State of Mississippi Judiciary

Free family law clinic offered July 26 in Jackson

July 23, 2019

A free Family Law Clinic is scheduled for July 26, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., on the Third Floor of the Hinds County Chancery Court, 316 South President Street, Jackson.

The Hinds County Chancery Court for many years has scheduled a free family law clinic shortly before the start of the fall school term to help grandparents and other family members obtain guardianships so that they can enroll children in school.

This year’s clinic has been expanded to also include family law matters including uncontested irreconcilable differences divorce, custody, visitation, name changes, birth certificate corrections, uncontested emancipation, power of attorney, simple wills and expungements.

Volunteer lawyers will provide legal assistance to people who can’t afford to hire an attorney. Participants must be screened for eligibility based on income. Participant may register on the website of the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project, www.mvlp.net.

The clinic has been organized by the Hinds County Chancery Court and the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project in partnership with Mission First and Mississippi College School of Law, the Mississippi Center for Legal Services, Forman Watkins & Krutz LLP, the Capital Area Bar Association and AARP Mississippi.

The Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project and the Access to Justice Commission are working to schedule free civil legal assistance clinics for residents of all 82 counties, as they did in 2018. A list of free legal clinics across the state is at this link:
https://courts.ms.gov/Legal/CivilLegal.php.

The free family law clinics across the state are designed to give people enough basic legal advice and directions so that they can handle simple legal matters on their own in Chancery Court. Attorneys at the legal clinics will help clients prepare documents, give limited legal advice and help them get ready to go to court on their own.

Clinic topics and limitations are posted on the clinic schedule on the Mississippi Judiciary website at https://courts.ms.gov/Legal/CivilLegal.php, or on the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project website at http://www.mvlp.net/pro-se-legal-clinic-schedule/.

For more information about the subject matter of a particular clinic, and to determine eligibility for free legal assistance, call or e-mail the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project at 601-882-5001 or mvlp@mvlp.org.