Volunteer Lawyer FAQs

Any lawyers in good standing with an active Tennessee bar membership are eligible to volunteer.

VLPA volunteers handle art-related legal issues that directly affect the artist’s or arts organization’s artistic output including:
– Intellectual property (copyright, trademark, contracts)
– Business entity formation
– Nonprofit formation
– Entertainment (film/TV, music, visual arts)
– Labor/employment
– Real estate
– Art-related disputes (not including litigation)
– Wills & estates

VLPA volunteers do not handle legal issues that do not directly affect the artist’s or arts organization’s artistic output. VLPA does not refer matters for litigation to volunteers.

No, you don’t need any prior experience with art-related legal issues to volunteer with VLPA. We welcome attorneys from all practice areas. All you need is a desire and willingness to help the creative community.

VLPA has a malpractice insurance policy covering any volunteer lawyers accepting pro bono cases. Attorneys accepting referrals on a paying basis must have their own malpractice insurance.

VLPA is here to help income-qualified artists (of all disciplines), nonprofit arts organizations and qualifying creative businesses.

Membership is not required to become a volunteer.

However, if you become a member of the Arts & Business Council at the Supporter level or higher, you will receive all standard membership benefits, including:
– Weekly email newsletters
– Discounts on seminars and CLEs
– Invitations to social events
– Other networking and marketing opportunities

VLPA also makes paying referrals to interested member lawyers or professionals for clients who do not qualify for pro bono assistance.

When you sign up to volunteer, indicate via the sign-up form if you’d like to receive our weekly referral case list and/or notifications about clinic volunteer opportunities. If you express interest in either, we’ll send all relevant information to the email address you provide.

Each week, you’ll receive the referral case list, and you can select any case(s) you’d like to volunteer for. VLPA will send you the necessary information to complete a conflict check. If no conflicts arise, we’ll send an introductory email connecting you with the client to begin working on the case.

Volunteer lawyers in Tennessee are eligible to receive Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit at the rate of 1 Dual credit hour for every 5 hours billed, up to 3 Dual credits annually for pro bono cases.

A speaker whose presentation is accompanied by five or more pages of well-prepared written materials will qualify for CLE credit based on four hours of credit per hour of presentation. Presentations with fewer materials qualify for two credits per hour. Repeat presentations qualify for half the credits of the initial presentation.

Quarterly pro bono legal clinics are two hours long and occur once per quarter. For referral cases, the time commitment varies, typically ranging from 2-8 hours.

Our quarterly pro bono legal clinics are typically held in-person on a Wednesday evening from 6:00 – 8:00 pm in various venues across Nashville. A few days before the clinic, VLPA will send you the names of the clients you will meet with, as well as the subject matter of the meetings. Each volunteer assists 3-4 clients per clinic, with meetings lasting 30-40 minutes each. A law student may shadow the appointments.

If interested, please fill out our Volunteer Sign-Up Form!

Please send an email to [email protected], and we will be happy to help you with any questions.