During the American Bar Association’s National Celebration of Pro Bono, October 25–31, 2026, we’re celebrating the volunteers who give their time and skills so that more Texans can get legal help. Lone Star Legal Aid can’t take every case that comes to us. Our pro bono volunteers help close that gap. Volunteers including attorneys, law and pre-law students, paralegals, and other professionals, prepare documents and help families settle legal problems that some have lived with for decades.
Below, we explain how our Pro Bono Office works and why volunteer lawyering matters so much in Texas. We also introduce four volunteers who, in their own words, describe what this work has meant to them.
The Pro Bono Office (PBO) at Lone Star Legal Aid (LSLA) connects volunteers with low-income clients across our service area. We serve 72 counties in East Texas and along the Gulf Coast, plus 4 counties in Southwest Arkansas. Clients qualify if their household income is at or below 125% of the federal poverty guidelines and in some cases, may qualify at higher levels of the poverty guidelines when other requirements are met.
Among the unit’s most meaningful limited-scope opportunities, volunteers can serve across recurring monthly workshops in family law and estate planning. These programs help clients with simple divorces, wills, powers of attorney, and other essential documents to address important legal needs. A workshop works like this:
Many volunteers have never worked on a legal matter before. When a volunteer joins, we ask what they’re comfortable with and what they’d like to learn. Then we build their role around those answers. When a pro bono attorney accepts a case for placement through LSLA, the support we provide includes: CLE training, mentorship, sample pleadings, staff and language-access support, and malpractice coverage.
In Texas, the number of people who need civil legal help is far larger than the number of legal aid lawyers available to help them. Pro bono volunteers help close that gap.
Nationally, 74% of low-income households had at least one civil legal problem in the past year. Low-income Americans receive no legal help, or not enough, for 92% of the problems that seriously affect them (LSC Justice Gap Report, 2022). Those problems include divorce, custody, housing, wills and estates, and they affect families’ finances, health and safety.
According to the Texas Access to Justice Commission:
LSLA closed more than 27,000 applications for help in 2024 (Paladin). Many of the counties we serve have few practicing attorneys, so volunteers take on work our staff alone couldn’t handle.
Texas lawyers give more than 2.72 million hours of free legal services to low-income Texans each year, according to the State Bar of Texas’s 2021 pro bono survey (as cited by the Texas Access to Justice Commission). A workshop model like ours makes those hours go further. One trained team can finish divorce or estate planning paperwork for many clients in a single day. Clients leave with documents they have often needed for years.
Pro bono helps volunteers, too. Attorneys build skills in areas outside their usual practice, and students get hands-on experience with real clients before law school or a paralegal career.
These four volunteers come from different backgrounds and are at different stages of their careers. Each found a place in our family law and estate planning workshops.
Volunteer, Family Law & Estate Planning
Amanda is an attorney. She had long wanted to volunteer but worried it would take too much time or require expertise she didn’t have. She started with a single workshop on expedited divorces and estate planning documents, and she has stayed involved ever since. She has drafted wills, called clients with follow-up questions, worked with LSLA to find ways her interest in AI could help, like revamping intake forms, and watched a simple divorce prove-up in court.
“When your client is a person instead of a corporation, you get to see exactly whose life your work changes. It’s the most rewarding experience I’ve had in my legal career so far.”
“With Lone Star’s support, by my third will I had all the confidence in the world, and now I can list the eight essential estate planning documents off the top of my head.”
“If you’ve been thinking about volunteering but worry about taking on more than you can handle, start with one workshop. Lone Star will meet you there.”
Doctor of Healthcare Administration; 3L J.D. Candidate; CPC, COC, CPC-P, CRC, CPMA, CDEO, CPC-I, CCS, CDIP, CCO; Co-Chair, HYLA Pro Bono & Service Committee; Volunteer, Family Law & Estate Planning
Meera came to law after 25 years in healthcare. She still works full time in that field while finishing her third year of law school. LSLA is her first legal role. At our workshops, she has prepared petitions, Statements of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs and other documents for clients who need divorces.
“Volunteering with Lone Star Legal Aid is my first legal opportunity, and I could not have asked for a better place to start.”
“[One client I helped] had been waiting 23 years to get this done. After everything was finished, she thanked me over and over and told me that now she could sleep well that night, and that she felt so relieved.”
“So to every pre-law student, law student, and attorney looking for a way to give back: this is the best place to volunteer. You will be trained, supported, and welcomed, and you will receive as much as you give.”
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Pre-Law Student, University of Texas at San Antonio; Paralegal Certificate Candidate, University of Texas at Austin; Member, CAPA (Capital Area Paralegal Association); Volunteer, Family Law & Estate Planning
Isabella started volunteering to get real experience before law school. Most of her time goes to simple divorce cases. She helps with client intake and drafts petitions and other basic forms. She has also helped plan estate planning and probate workshops, researching the topic first so she understood the basics.
“During intake I hear what clients are dealing with, and then I help turn that into paperwork. A lot of clients have waited a long time to take care of these things, so finishing the documents and seeing them leave with a clearer plan and a sense of relief feels really good.”
“Volunteering here has given me hands on experience with clients and documents while I figure out my path in the law, and it has been more rewarding than I expected.”
Junior, University of Houston, B.A. in Music with a minor in Business Management
Agata has always been interested in true crime and law, and a friend’s suggestion led her to explore the legal field. She met an LSLA attorney while playing in the orchestra for Night Court, and through that attorney she attended a Family Law Pro Bono Workshop. She had no legal experience, but the training before the workshop prepared her to help clients with divorce documents. She is now a long-term volunteer. She makes client prescreening calls, helps prepare legal documents and helps organize workshops.
“During prescreening calls, I often hear about difficult and deeply personal situations. Although some conversations can be emotionally challenging, it is incredibly rewarding to see those same clients attend workshops and receive the assistance they need.”
“Most importantly, it has shown me how meaningful legal assistance can be to people who might otherwise struggle to access it.”
You don’t need to be a family law expert to volunteer, or even a lawyer. Attorneys, law and pre-law students, paralegals, and other professionals are all welcome. We’ll train you and support you as you work. As Amanda puts it, start with one workshop.
Thank you to Amanda, Meera, Isabella, Agata and every volunteer who gives their time to Lone Star Legal Aid’s clients this Pro Bono Week and all year.
Lone Star Legal Aid (LSLA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit law firm focused on advocacy for low-income populations by providing free legal education, advice, and representation. LSLA serves millions of people at 125% of federal poverty guidelines, who live in 72 counties in the eastern and Gulf Coast regions of Texas, and 4 counties in Southwest Arkansas. To learn more about Lone Star Legal Aid, visit our website at www.LoneStarLegal.org.
Media contact: media@lonestarlegal.org