Need Legal Help?
Call Pine Tree Legal Assistance
Free legal help for low-income people in Maine.
Pine Tree Legal provides free legal help to low-income people living in
Maine. There is no charge for our services, but you may be asked to help
with court costs.
- Most of our legal services are available only for people with income at or below
125% of the federal poverty
level.
- Sorry, we don't help with traffic violations or criminal
law.
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Because of our limited staff , we can't help everyone who needs us.
Please contact the
nearest Pine Tree office to see if we can help you.
"BUT YOUR PHONES ARE ALWAYS
BUSY!"
Sometimes you may have a hard time getting through on the phones. We want
to hear from you, so please keep trying.
We use a voicemail system in some offices. Maybe this seems unfriendly,
but it helps us to serve you better. Leave a message and we will call you
back.
The phones are especially busy on Mondays and Fridays and first thing in
the morning. So try us again at different times. Don't wait until the
last minute to call us about an emergency!
What Will Happen When You
Ask for Help from Pine Tree Legal?
-
Call or go to the nearest Pine
Tree office. If you don't speak English, ask for a translator
right away. We will provide one free of charge.
-
To be sure that you qualify for
help, we will ask some questions about your income and other
personal information. Pine Tree will not tell anyone else
anything about you unless you want us to.
-
If you don't qualify for our help,
we will tell you right away.
If you do qualify for Pine
Tree help:
-
We will advise you about how to
solve your problem yourself. We may also give you some written
information about your legal rights.
-
We may ask you to send us more
information about your case. We will review it before we meet
with you again to give you more advice.
-
We may need to do some legal
research and discuss your legal issues before we can advise
you. We will meet with you again later.
Be sure you understand what services we are agreeing to
give you.
Ask questions.
Write down the name of the person helping you.
Take notes.
If you need more help, call us again.
Where Can You Find Us?
Call any of our offices Monday through Friday mornings.
Some offices open earlier and provide phone and "walk-in"
service during the afternoon.
For more detailed information about each office,
click
here.
You will not be denied our services on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation,
creed, national origin, age, religion, political affiliation or belief, or disability.
We may be able to help with
these cases:
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Evictions, landlord/tenant problems, housing discrimination
and unsafe housing
-
Problems with welfare benefits
(including TANF, food stamps, general assistance, disability,
and unemployment)
Tax problems with
the IRS (Click on the link to read more about our
Taxpayer Clinic)
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Domestic Violence
-
MaineCare services and coverage, and
access to health care
-
Poverty tax abatements for
low-income homeowners
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School and education issues (Link to our KIDS Legal Aid pages)
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Consumer problems
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Problems with DHHS & child
support
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Job training/ASPIRE/PaS
-
Other serious civil legal problems
Sorry, we can't help with criminal cases or traffic violations.
If you need help with a family law case (divorce, parental rights), please
call:
Volunteer Lawyers Project
1-800-442-4293 or 774-4348
