Our Mission:
The mission of the Legal Aid Society of Roanoke Valley is to apply a full range of expert legal services to identify and resolve the most critical civil injustices facing low-income people.
Our History: More than 50 Years Ensuring Access to Justice
In 1966, The Legal Aid Society of Roanoke Valley (LASRV) became Virginia’s first staff-model legal aid licensed by the Virginia State Bar and Virginia’s first program to receive Office of Economic Opportunity funding.
From the very beginning, LASRV attorneys took on some of the major impediments that prevented the poor from accessing the legal system. LASRV attorneys successfully challenged state child removal from parents without a hearing, improvements to area courthouses for disabled parties and witnesses, and challenges to unauthorized welfare liens and work requirements.
LASRV is a non-profit law firm that provides FREE legal services to more than 1,000 low-income clients a year across the Roanoke and Southern Shenandoah Valleys. Civil legal services include housing, family, employment, consumer debt, and domestic violence.
More than 50 years later, and more than 100,000 low-income individuals throughout the Roanoke Valley benefitting from our legal programs and services, LASRV continues to take on a full range of civil legal services, including issues involving housing, family, employment, consumer debt, and domestic violence.
“The best thing about dealing with Legal Aid was obtaining a vast amount of knowledge and information pertaining to the legality of my situation, in addition the friendliness of the staff.” Kari F.
Why Do We Need Civil Legal Aid in the Roanoke Valley?
Assures fair access to justice for everyone, regardless of how much money they have
Provides legal assistance in non-criminal cases to the poor who cannot afford an attorney
Educates clients about their rights and responsibilities
Gives people access to legal forms and links to other agencies
Helps people protect their livelihoods, their health, and their families
Streamlines the court system, reducing the number of unnecessary lawsuits and cutting down on court costs and staff overtime
Saves public dollars in the long term, by preventing problems like homelessness or health issues, that can be extremely costly and harmful to individuals and the public