Pro Bono Week: Topeka law firm is making a difference

TOPEKA (KSNT) -This week is nationally recognized as Pro Bono Week. Every October since 2009, law firms have celebrated taking on cases free of cost for members of the community who can’t afford legal representation.  

Kansas Legal Services (KLS) is a private nonprofit law firm that takes on civil cases for free or at a reduced cost. This year, the law firm has taken on about 550 cases, and provided legal advice for about 460 people. These cases include family law, landlord-tenant disputes and advocating for children in the court system. 

When dealing with kids, Attorney Anson Tullis told 27 News it’s sometimes a custody issue, welfare cases or keeping families together. The Kids2Kin program helps non-parent guardians gain custody so that the child doesn’t have to go into foster care. 

“If grandma has been taking care of grand baby for any number of years but doesn’t have all of the paperwork to get them in school, we can help set grandma up with a guardianship so she can safely keep that child at home and prevent that child from having to go into foster care unnecessarily,” Tullis said. 

This work is only made possible through financial donations and grants, as well as other attorneys volunteering their time to take on cases that KLS can’t. To fill out an application with KLS, you can click here.