you have a fiscal sponsor.
** If your organization is applying for assistance with starting a nonprofit, then at least one Board member must attend our “How to Start and Maintain a Nonprofit” workshop.
Two additional attachments for start-up assistance applications will be three sets of Board Meeting Minutes and a narrative description of your activities and funding.
Fill Out the Application:
or
To Just Pay the Application Fee Now:
What happens after I submit the Application Package?
When you are submitting your completed Application for Legal Services (including all relevant information and application fee) to Community Law Center, please keep a copy of your application for your records.
If you submit an application by fax or by mail, please let us know to look out for it. Or for online submissions, if you do not hear from us within one week of submission, please contact us to ensure that the application was received.
Step 1. Community Law Center staff will review your application for completeness, requesting additional information if necessary, and will perform a check for any potential conflicts of interest if the case involves another nonprofit or a property with the boundaries of a community association. The amount of time it takes to process an application largely depends on your timely response to our requests for more information.
Note that incomplete applications for potential clients who continue to be unresponsive to Community Law Center’s requests for additional information may be closed, with any further action afterwards requiring a new application and fee.
Step 2. For fully complete applications, Community Law Center must make a final determination on whether to accept the case. You will receive notification at this point if your case is not accepted.
Please note that we communicate with you through the process to this point to increase the likelihood of acceptance but Community Law Center does not guarantee that every application will be accepted and retains the right to turn away potential cases due to a number of factors.
Step 3. Once a case is accepted by Community Law Center, it will be assigned to either a staff attorney or go into the pro bono program to seek a volunteer attorney. If the case is assigned to a staff attorney, the staff attorney will contact you and begin representation.
If a volunteer attorney is sought, the case may be advertised to potential volunteer attorneys on an every-other-week basis. Staff will continue to post the case for up to two months. It typically takes four weeks for a volunteer attorney to be located.
Community Law Center does not guarantee that every case will be placed.
Step 4. If a volunteer attorney expresses interest in a case, Community Law Center staff will request additional information in order for the pro bono attorney to perform a conflict check.
Step 5. If a volunteer attorney agrees to take the case, the client will be notified. An assignment letter with information about the case and contact information will be sent to both the volunteer attorney and the client.
Step 6. The client and the volunteer attorney will work together on the case. Community Law Center Staff will then step back but will remain available to both the client and the volunteer attorney as needed. Community Law Center staff will seek updates on the case approximately every six months until the case is completed.