Gainesville residents looking for legal help can have questions answered Thursday on Washington Street.

Georgia Legal Services and The General Practice and Trial Section partnered together to provide free legal services throughout the state in every county Thursday for Ask a Lawyer Day.

The Gainesville-area Ask a Lawyer Day event will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday at the Gainesville regional office of Georgia Legal Services at 705 Washington St., B-1.

Mike Monahan, the State Bar of Georgia’s pro bono director, said the main issues that people face on these free legal services days are family law, consumer law and wills.

“Occasionally, they may have a question about criminal law, but we’re mostly dealing with civil legal issues,” Monahan said.

The attorney available at the Gainesville event works on probate matters.

Varying on the availability of public transportation, Monahan said a typical location hosting an event like on Thursday will see five to 30 people attend.

“People learn about the availability through this and end up calling the local office later,” Monahan said.

For those without the money to hire private counsel, events like Ask a Lawyer Day allow people to discover the forms and tools to handle the legal issues they may face.

“A good number of people don’t know that they have a legal problem. They’re trying to figure it out, and they don’t know what the next steps are,” Monahan said.

Monahan and the pro bono team work to find ways to incentivize attorneys to work pro bono at local offices and help keep these volunteers with the program.

“Our goal is to help programs increase their capacity to reach out and include volunteers in the delivery of civil legal services for poor people,” he said. 

Ask a Lawyer Day

What: Free legal help
When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday
Where: Georgia Legal Services, 705 Washington St., B-1, Gainesville
Make an appointment: 800-745-5717