Georgia Legal Services Program
State Bar Leadership Guides the Creation of Legal Aid for the Poor
The Young Lawyers Division (formerly Section) of the State Bar of Georgia is recognized as the moving force behind the Georgia Legal Services Program back in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
In 1968, the Younger Lawyers Section (YLS) of the State Bar of Georgia initiated a study of the need for lawyers for the poor. The study concluded that there was a distressing disproportion between the actual need for legal services by those who could not afford them and the present supply of legal services available to them. In addition, the study found that lawyers tend to concentrate in urban areas, whereas many of the “indigent” live in rural areas where legal help is less available. This was followed the next year by another extensive report aimed at promoting “provision of legal services to indigent persons to the fullest extent possible,” including a draft of Articles of Incorporation of Georgia Indigents Legal Services, Inc. In 1971, through the efforts of individual members of the YLS, the Georgia Legal Services Program was created.
The State Bar of Georgia Board of Governors appoints six members to the board of Georgia Legal Services Program.
State Bar of Georgia Young Lawyers Who Were Instrumental in the Creation of Georgia Legal Services Program, Inc.
Hulett H. “Bucky” Askew | R. William Ide III | Alan F. Rothschild * |
Leah F. Chanin | Frank Jones* | J. Ben Shapiro Jr. |
Hon. H. Sol Clark * | Bettye H. Kehrer | Robert L. Steed * |
A. Gus Cleveland * | L. Martelle Layfield * | Hon. Irwin W. Stolz Jr. * |
A. James Elliott * | Elizabeth E. Neely * | Robert H. Walling * |
David Gambrell * | Matthew Patton * | Lloyd Whitaker * |
Phil Heiner * |
| * Deceased |
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Each year, Georgia Legal Services Program publishes its Private Attorney Involvement (“pro bono”) plan. You may review the program’s 2024 PAI “Pro Bono”.