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Support Legal Assistance of Dakota County, Ltd.

We’re in the business of helping others.
But sometimes we need a little help of our own.

LADC provides free legal representation to low income residents of Dakota County – a county with the 4th largest poverty population in the state.

LADC needs your financial support to continue this mission.

LADC needs you to volunteer your time.

LADC is a private, non-profit organization.

The need is great.

In Dakota County, more than 31,000 people, primarily women and children, have incomes low enough to qualify for free legal help. The number of Dakota County households in poverty increased by more than 68% from 2000.

Studies suggest that these households experience approximately 15,000 legal problems per year. The unmet legal need is obvious.

LADC receives between over 2,000 calls per year from people needing free legal help. The volume of calls increases each year. Yet LADC does not have the staffing to open anywhere near that number of cases needing representation; many must be turned away. When the case is not an emergency, the name must be placed on a waiting list. That list sometimes contains more than 100 names and the wait has been as long as eight months. Even when the case is an emergency, people are turned away because there are not enough lawyers to help them.

It’s not glamorous work.

The most critically needed representation involves family law cases, and this is where LADC has focused its work. As the demand increases for its services, LADC has been forced to narrow the case types it can accept. Priority is given to families that are experiencing domestic violence. LADC targets cases where an attorney’s involvement is most likely to make a difference in the outcome, and the client or the child has been a victim of abuse.

LADC family law representation saves money.

Timely and effective legal representation is proven to save state and county dollars by reducing or eliminating dependence on public assistance and reducing the duration of county child protection cases.

LADC family law representation protects children.

Children receive protection from abuse when custody orders are issued, restricting contact with the abusive adult. There has been a marked increase in requests for assistance to protect children in cases where a parent has been charged with criminal sexual conduct. Representation from LADC increases the chances for child safety through supervised or no contact orders.

LADC family law representation reduces domestic violence.

More than 70% of LADC clients are victims of domestic violence. Because legal services help women with practical matters such as protective orders, permanent custody and economic support, representation from LADC presents women with real, long-term alternatives to abusive relationships.

LADC family law representation stabilizes families.

Family instability, abuse, deprivation and school instability are identified risk factors in producing violent crime. Family law representation enhances family stability, economic stability through child support, and clarity in the family living situation.

LADC family law representation helps families out of poverty.

With a 5-year limit on the receipt of public assistance, many families are now facing their end date. The only source of on-going support may now be intra-familial, such as the receipt of child support or the division of meager family assets.

Obtaining complete child support orders, including childcare support and medical support, assists low-income families in maintaining their fragile grasp on economic stability. Studies show that as little as $100 per month in child support can decrease the number of families returning to public assistance from 30% to 10%.

In the majority of its cases, LADC obtains quick and appropriate child support orders. Often, LADC can achieve this result before the County Support and Collections agency.

LADC has impressive goals.

Each year, LADC increases the number of cases opened, clients served and cases successfully closed.

LADC serves clients in several ways:

Staff of 2 full-time attorneys and 3 paralegals
Network of more than 80 private attorneys, who take LADC client cases on a volunteer basis
Family Law Self-Help Center, an all-volunteer, pro se project
Community Legal Education

LADC has the support of others; now it needs your support.

Attorneys in Dakota County support this program with funding and with volunteering to provide free legal services to clients.
Judges support this program reducing the burden on the courts and in making access to justice meaningful without regard to ability to pay.
County and state government supports this program financially.

Please contribute today. Your contribution will be used by LADC to provide access to the court system for income-eligible families in Dakota County.