Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts

Are you an arts organization or a part of the creative economy? Are you an artist, a maker or a creative entrepreneur? Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts is here to help with your legal matters!

Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (VLA) is a referral service that provides pro-bono legal assistance to income-eligible artists, creative entrepreneurs or arts organizations in Miami-Dade county. VLA is a joint project of the Arts & Business Council of Miami and the Dade County Bar Association Put Something Back project.

Are you using out of date or one size fits all contracts?
Do you sign contracts or freelance agreements before getting an attorneys advice?
Are you protecting your work with copyright, licensing agreements or patents?
Are your bylaws and incorporation up to date?

In the digital age you need to protect your art work and original content. You need to read and understand any contract or official agreement before you sign or you can jeopardize your rights to your own work.

Legal assistance is available for such matters as contracts, copyrights, incorporation, estates/wills, and constitutional rights/First Amendment issues and more. We can not accept phone call inquiries.

With the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners.

If you need more information please email jean@artsbizmiami.org

CLIENTS

Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts Miami serves:

Non-profit 501c3 arts organizations or those applying for designation. The organization must have a budget of less than $500,000 per year. Organizations will be asked to send a copy of their current IRS 990 form to confirm financials.
Artists or creative entrepreneurs that meet financial eligibility. You must have a total combined household income of less than 300% of the federal poverty guidelines. Click the following link to check the current year’s guidelines hhs.gov Applicants will be asked to send a current W2 form to show household income.
To be eligible, you must have an arts-related legal matter or concern and be based in Miami-Dade County.

Application Process:

Complete online application by clicking apply. Along with the application, you will be required to provide proof of income. Upon receiving your completed application and determining that your legal matter is arts-related, the VLA program coordinator will submit it to an intake attorney for review. You will then be referred to a program attorney who specializes in the area of law applicable to your legal matter.

Please note that the process of assigning an appropriate attorney may take up to 90. We cannot guarantee that we will find you a pro-bono attorney. If we cannot match you in 90 days, we will send you disengagement letter so you can pursue other resources.

ATTORNEYS

VLA Attorneys:

Provide consultations and advice at legal clinics for creatives.
Are matched with artists and creatives for pro bono cases.

Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts provides a great opportunity for attorneys to share your expertise and empower the creative ecosystem in South Florida.

Attorneys that specialize in Contracts, Copyright, Licensing, Incorporation, and Estates/wills are in high demand.