Maxwell Street Legal Clinic

Since 1999, Maxwell Street Legal Clinic (MSLC) has offered a wide range of legal services to low-income immigrants from the Bluegrass Region, mainly those who "fall between the cracks" other programs. The clinic has been a community resource for two decades, attracting dedicated volunteers, law students, and a small staff of professionals. MSLC operated via Kentucky Equal Justice Center for years and received enough funding to increase its capacity to meet the needs of an immigrant community. In 2008, Maxwell Street Legal Clinic separated from the Kentucky Equal Justice Center to run as a self-governing entity. Our initial legal assistants and coordinator left the organization, leaving the Spanish-speaking case handlers as a pipeline to serve people in need. The clinic struggled to adapt to a new administrative structure and find a new, permanent home for operations. MSLC sought volunteer legal professionals to help its leadership address the hale of its operations. The new volunteer team and incoming staff had to form a plan for outreaching to the community. This brought a lot of changes as they sought to touch base with as many society members as possible. Our clinic has always depended on volunteers to supplement the work of our busy staff. We soon saw that more of our clients needed our services. In 2018, our clinic hired two full-time legal assistants and two case handlers to train them in our systems and expand our services for immigrant crime victims. This professional team relieves the bottleneck of clients and allows them to seek assistance at each of the four stages of the immigration process. As such, our clinic quickly earned a reputation in the Bluegrass Region for helping immigrants succeed. Many clients come back to us for help each passing year they are eligible for the next stage of their immigration journey.

Clients' opinions on the legal service were mixed. Some approved it as both affordable and reliable, offering emotional and technical assistance to nervous customers. For instance, a client commented that after getting a new attorney, their experience was notably better. Conversely, others shared their positive experience with the tuner, with some admitting to having used the service for numerous years. Most customers described the experience as gratifying and helpful, with one saying that they would always be grateful. However, other clients were dissatisfied, some complaining about a lawyer who did not treat them professionally. Client reports were mostly favorable, with clients praising the low rate for a more accessible service.