What to Expect

1

Call us at (612) 752-6677 or fill out our online intake form to talk with one of our non-lawyer staff members. You may be on hold for a while.

2

A staff member will ask questions about you and your legal issue to see if you can get free legal help from us. If we cannot help, you will be directed to free or low-cost help.

3

If we can help you, a volunteer lawyer will contact you to provide legal advice for free. In some cases, a lawyer may be able to provide brief services (such as filling out paperwork) or a lawyer may be able to go with you to court and represent you, depending on your legal issue.

Frequently asked questions

No, lawyers do not answer VLN’s intake line. When you call, a non-lawyer staff person will take your information and determine if you qualify for help.

If you qualify, they will schedule an appointment for a lawyer to call you, or talk to you about next steps to get connected to a lawyer.

VLN provides free legal help to qualifying clients in many civil legal issues in Minnesota. Some areas of law we help with include bankruptcy, criminal expungement, debt collection, employment, family law such as divorce and custody cases, housing law such as eviction and eviction expungement, immigration, and other general civil legal issues.

  • Criminal defense
  • Public benefits
  • Wills and estates
  • Fee-generating cases (such as medical malpractice and personal injury)
  • Business and non-profit law

Search LawHelpMN’s LOON directory for help with these issues.

Apply for services by calling our intake line at (612) 752 – 6677 or using our online intake form. A staff person will review your application and let you know whether or not you qualify.

You can call to find out whether or not the legal issue is one we may assist with, or to ask other general questions about how our services work.

But, VLN will not process an application, schedule an appointment, or provide legal services, before talking directly to the person whose legal issue it is.

If you want to help someone apply for services, tell them to call our intake line or apply online, or have them present on the phone when you call.

You can connect to a Spanish-speaking staff person by selecting the Spanish option on our intake line.

We can provide interpreters over the phone in most other languages; please request this when you call.

Looking for help in-person?