Local lawyers donating free legal advice; $20K to schools
The building that houses the Commercial Court in Road Town. Photo: architecture.vg
Residents are being offered free legal advice from local lawyers, and three primary schools have a chance to win a share of $20,000 through a letter-writing contest being put on by the BVI Bar Association (BVIBA).
The Bar Association is hosting the competition and offering pro bono advice to mark 42 years of existence.
Pro bono clinics
The Association is offering pro bono clinics on May 12 and 19.
Both sessions will be hosted at Aromas at the Tortola Pier Park from 2pm to 5pm.
Each individual will be given up to 30 minutes of free legal advice from an attorney. The BVIBA lawyers are offering advice on matters relating to landlord and tenant rights, family law, employment law, and insurance law.
“We recognize that people are struggling with unanswered questions about the rent they are expected to pay while living in a badly damaged house or what salary if any, they should be entitled to while their employer has closed its doors,” said President of the BVIBA, Jacqueline Daley.
“Sometimes a short chat with a lawyer is all they need to decide what to do next and whether they have any rights at all. We really want to help to answer those questions,” she added.
Members of the public are being urged to capitalize on the sessions.
The contest
Meanwhile, the student who wins first place in the letter-writing competition will receive $10,000 to help his/her school’s rebuilding efforts, while the second-place winner will be awarded $7,000.
The third-place winner will get $3,000.
The contest requires students to write a one-page letter answering the question: How may we help your school?
The contest is open to primary school students who are under 12 years old.
The letter can be either handwritten or typed and should highlight the school’s needs while detailing the reasons their respective schools deserve assistance.
Entries or questions may be submitted throughout this month to [email protected].
Donations
In the spirit of charity, the Association has also made donations towards hurricane recovery, particularly through sponsoring sporting events and the adopt-a-school programme.
The BVIBA has also made donations towards the reconstruction of the Commercial Court in Road Town.
Copyright 2024 BVI News, Media Expressions Limited. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.
Nice to hear… Giving back is essential in these troubling times.
This is great.
Really! At a time like this a competition. People are still so displaced and trying to make a way where there seems to be no way.
The free legal advice is a great idea since so many people are complaining about their landlords but why the letter writing competition? Why not give the school that needs the most work the first prize money and another school the second prize money and so on? Look at the schools that were deemed unusable and help those.
They doing the competition because they not giving us no money for free. Smdh
I’m amazed by the response to the competition. Life is a competition. Those who sit back and wait for handouts are those who will not get very far. Children and its seems some “adults” in the BVI need to learn to work to achieve their aims and objectives. My mother used to say – “By the sweat of your brow you will eat bread!” Maybe that’s why the place has progressed so little in 6 months, everybody sitting around waiting for government or somebody else and nobody willing to work together as a community (without pay or government handouts) to make a start to get things done. I think Think should THINK about the attitude you project and more importantly I think you should, we all should, get up and start to DO!