Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts

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  > Artists Find Pro Bono Legal Help - an article from the December 2006 Update Newsletter
  > Download a printable Info Sheet about VLA (Word)

VLA Application Forms

  Requests are processed on the 20th of each month! To have your request reviewed by an attorney, your application must be received at the Arts Council by this time.  
 

Individual Artist Application Form

PDF Version

Word Version

 
 

Arts Organization Application Form

PDF Version

Word Version

 
 

Attorney Application Form

PDF Version

Word Version

 

About Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (VLA)

Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (VLA) provides pro bono assistance to low-income artists and smaller arts organizations for arts-related legal needs. The program is affiliated with the Allegheny County Bar Association through the Pro Bono Center of the Allegheny County Bar Foundation, which oversees a network of local providers of pro bono legal assistance. The program...
  • Provides small and mid-sized arts organizations, and low-income artists, with pro bono legal assistance for arts-related legal needs;
  • Provides rewarding opportunities for attorneys who enjoy involvement with the arts wish to support the vitality of Pittsburgh's arts scene through volunteer service;
  • Promotes cooperation, understanding and communication between the arts and law;
  • Increases leadership on behalf of the arts among attorneys and law firms.

Eligibility: Arts Organizations & Individual Artists

  • Organizations with administrative budgets of $250,000 per year or less
  • Individuals with incomes less than $27,075 per year (+$9,350 for each additional member of household
 
Family Size
Maximum Annual
Income*
How do you verify my income?
 
1
$27,075
When applying to VLA, we ask applicants to submit proof of income. Commonly, applicants submit their most recently-filed tax return, and we base eligibility on their adjusted gross income. Other forms might include a W-2, disability statement or social security statement.

Organizations seeking assistance should submit an audited Form 990, an annual budget or some other form demonstrating an annual budget size less than $250,000.

*Represents 250% of the poverty level, based on the 2009 Federal Poverty Guidelines. This percentage is the highest allowable for attorney pro bono service.
 
 
2
$36,425
 
3
$45,775
 
4
$55,125
 
5
$64,475
 
6
$73,825
 
7
$83,175
 
8
$92,525
 

Eligible requests can include (but are not limited to) copyright, intellectual property, contracts, nonprofit compliance, nonprofit and 501c3 filings, facilities leases, insurance and tax matters and liabilities of board of directors. Application fee: Members free, non-members $15.00.
VLA individual artist or arts organization application forms are located at the top of this page.


Eligibility: Attorneys

  • Members of the VLA are covered by the same malpractice insurance that covers other ACBA pro bono programs.
  • Eligibility: Attorneys licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
  • Desire to serve artists and arts organizations that otherwise would not have access to legal expertise.

VLAs join a volunteer pool of attorneys who are contacted to provide services when artists or organizations contact the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council for assistance. The Arts Council maintains a database of attorneys' practice areas to help make appropriate matches between attorneys and clients.
VLA attorney application forms are located at the top of this page.

Questions:

Contact David Seals, Programs Manager, at 412.391.2060


Artists Find Pro Bono Legal Help
From the December 2006 Update Newsletter

When Calliope: The Pittsburgh Folk Music Society needed to revise its by-laws last spring, Managing Director Patricia Tanner applied to the Arts Council's Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (VLA) program. Now Calliope has secured not only a fine-tuned legal document, but a new board member too!

Margaret Cassidy, Senior Deputy Attorney General, Pittsburgh Office, signed up as a VLA with the Arts Council early last summer in hopes of helping those in the local arts community who have no access to attorneys. "I admire artists and thought that, because of their unique abilities and outlook, they would be an interesting group to counsel." She was soon matched with Calliope, and the partnership worked so well that she chose to go beyond her VLA service and join its board of directors. "Margaret was fantastic," says Tanner. "VLA is a wonderful program that helps arts organizations with projects that they may never have the funds to complete."

Cassidy is one of many lawyers who volunteer their time to help artists in Pittsburgh through Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, a program of the Arts Council that provides pro bono assistance to low-income artists and smaller arts organizations for arts-related legal needs. Potential clients come to the Arts Council with a broad spectrum of concerns, from copyright law to 501c3 incorporation, and are then matched with lawyers with expertise in those fields who can work to resolve them.

The VLA program is available to individual artists with incomes of less than $27,075 per year, and to arts or cultural organizations that have an administrative budget of less than $250,000 per year. Clients must reside in Allegheny County. VLAs currently working with the Arts Council represent firms including Reed Smith LLP; K&L Gates; Cohen & Grigsby PC; and others.


This program is offered in partnership with the Pro Bono Center of the Allegheny County Bar Foundation. To download an application, visit our website at www.pittsburghartscouncil.org and click on "Consulting." For more info contact David Seals, at 412.391.2060 x226 or dseals@pittsburghartscouncil.org.


The above applications are in .pdf format. If you do not have Adobe Reader, click on the Adobe logo to receive a free downloadable copy.

 


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