How You Can Help

FUNDERS AND DONORS

Legal Aid of East Tennessee is funded by the Legal Services Corporation, the Tennessee Bar Foundation, the State of Tennessee, United Way, law firms, private and corporate foundations, and individual donors. While grant and foundation support make up a significant portion of our annual budget, individual gifts are vitally important to our long-term sustainability. There are a number of ways that individuals and corporations can support Legal Aid.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Individual Gifts

Individuals can make a gift quickly and easily. Individual gifts to Legal Aid are encouraged for unrestricted operating support.

Give Online.

Click on the Donate Now button below

Give by Phone.

Call 865-251-4956 to make a
gift or pledge via phone

Give by Mail.

Send checks via the mail to:
Legal Aid of East Tennessee
100 W. Martin Luther King Blvd, Suite 402
Chattanooga TN 37402

Unique Giving Opportunities

Make a Gift Through your Individual Retirement Account

The Charitable IRA Rollover allows individuals age 70 ½ and older to make direct transfers from individual retirement accounts to qualified charities without having to count the transfers as income for federal tax purposes. In addition, if you have reached the age where you must take a required minimum distribution (RMD) from your IRA, the transfer counts toward that amount. This has become a more common philanthropic strategy for supporters to Legal Aid. 

Donors must remember:

• A rollover must go directly from your IRA to a 501(c)(3) organization like Legal Aid for which the donor receives no benefits. It cannot be given to a Donor Advised Fund or private
foundation.

• The rollover must come from a traditional IRA and not from any other type of retirement plan (401(k), 403(b), Keogh, ESOP).

• An individual’s total Charitable IRA Rollover gift cannot exceed $100,000 per tax year.

• The gift must be made by a person age 70 ½ or older.

Volunteers

Legal Aid of East Tennessee provides a variety of volunteer opportunities for those wanting to get involved in our community. In addition to using lawyers and law students, we also rely on the support of volunteers interested in supporting our mission around non-legal tasks, such as operational or clerical duties.

Donating your time to Legal Aid of East Tennessee can help us to achieve our vision of an East Tennessee where justice is a community value, and no one faces a legal problem alone.

Pro Bono Lawyers

Since 2010, pro bono attorneys have donated their time on more than 10,000 cases for low-income members of our community. These lawyers are an essential part of our mission — and likewise, we provide a critical access point for those looking to give back.

The Pro Bono Project

Legal Aid of East Tennessee’s Pro Bono Project, through strong partnerships with individual volunteer attorneys, law firms, bar associations, and other partner agencies, provides convenient and efficient opportunities for lawyers to fulfill their ethical duties to render pro bono service and to enjoy the personal rewards that come from service to others.

We work to create opportunities for volunteer attorneys to provide critical civil legal help to clients who need help maintaining housing, safety, financial stability, and health. We help our volunteer attorneys provide our neighbors who are most disadvantaged with dignity, respect, and hope.

Interested in taking a case? You choose what you want to do, when you want to do it, and what clients you want to help. You can volunteer at in-person advice clinics, accept cases for direct representation, prepare documents, participate in phone advice clinics, or come up with an idea for us to try to put into place! If you are interested in volunteering, we will find an opportunity that matches your interests, abilities, and passions.

Interested in taking a case?

Click on the link below to view an interactive, up-to-date listing which shows a current list of cases available for pro bono placement in the 26 counties served by LAET. Cases and clinics can be searched based on county, subject matter, or other key factors.

Questions? 
Contact Caitlin Torney, LAET Attorney and Director of Pro Bono at CT*****@LA**.org