GEORGIA LEGAL SERVICES PROGRAM Albany Georgia,
Georgia Legal Services Program Albany GA. Regional Office
GEORGIA LEGAL SERVICES PROGRAM Albany Regional Office
131 W Oglethorpe Blvd
Albany, GA 31701-2829
Legal Services Albany Phone Number
229-430-4261
The mission of the Georgia Legal Services Program is to provide access to justice and opportunities out of poverty for Georgians with low-incomes.
In 1968 the Younger Lawyers Section (YLS) of the State Bar of Georgia initiated a study of the need for lawyers for the poor. The study concluded that there was a distressing disproportion between the actual need for legal services by those who could not afford them and the present supply of legal services available to them. In addition, the study found that lawyers tend to concentrate in urban areas, whereas many of the "indigent" live in rural areas where legal help is less available. This was followed the next year by another extensive report aimed at promoting "provision of legal services to indigent persons to the fullest extent possible," including a draft of Articles of Incorporation of Georgia Indigents Legal Services, Inc. It was through the efforts of individual members of the YLS that there was created in 1971 the Georgia Legal Services Program. During its early years, volunteer legal aid efforts in Savannah, Columbus, Macon, and Dahlonega were added to the Georgia Legal Services Program, and other efforts began in Augusta, Albany, Brunswick, Gainesville, and Rome. The early growth of the Georgia Legal Services Program is attributable in part to donations by members of the Bar around the State. Support from the State Bar leadership has been important for the growth and survival of the Georgia Legal Services Program since its early years. Today, the Georgia Legal Services Program has 12 offices around the State, which serve low-income Georgians in civil matters. The Georgia Legal Services Program has become an important part of the legal profession in the State, and is targeted at a need that would not otherwise be addressed as effectively.
