Southeast Tennessee Legal Services

Southeast Tennessee Legal Services  

            Southeast Tennessee Legal Servicesis a private non-profit organization.  Several years ago the decision was made to consolidate Legal Services Programs in Tennessee .  At that time some of the attorneys with Southeast Tennessee Legal Services decided to create an independent Legal Services organization that would not receive funding from the Legal Services Corporation.  That resulted in Chattanooga have two separate Legal Services programs, Southeast Tennessee Legal Services and Legal Aid of East Tennessee.  Both programs have limits on the types of cases that they can accept in addition to staff and resource limits.   

            The types of cases that Southeast Tennessee Legal Services accepts are controlled by the grant funding that our organization receives.  Currently we accept cases in the areas of domestic violence and predatory lending.  

            To represent a victim of domestic violence we must be able to corroborate the allegations of domestic violence.  That can be done in many ways including arrests, police reports, medical reports, photographs of injuries, and witness statements.  Domestic violence takes many forms from the severe physical violence to the less obvious verbal and emotional abuse.  Many of our clients have been shot, stabbed, or severely beaten.  We also represent clients that have a legitimate fear of their spouse or partner even if there has not yet been any physical abuse.  We represent victims of either gender.   

            We do not have any specific income qualifications; however, most of our clients have little if any income and/or assets.  Clients who come to us with significant income and assets would be eligible for representation in obtaining an order of protection, but we would likely refer those clients to private attorneys for their divorce.  

           Victims of domestic violence can receive legal representation from Southeast Tennessee Legal Services in obtaining orders of protection in Bledsoe, Bradley, Hamilton, McMinn, Marion, Meigs, Monroe, Polk, and Rhea Counties.  We also represent those clients in civil contempt proceedings when an order of protection has been violated by the abuser.

             Southeast Tennessee Legal Services represents victims of domestic violence in divorce and custody proceedings in Hamilton  County.  We do not currently have funding to represent victims of domestic violence in divorce related matters in any other counties.

            Our second major area of representation is in predatory lending cases.  Predatory lending entails the use of unfair practices when a home loan is made or when payments are collected. Examples include last-minute contractual terms that are significantly different than those discussed orally with the borrower, the impermissible substitution of higher-priced home insurance for that already carried by the borrower, the failure to credit payments when they are actually made, and foreclosure without compliance with all contractual, statutory, and constitutional safeguards. One current case includes a challenge to the type of consumer arbitratration provision commonly used in home loans to less credit-worthy borrowers.  

            Our web site at www.selegal.org offers a wealth of information for victims of domestic violence, predatory lending, and elder clients.  Clients can find information about all of these areas including forms for representing yourself in a divorce or order of protection case and forms for living wills and powers of attorney.  There is a section for pro bono attorneys who do not normally handle family law cases that provides all of the information an attorney would need to represent a client in a family law case.  
       

Clients who are seeking representation in one of the above areas should contact us at 756-0128.