Hampden County Bar Foundation - Legal Clinic

The Legal Clinic is an award-winning, nationally recognized pro bono program in the heart of Springfield, Massachusetts. It operates as a programmatic arm of the Hampden County Bar Association and receives funding through the nonprofit Hampden County Bar Foundation Inc. 

We believe in continually improving access to justice for the underserved in Hampden County through volunteer efforts of legal professionals. Our goal is to be a pro bono program of the highest caliber—one that partners with others to successfully leverage resources and relationships to fill the justice gaps in our community. We envision working to meet the legal needs of our clients holistically, as access to justice issues are often rooted in overlapping essential needs such as safe housing, protection from domestic abuse, and freedom from financial debt. We believe that the pro bono services model we have created and continue to refine can be replicated successfully in other mid-size cities where innovative pro bono programs have not yet taken shape.

Since its inception eleven years ago, the Legal Clinic has provided free essential legal and law-related services to area residents in need through a variety of pro bono initiatives and community-based programs. We have an impressive track record of continually expanding pro bono programming year-over-year and in 2017, served more than 1,000 individuals. We currently run Lawyer for the Day free legal advice clinics in the areas of housing, family law, and civil district court matters, an in-court eviction hearing clinic, a free wills initiative for veterans, free public library Q&A Forums, and a quarterly “Lawyer-on-the-Line” hotline.