Inland Empire Legal Aid

“A draft of the form 990/990ez is available to the officers and trustees of the board for review before it is filed.”

“New officers and board members are asked to sign conflict of interest poli cy.”

“The form 990 or 990 ez and other documents falling under public disclosure requirements, is available upon request and through the website www.guide star.org.”

“It is the mission of the spokane county bar volunteer lawyers program (vlp) to provide select legal services to low-income residents of spokane county and outlying counties who may otherwise be denied adequate representation or access to the civil justice system, and to encourage local attorneys to fulfill their duty to provide pro bono services.”

“Volunteers are vital to carrying out the purposes of the volunteer lawyers program. More than 1000 attorney and paralegal hours are provided pro-bono each year. The value of these hours are not included in the income or expenses of the form 990 in quantified dollars but are are major part of the program services that allow legal services to be available to low income individuals and families.”

“The primary purpose of the vlp is to provide free legal services to economically disadvantaged residents. The program offers various legal seminars, clinics, and legal forms. There were over 1,081 hours donated by 137 legal professionals and paraprofessionals (including 87 attorneys) providing legal representation and other legal services to over 1033 people. Law students and paralegal students also contributed over 100 hours with more than 15 volunteers during the year. Pro-bono legal services for the attorneys alone are estimated at a value of over 260,000 in free legal services for economically disadvantaged residents (which are not included in the revenues and expenses of the tax return). The value of the assistance provided by para-professionals, law students, and others has not been valued.”

“Form 990, part v, line 2a the volunteer lawyers program has seven (7) employees but use an agent for payroll services and filing taxes. Salaries and wages are included on the statement of functional expenses, and costs are reimbursed to the payroll agent as identified in schedule r.”