Many people in need of legal services are stuck between pro bono and private providers. Our pro bono providers rightfully concentrate their efforts among folks with extremely limited resources. If a person’s wages are too high, pro bono providers have to tell the clients, “We can’t help.”
This leaves some fending in the free market, which in Indianapolis means legal rates of $150.00 per hour and an initial retainer of $1,500, on the low end. This may not sound high, but for people living check to check, for people who can only save a couple hundred per month after basic expenses, that retainer request might as well be a million.
Most people don’t save up for a divorce, or a protective order, or a custody dispute because the incidents that give rise to these needs are almost always unexpected. These cases often require immediate action. As Dr. King said, “Justice delayed is justice denied.”
That’s where MAI Legal Services comes in.
We offer sliding scale fees that go as low as $50 on the hourly rate and $350 on an initial retainer.
We take all comers. Our clients are predominantly non-Muslim, and they are represented by a staff of all faiths.
As a side benefit, we improve judicial efficiency. Our trial judges in the audience know they advise pro se litigants that they will be treated as if they have the knowledge of attorneys. But those same judges will tell you this advisement seldom stops litigants from trying to employ everything they’ve picked up from last night’s Law & Order. And if you have read many pro se pleadings, you understand why we are considering a spin on Lowe’s motto: you CAN’T do it, and we’re here to help. We hope to do so long into the future.
Chris Worden, Former Supervising Attorney
1100 West 42nd Street, Suite 140, Indianapolis, IN 46208 | phone: 317.493.5190 | legal@indianamuslims.org
Disclaimer: MAI Legal Services shares office space with numerous attorneys. No partnership or relationship exists between MAI Legal Services and any of these non-affiliated attorneys
Note: Until MAI receives your signed attorney-client agreement and the determined retainer or flat fee, no attorney-client relationship exists
MAI Legal Services, a not-for-profit agency, is a proud affiliate program of the Muslim Alliance of Indiana and its work toward peace, unity and charity.
