Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts

Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (VLA) is a joint program of the Dade County Bar Association Put Something Back program and the Arts & Business Council. The program provides pro bono legal assistance through volunteer attorneys on specific client requests. VLA does not guarantee that all legal matters of the organization or individual artist will be settled. We also provide legal clinics, seminars for attorneys and a legal series for the arts.

Client Eligibility Guidelines:

In order to be eligible for pro bono legal service applicants should meet the following requirements; however, each case will be considered on its individual merits:

Cultural Organizations
  1. Organization must be a nonprofit cultural arts organization (IRS 501 (c) (3)) or in the formal process of obtaining that designation.
  2. Organization's legal problem must be closely related to its function as a nonprofit arts organization.
  3. Organization operates with an annual budget under $100,000 excluding program expenses. (Waivers may be sought for this eligibility guideline depending on the specific situation.)
Individual Persons
  1. The applicant's legal problem must be closely related to his or her status as an artist, author, performer, etc.
  2. Applicant must have had an income under $20,000 in the preceding year. The applicant's combined household income must have been under $25,000 in the preceding year. (Waivers may be sought for this eligibility guideline depending on the specific situation.)
VLA reserves the right to reject a client's application for assistance for a variety of reasons.

For a VLA Project Request Form you can download please click here.