Thursday, July 4, 2013

New Mexico Legal Assistance to Military Personnel (LAMP)

The legal community in New Mexico provides Legal Assistance to Military Personnel in a variety of ways.

For the Warrior Community

  • Active duty service members may wish to go first to Armed Forces Legal Assistance's online database to "locate active duty legal activities offering general legal services within the continental United States"; simply enter the state you're in or your ZIP code and hit "search".
"In a time of national emergency our men and women in uniform and their families shouldn't have to worry about their legal rights at home. To protect these rights, New Mexico lawyers are ready to help. Fee basis will be determined on a case-by-case basis, depending on the condition of Soldier’s deployment, the legal issue, and the Soldier’s household income. Dependant on qualification, referrals may be made for pro bono consultations or for pro bono, reduced fee or full fee assistance. For assistance call (505) 797-6067 or 1-800-87-N-M-BAR (1-800-876-6227)  or email dmartinez@nmbar.org or fill out the Intake Form and email it."

General-Purpose Resources

Servicemembers, veterans and their families are of course eligible to use the same resources as anyone else; while these resources are not specifically designed for our warrior community, they can be helpful!

Private Practice Attorneys

Typically, a lawyer in private practice will listen to your situation for 15 or 20 minutes, then give you an idea about how to proceed, in general terms, without charging you. If the matter is something the lawyer can help you with, but must charge for, sometimes you can work out a military-family discount, especially if you are easy to work with.

For Lawyers

The New Mexico State Bar has an active Legal Assistance to Military Personnel (LAMP) referral program,
It is likely that there are other New Mexico programs, sponsored by local bar associations, law schools, and others. Anyone with more information on these or other programs are invited to contact me; the most convenient way is to add in a comment below.
Also, if you serve the military and veterans community, you may wish to ensure you're properly listed on the appropriate Avvo and Findlaw web resources. It's free advertising for you and helpful to your clientele!

See also

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Typically, a lawyer in private practice will listen to your situation for 15 or 20 minutes, then give you an idea about how to proceed, in general terms, without charging you. If the matter is something the lawyer can help you with
new-mexico

James R Wood said...

The Young Lawyers Division of the NM State Bar Association in conjunction with the New Mexico Department of Veterans Affairs offers a quarterly (four times a year) free legal clinic to veterans at the New Mexico Veterans Memorial in Albuquerque.