Welcome to ERLS Simple Justice Volunteer Platform!
Lawyers have a license to practice law, a monopoly on certain services. But for that privilege and status, lawyers have an obligation to provide legal services to those without the wherewithal to pay, to respond to needs outside themselves, to help repair tears in their communities.
– U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (March 2014)
East River Legal Services is one of three legal aid services in South Dakota. We currently serve the eastern 33 counties in South Dakota. As of June 1, 2024, ERLS has already received over 1300 applications for legal services and representation. Try as we might, there are simply not enough staff to represent every client in need, and that is where you come in.
Simple Justice is a platform that allows us to post in real time volunteer opportunities of various durations. Volunteer opportunities will be added as we navigate our new site. Volunteer opportunities come in the following forms:
- Clinic Volunteers: 2-3 hour time slots where volunteers provide advice to ERLS pro se litigants. These clients are invited when there is no staff capacity to represent them with an ERLS staff attorney. The time involved is only the clinic time you sign up for.
- One-Off Pro Se Advice: In-between clinic dates we sometimes have pro se clients that need immediate advice. Signing up for this opportunity is a 1-on-1 meeting with the pro se client to advise them how they should move forward or fill out their pro se pleading. The client remains a client of ERLS and the time involved is controlled by the volunteer. Should the volunteer desire to keep the client, the client would be promoted to Private Attorney Placement.
- Private Attorney Placement: The most needed volunteer is the Private Attorney Placement volunteer, where the volunteer takes on an entire case pro bono. The time commitment is case-by-case. Volunteers are able to pick from a variety of cases and do a conflict check through the Simple Justice Platform.
- Mentor Attorney/Education: Help us, help you! This platform allows us to put on educational outreaches on various, lesser-known practice areas such as debtor-creditor, housing, bankruptcy, etc. South Dakota is in desperate need of litigators in this area, and there is no better way to help your business expand into practice areas while helping ERLS clients along the way. Attorneys can also sign up to be mentors for attorneys entering the field and/or assist ERLS in giving CLEs on their practice areas.
We are excited to see how this platform can elevate low-income access to the courts in South Dakota! Thank you for being a part of this journey.