Volunteers needed for Campbell Law’s next remote expunction clinic on May 8

Photo of volunteers at Pitt County Expunction Clinic

RALEIGH — Campbell Law School announced today its Blanchard Community Law Clinic plans to hold its second remote expunction clinic of 2021 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 8, at Macedonia New Life Church at 2004 Rock Quarry Road to assist low-income clients with expunging their criminal records and to honor its namesake, Charlie Blanchard, who recently died.

“Charlie was a huge proponent of lawyers providing pro bono legal services, and we believe there is no better way to honor his memory than through a free legal clinic that supports men, women and families in our community,” said Professor Ashley Campbell, founding director of the clinic.

Volunteers are needed for the clinic.  If you are interested in volunteering either as a lawyer, current student, judge, DA, PD, clerk, notary or other, please sign up at this link.  Free CLE and training will be provided. 

“Please share this link far and wide and help us recruit volunteers for this event,” Campbell added.

The clinic follows the inaugural Bob and Pat Barker Second Chance Expunction Clinic held on Saturday, March 13, in Pitt County where 47 clients were served and more than 200 petitions were completed and filed in various counties throughout North Carolina for those clients, according to Campbell.

“We could not have held such a successful clinic in Pitt County without our many volunteers, who included attorneys, law students, clerks, judges, the DA and about a half-dozen church members,” she explained. 

The Community Law Clinic is leading the effort in collaboration with the law school’s Pro Bono Re-Entry Project (under Professor Bobbi Boyd’s supervision), the North Carolina Justice Center, the Wake County District Attorney and the Macedonia New Life Church. “We are excited to be participating in another remote clinic and hope that it will serve as a model for future clinics during COVID and beyond as a way of reaching clients throughout the State as efficiently and inexpensively as possible,” Campbell added.
 
The new year brought a number of new beginnings for the clinic which is now primed to expand its outreach thanks to the addition of two new experienced attorneys and a new larger location in downtown’s Warehouse District at 311-200 Martin Street (the former home of Clearscapes, artist Thomas Sayre’s famed architectural firm) ensuring there is adequate space for clinic staff to provide free counsel to its clients and their families. The clinic’s expansion efforts are made possible thanks in large part to a partnership with the North Carolina Justice Center and a major donation from longtime Campbell University and law school supporters Bob and Pat Barker. 
 
These substantial developments will allow the clinic to move closer to achieving its mission of becoming the statewide leader in making expunctions, and the parallel additional remedy of drivers’ license restoration, available to North Carolina citizens, Campbell explained.
 

Founded in 2016, The Blanchard Community Law Clinic helps citizens move forward with their lives following incarceration and involvement with the criminal justice system. The clinic partners with Triangle area community nonprofits including Alliance Medical Ministry, StepUp Ministry, the Raleigh Rescue Mission, Urban Ministries, Justice Served, Community Success Initiative and many more to provide free legal services to low-income individuals. Pro bono criminal record expunction efforts have been a mainstay of the clinic, which has helped more than 700 individuals since it began. To learn more about the Blanchard Community Law Clinic and its services, visit this link.   

ABOUT CAMPBELL LAW

Since its founding in 1976, Campbell Law has developed lawyers who possess moral conviction, social compassion, and professional competence, and who view the law as a calling to serve others. Among its accolades, the school has been recognized by the American Bar Association (ABA) as having the nation’s top Professionalism Program and by the American Academy of Trial Lawyers for having the nation’s best Trial Advocacy Program. Campbell Law boasts more than 4,200 alumni, who make their home in nearly all 50 states and beyond. In 2021, Campbell Law is celebrating 45 years of graduating legal leaders and a dozen years of being located in a state-of-the-art facility in the heart of North Carolina’s Capital City.

ABOUT N.C. JUSTICE CENTER

The mission of the North Carolina Justice Center is to eliminate poverty in North Carolina by ensuring that every household in the state has access to the resources, services, and fair treatment it needs to achieve economic security. Learn more at https://www.ncjustice.org