Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service

MVLS is a private, non-profit legal services provider established in 1981 to help meet the need for civil legal services in Maryland.Our mission is to connect low-income Marylanders with volunteer lawyers and community partners to deliver free civil legal assistance because there should be justice for all, not just for those who can afford it. Our pro bono program serves Marylanders in Central Maryland, the Lower Shore, and Western Maryland. Our program has focused on pro bono assistance–matching one client and one Mother & Daughtervolunteer attorney—and it remains a cornerstone of our work today. Our panel of more than 1,800 volunteers help clients with custody disputes, tax issues, child and adult guardianship, landlord/tenant conflicts, foreclosure defense, criminal record expungements, consumer cases and a broad range of other civil legal problems.Over the years, MVLS has developed special projects that supplement our core pro bono efforts. These include assistance to self-represented litigants at our Washington County family law clinic and MVLS self-help bankruptcy classes.Since 2008, MVLS has participated in the statewide Foreclosure Prevention Pro Bono Project. MVLS volunteers represent homeowners in foreclosure cases in the courts and mediations before administrative law judges. Additionally, a foreclosure clinic is currently held once a month at the MVLS office in downtown Baltimore and at the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County. The drop-in clinics provide brief advice to any homeowner facing foreclosure or preparing for foreclosure mediation.