By EMILY REED / Special to the Reporter

ALABASTER – The Aaron Law Firm in Alabaster is providing services for veterans through a monthly legal clinic at Alabaster City Hall.

“One of the things we became aware of was there were a lot of veterans who were having issues with certain things, and they were trying to do the right thing, but they had issues,” said John Aaron, owner of the Aaron Law Firm. “For an attorney, seeing a lot of these individuals dealing with legal issues that were pretty simple to deal with led us to create a place where they could come and get things sorted out.”

The veterans legal clinic is held every second Tuesday of each month from 6:30 until 8 p.m.

Aaron said any veteran of the United States Armed Forces can come to the clinic and get help with issues such as eviction, landlord or tenant problems, creditor challenges, having wages wrongfully garnished, facing a divorce or need to file a divorce, help with child support, visitation, or other domestic relations issues.

“When people come to the clinic they have the opportunity to meet with an attorney and go over the problems they are facing,” Aaron said. “We try to help individuals resolve any issues that do not involve a criminal case. We are working with the Birmingham Bar Volunteer Lawyers Program.”

The Birmingham Bar Volunteer Lawyers Program was created in 1994 by the Birmingham Bar Association to promote access to justice by inspiring volunteer attorneys to provide high-quality representation at no charge to low-income families with basic civil legal needs, according to information on the program’s’ website.

Aaron said the clinic has 20 to 25 individuals, and he is hoping more lawyers in Shelby County will get involved to allow the group to expand the number of people they help.

“This is all volunteers, so the more help the better,” Aaron said. “There are veterans who try to get their life back on track and often end up frustrated because they face small legal matters and they are not sure what to do to take care of the issues they are facing.”

Individuals interested in attending the clinic must be able to show they are a veteran, their income level indicates they cannot afford an attorney and their legal issues are civil (no criminal cases). Also, their case cannot be fee-generating.

For more information about the clinic, call 685-8383.