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<img src="/site/files/oldnewsfiles/HBVolunteerLawyersfortheArts450px.jpg" width="450" height="370" alt="HBVolunteerLawyersfortheArts450px"><br><p><span class="Caption">Seated, from left to right, are 4ED student Victoria Beard, Professor Juliet M. Moringiello, 3RD student Amanda Frantz. Standing from left to  right are DCBA member Steve O'Neill, artist Liz Laribee, the Executive Director of the MakeSpace, and Assistant Professor Michael J. Hussey. </span></p>
</div>Widener University School of Law’s Harrisburg campus will play a key role in a new pro bono effort that supports the arts in central Pennsylvania.<br><br>The Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts program is collaboration between the Dauphin County Bar Association and the law school. It will provide free representation to income-eligible artists and arts organizations with legal issues related to their art.<br><br>“This is an underserved community with unmet legal needs,” said Associate Professor <a href="/Academics/Faculty/ProfilesHbg/HusseyMichaelJ.aspx">Michael J. Hussey</a>, who joined Professor <a href="/Academics/Faculty/ProfilesHbg/MoringielloJulietM.aspx">Juliet M. Moringiello</a> in helping to found the program with the bar association. “We are very excited for Widener to play a leadership role in such a progressive program, not only to help protect the artists and their creative work, but to assist them in avoiding legal troubles they may not foresee.”<br><br>Through the program, artists or arts organizations may contact the Dauphin County Bar Association, which will assess their financial eligibility for pro bono assistance. From there, the association will forward potential cases to Widener Law students who have been trained to flesh out the legal issues at hand. Students will research the matters, which could cover a broad range, from intellectual property to contract disputes to landlord-tenant disagreements, or the creation of corporations and more. Students will conduct client interviews and develop the necessary case files that will then get moved to licensed attorneys acting in a pro bono capacity. Some may stay on with the cases to assist the attorneys.<br><br>“As a student, this is a win-win situation,” said fourth-year law student Victoria Beard, whose mother has been a fiber artist for more than 30 years. “We can sharpen our skills as future attorneys – in the art of asking questions and eliciting information so we can help the artists – and we can provide a valuable service to people who lack the funds to hire an attorney for help they really need.”<br><br>Beard and seven other law students have undergone training for the program with Sandra Ballard, the pro bono coordinator for the Dauphin County Bar Association. Hussey and Moringiello have been reaching out to artists, speaking at The Midtown Scholar bookstore and the YWCA in Harrisburg about the new program.<br><br>“We are continuing to work with staff at the Dauphin County Bar Association to spread the word about the program and to train licensed attorneys who are interested in volunteering their legal services. It’s a great thing for arts in central Pennsylvania and we are excited to break this new ground,” Moringiello said. “We are also delighted to develop a program that enhances Widener Law’s longstanding commitment to providing students with experiential learning opportunities, which will help them build valuable skills for legal employment. This program also helps to further Widener University’s commitment to civic engagement in the Harrisburg area.” <br><br>For more information on the program, visit <a href="http://hbgmakespace.com/vla">hbgmakespace.com/vla</a>. Interested students should contact Hussey or Moringiello.<br><br><a href="/About/standarddisclaimer.aspx">Standard disclaimer for external links</a><br>