Homeless Legal Clinics 

The homeless are perhaps the most vulnerable members of our society and in New Mexico, their numbers have been steadily increasing.  The Center has a long-standing commitment to increasing and improving the availability of legal services for the homeless.  For example, we helped to establish a successful new legal clinic for the homeless in the Las Cruces area.  The clinic is operating out of the Mesilla Valley Community of Hope shelter, located at 999 W. Amador Ave.  The Clinic is open every Wednesday from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.  Volunteer attorneys staff the Clinic, meeting directly with homeless individuals to offer them advice, brief services, and referrals.  This clinic addresses issues such as minor criminal citations, consumer law, family law, public benefits, landlord-tenant disputes, and denial of access to public spaces.

If you are a practicing attorney in New Mexico, there are a variety of ways you can contribute to the legal clinic.  Volunteers are needed to serve as on-site attorneys.  Staffing the clinic is a gratifying experience and a rewarding way to volunteer your time.  Even if you are a new lawyer, you will be surprised at how much you have to offer these clients, how your help can make a major difference in their lives, and how grateful they are.  Also note that time spent volunteering at the clinic counts towards fulfillment of the obligation of 50 hours of pro bono work under Supreme Court Rule 16-601 NMRA. Volunteers contribute two hours roughly every six weeks.  

Attorneys can also serve as an "information referral source" to assist clinic attorneys in answering questions for clients in specialized areas of the law.  Or, they can become a part of our pro bono referral list to take on cases that cannot be resolved during the limited time period the clinic provides.   

To sign up for any of these opportunities, please download and complete this form. It can be returned to Stacey Leaman at the Center on Law and Poverty via email to: stacey@nmpovertylaw.org or fax to: 505-255-2778. 

A separate clinic provides the same services to homeless individuals in the Albuquerque Metropolitan area.  This clinic is open every Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in an office provided by Healthcare for the Homeless at 1st and Mountain Rd. NW in Albuquerque. The same volunteer opportunities are available at this clinic. For more information, or to sign up, please contact: Laurel Nesbitt, c/o Steven Granberg, Attorney at Law, 1400 Central Avenue, SE, Suite 3300, Albuquerque, NM 87106; fax: 245-8558. 

In recent years, the Center also revised and expanded a Legal Manual for Homeless Persons and their Advocates.  This manual was updated as of October of 2005.  To view the Manual in PDF format, click here. To download forms from the appendices click here.