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(From Left to Right) Balch & Bingham attorneys Kathy Collier, Chris Yeilding, Marcus Chatterton, and Hansen Babington volunteering at one of the Help Desks for the BBVLP.
BBVLP PRO BONO SPOTLIGHT:
Balch & Bingham
The Birmingham office of Balch & Bingham has been a significant partner of the Birmingham Bar Volunteer Lawyers Program (BBVLP) for over 10 years, dedicated to providing pro bono legal advice and services to those in need in the Birmingham Metropolitan area.
Read about some of their great work below:
Bruce Barze and Katie Hill volunteered to help a client who was cheated out of her security deposit. A client paid her landlord $1,230.00 as a deposit on an apartment that would specifically accommodate the client who is disabled. On her move-in date, the landlord provided a home that did not accommodate her needs. With help from Bruce and Katie, the client received a full refund on her deposit.
John G. Smith, Mike Edwards, and Adam Israel have been working on a pro bono death penalty appeal case for the past 8 years.
Christopher Yeilding has helped a pro bono client recover more than $20,000.00 in unpaid wages and remains active in helping his client receive payments from other outstanding accounts.
Hansen Babington recently helped a client who was being evicted from her apartment. Despite the client's numerous requests, her landlord failed to make repairs to maintain a habitable living space for the client. Hansen helped the client write a 14-day Notice to her landlord, compelling her landlord to remedy the situation.
Steven Corhern took on an extended representation after working at the BBVLP help desk in October 2016. The client had outstanding traffic tickets in several states and an outstanding felony warrant in California that was over 15 years old. Working with the Los Angeles Public Defender, Steven was able to get the felony charge dropped to a misdemeanor and dismissed, thus, clearing it off the client's record so that he could get a state-issued ID.
Alex Flachsbart has worked with the United Way of Central Alabama on two major regulatory actions by the Department of Revenue. First, Alex helped the United Way draft comments (and, ultimately, alternative rules) to the ADOR proposals implementing new sales tax exemption-related reporting rules that could have wreaked havoc on the United Way's statewide network. Second, Alex helped them draft comments to (and, ultimately, an alternative version of) an ADOR-supported bill that dealt with community chest organizations like UWCA.
William Sellers has handled 3 pro bono tax matters this year. All were collection related matters, and Will was able to stop the IRS from taking active collection action. One case in particular that is still on-going is of note. The taxpayer was said to owe over $1 million in taxes. It was probably due to identity theft, but since the matter was over 6 years ago, they couldn't re-open the case. The taxpayer makes $12.50 an hour and was having 25% of his wages garnished. Will was able to convince the IRS that the taxpayer didn't owe the money so the IRS removed the garnishment, and some of the money should be refunded.
Collectively, Balch lawyers have contributed more than 500 volunteer hours assisting low-income and other pro bono clients statewide in the last 12 months. Balch & Bingham had attorneys volunteer at Project Homeless Connect in Birmingham on March 4, 2017. The firm also has attorneys regularly volunteer at BBVLP's Bankruptcy Help Desk, Civil Help Desk, Domestic Relations Help Desk, Homeless Help Desk, and Veterans Help Desk. Below you will find a list of just some of the attorneys from Balch & Bingham who have volunteered this year in a variety of pro bono efforts including for the BBVLP and other pro bono matters statewide.
| Hansen Babington |
Bruce Barze |
Kimberly Bell
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Stan Blanton
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Marcus Chatterton
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Kathy Collier
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Gregory Cook
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Steven Corhern
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Thomas DeBray
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Tom DeLawrence
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Alexander Flachsbart
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Jeremiah Glassford
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Paul Greenwood
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Ed Haden
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Kerra Hicks
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Katie Hill
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Jonathan Hoffman
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Adam Israel
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Lee Johnsey
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Doug Kauffman
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Cavender Kimble
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Todd Lowther
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Martha Legg Miller
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Brad Neighbors
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Phillip Nichols
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Katy Ottensmeyer
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Kelly Pate
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Chelsea Phillips
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John Pickering
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Jeremy Retherford
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Alan Rogers
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Christina Rossi
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William Satterfield
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William Sellers
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Michael Taunton
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Spence Taylor
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Jesse Vogtle
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Christopher Yeilding |
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