Can’t afford an attorney? Need help from civil court? New Wake center wants to help.
Verlanda Dawson was forced to move out of her apartment way before she expected.
She had signed a month-to-month lease, so she had to find a new place in the Wake County area, where rental prices have skyrocketed. Dawson found one, but her rent was $500 more than her previous place.
“It basically was a blessing from God that I got this place,” said Dawson, 54, a social worker who helps people with housing issues at Triangle Family Services.
Because she needed a little extra time to get all her stuff out, her landlord agreed to let her pay for extra days with a portion of her $1,300 deposit, she said. But it didn’t work out as described. She moved out March 8 but as of last week hadn’t received her share of the money, she said.
Dawson couldn’t afford an attorney to help her. And looking over small claims court paperwork, Dawson didn’t think she could navigate it alone. Fortunately, she didn’t have to.
The social worker went to the Wake County Legal Support Center on the first floor of the county courthouse on Fayetteville Street. Open since January, It helps people navigate the tricky business of representing themselves in civil court.
“Without the help of the legal support center, I probably would have never done it because it would have been overwhelming for me,” Dawson said.
Opening doors to courthouse help
Dawson is one of many people who can’t easily afford to hire legal help. A 2021 study revealed a severe shortfall in affordable legal resources in North Carolina. The study found 71% of families with low-incomes face at least one civil legal problem each year.
About 86% of those problems go unaddressed, according to the study from UNC Greenboro’s Center for Housing and Community Studies, the North Carolina Equal Access to Justice Commission and the North Carolina Equal Justice Alliance.
That’s problematic because access to civil procedures has big impacts. Courts can help people see their children, keep their housing and protect their rights.
Cost was the biggest barrier to obtaining legal help, the report found, followed by the length of the legal process and distrust of attorneys.
The findings confirmed what Wake County District Court Judge Ashleigh Parker Dunston already knew: Free Legal Aid of North Carolina attorneys aren’t able to cover an increasing list of needs Dunston sees from the bench. Too often she’s forced to continue or dismiss civil cases because the paperwork wasn’t filled out properly or other common mistakes, she said.
Beyond clogging up the system, that pattern costa people extra filing fees and more days off work, said Dunston.
Dunston, who is president of the Tenth Judicial District Bar, worked with Wake County and Raleigh officials, the Administrative Office of Courts and others to open the center. Wake County committed $290,000 annually for three years. Other organizations have provided grants, computers and other assistance.
Center workers and volunteers, including one fluent in Spanish, help people file for divorce, seek custody of children, contest evictions and more. Since opening, the center has drawn more than 1,800 people, or about 30 a day. The majority of the issues brought through the door so far center on child custody and visitation, followed by divorce and child support.
All along, staff are evaluating data they collect from the people needing help and are working to layer in more services to address identified needs, said Anh LyJordan, director of the center and a staff attorney for the Equal Access to Justice Commission.
Law school and private attorney volunteers have started coming in a couple times a month to address legal issues that go beyond filling out paperwork, LyJordan said. Many involve family law, such as divorce and child custody challenges.
They are exploring holding workshops to help people understand what they can expect when they get to court, LyJordan said. People need coaching on on how to “show up and feel like you are actually prepared, that you have a voice or you have a chance,” she said.
The center may offer services beyond the courthouse — in local libraries and recreational facilities. Commission officials are hoping to expand the program by creating a model that can be scaled down for smaller and more rural counties, LyJordan said.
Even if it is one part-time person could be made available, that could help, said Dunston, who also leads the Wake County Bar Association. “Something is better than nothing,” she said.
The concept is new to Wake County but not to North Carolina. Mecklenburg County has had the SelfServe Center for years, Dunston said.
Sensitive situations
The problems people carried through the center’s doors one recent Wednesday were complex and sensitive.
One woman wanted help after a family member left her child in another country. Another needed aid filing a lawsuit against a man who she said exposed her to STDs.
A man was filing a lawsuit against a grocery store, where he had fallen and broke a leg. Another couldn’t figure out why his efforts to get help to see his teen daughter were stalled at the courthouse.
A volunteer and others huddled around a woman showing them bruises on her arm from the confrontation with a tenant she wanted to evict.
Staff and volunteers can’t offer legal advice and won’t know the answers to every question, Dunston said. But they can acknowledge people’s needs and concerns.
“Our guidance is to let people know that their problems are valid and we are going to do what we can to help them,” LyJordan said.
Help received
Dawson, the woman waiting on her rent deposit check, learned about the center from the Wake County Sheriff’s Office after calling there looking for help.
She first visited after getting a letter Feb. 2 asking her to move out by the end of the month. Last week she returned to fill out small claims paperwork.
Staff copied her photos and documents. They coached her through the forms, including paperwork that allowed her to waive court and service fees in advance of a June court date. They offered to notarize the paperwork for free.
After paying for packing supplies, truck rental and movers twice in five months, on top of the first month’s rent and deposit, she needs what is owed her.
“That $900 means the world to me,” she said.
Virginia Bridges covers criminal justice in the Triangle and across North Carolina for The News & Observer. Her work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The N&O maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
This story was originally published May 22, 2023 at 5:30 AM.
