Legal Clinic
A Pro-Bono Legal Clinic Providing Free Legal Services for Low-Income Members of the Community
Main Office (Uptown):
4753 N Broadway, Suite 700, Chicago, IL 60640-4995
Hours: Every First Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m.
For appointments, call (312) 332-1624.
Who We Are
The pro-bono Asian American Legal Services Clinic (AALSC) is made possible through the partnership of AHS, DLA Piper US LLP (DLA Piper), and Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation (CVLS). The clinic aims to meet the legal needs of the community by providing top-quality legal services from pro-bono attorneys who volunteer through DLA Piper and CVLS. Daniel Hwang, an associate attorney with DLA Piper, currently serves as the director of the clinic.
What We Do
The legal clinic is held on the first Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the AHS Uptown office located at 4753 N. Broadway, Suite 700. Appointments are recommended and can be made by calling CVLS at (312) 332-1624. Clients who may need an interpreter may call AHS directly at (773) 728-2235.
The clinic is staffed by volunteer attorneys and law students who ask each client a series of questions to determine what the client's legal issues are and how the client hopes to resolve them. Attorneys at CVLS and DLA Piper consider the facts of each case before determining if the clinic is able to accept the case.
AALSC is able to accept a wide variety of cases, including (but not limited to) immigration matters, divorces, landlord-tenant disputes, consumer fraud, social security, and expungement. Below are examples of cases that the clinic has successfully handled:
Consumer Fraud: The client is a violinist. He wanted to trade in his violin for a concert quality violin. He went to a violin dealer who agreed to give him a concert quality violin for the trade-in and cash. After the client gave his violin to the dealer, the violin dealer demanded more money from him than they had agreed. After the client paid the additional sums, the violin dealer gave him a violin of inferior quality to the one he had traded in. AALSC filed a consumer fraud and deceptive trade practices claim against the violin dealer. Ultimately, the client received a cash settlement and the violin he had originally bargained for.
Child Visitation: The client, an Illinois resident, gave up custody of her daughter to her ex-husband who lived in Texas. The custody order also provided that the client had visitation rights with her daughter during the Christmas holiday and her summer vacation. After the daughter moved to Texas, the client found it increasingly difficult to contact her daughter. Her ex-husband would find excuses for why the daughter could not visit her during the appointed visitation times. For two years, the ex-husband denied the client visitation. AALSC filed a petition for rule to show cause against the ex-husband why he should not be held in contempt of court for violating the visitation order. At the hearing on the petition for rule to show cause, the court enforced the visitation order and required the visitations to recommence. The client and her daughter are now together on holidays and during the summer.
Our History
The Asian American Legal Service Clinic was founded in 1991 by the Asian American Bar Association, AHS, and CVLS. In 1995, Rudnick & Wolfe (now DLA Piper) became a co-sponsor of the clinic.
Since its inception, the legal clinic has been committed to providing top-quality legal services to the Asian American community. In 1997, the American Bar Association awarded then-clinic co-chair John Chen its Pro Bono Publico Award for his work with the Asian community through the AALSC. In 2004, Catherine Burkhardt of Piper Rudnick LLP (now DLA Piper) received the Chicago Bar Association's Maurice Weigle Exceptional Young Lawyer Award, in part because of her contributions to the AALSC.
For appointments call:
Chicago Volunteer Legal Services
(312) 332-1624
For the clinic visit:
Asian Human Services
4753 N. Broadway, Suite 700
(773) 728-2235
