A Harvard Law School clinic in Jamaica Plain is offering free workshops in basic law tomorrow.
The Legal Services Center (LSC) at 122 Boylston St. offers low-cost legal services that cover a wide range of civil services, like divorce, representation for veterans and suing predatory lenders.
The LSC will be holding its Second Annual “People’s Law School” event March 29, where it will host community education workshops. Topics will include consumer protection, employment, Social Security and family law
“It’s a way for people to get clear information on legal issues, how it’s possible to clear them up, to avoid them, or to know when to get help,” said Daniel Nagin, one of the clinic’s directors and Harvard professor. “The law can be too complex, too confusing, and inaccessible to people.”
“We’re going to do our best to teach people the basics of some things like buying cars, dealing with debt collectors, and giving tips to veterans,” Nagin said.
Founded at 470 Centre St.—the current home of store/restaurant Tres Gatos— in 1979, the clinic was located on Washington Street for 13 years before finding its current Boylston Street home in 1993.
“We have a real strong tradition here in JP,” Nagin said. “And we want to increase the way we make the legal world accessible to people.”
The clinic offers help year-round to low-income people, provided by law students overseen by professors.
“We have a really unique mission to provide legal services to people who can’t afford attorneys but also to teach law students how to be lawyers,” Nagin said. “It’s like a teaching hospital, if you will.”
The People’s Law School workshops are free, but space is limited. For more information, see the LSC’s website at bit.ly/harvardLSC.