Pardons & Expungements Clinic - Monroe County

The Pardon Project

Questions?  Contact the Monroe County Bar Association at pardons@monroebar.org or call 570.424.7288.


Welcome to Monroe County Bar Association’s
Find a Lawyer Program

Many decisions today are difficult and will affect the rest of your life. A lawyer can explain different aspects of the law and assist you with complicated legal matters. By law, only a lawyer may give legal advice and the right to practice law is given by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Only after a lawyer has been admitted to the PA Bar may they represent clients. The "Find a Lawyer" program can help you find an attorney who practices in the field of law for your specific legal matter.

The attorney may charge up to $25.00 for the first 30 minutes of the consultation.  Participating lawyers are members in good standing of the Monroe County Bar Association, practice in their selected fields of law and are governed by the Supreme Court of PA and the Rules of Professional Conduct.

DISCLAIMER

The Monroe County Bar Association (MCBA) “Find a Lawyer” Program connects businesses and individuals in need of legal services to lawyers who are members of the MCBA in good standing, licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and who choose to participate in the program. The MCBA lawyers who choose to participate in the program identify the areas of law in which they practice; the MCBA then refers inquirers to a lawyer on the list in the practice area identified by the inquirer. The MCBA is not a law firm, does not employ any lawyers and does not represent clients. The MCBA does not recommend, rate, review or monitor the work of its lawyer members who participate in the referral service. The MCBA is not responsible or liable for any damages that result in any way from errors, omissions, or any failure of performance of attorneys retained through the Find a Lawyer Program.

To Find a Lawyer click here or call the Monroe County Bar Association at 570.424.1340.

 

Modest Means Program

The Monroe County Bar Association (MCBA) created the Modest Means program to assist moderate-income residents of Monroe County find affordable assistance in very specific areas of personal, family and employment law. Participating members of the MCBA's Modest Means Program agree to charge highly discounted reduced rates to clients referred through this program. 

APPLICATION AND APPLICATION PROCESS: To apply, complete the application form and submit along with the outlined supporting documents.  The application and documents can be submitted by mail, email or fax.  Our contact information is on the application. Should you bring your application to the MCBA office, the MCBA staff will not review it at that time.  Please note that incomplete applications will not be processed.  Applications must be signed and verification of all household income must be provided as outlined on the application.  DOCUMENTS YOU SUBMIT WITH YOUR APPLICATION WILL NOT BE RETURNED.  Please submit copies when appropriate.

ELIGIBILITY: This is based on your income and assets in relation to the number in your household as well as the availabilty of Modest Means Attorneys.  There are a limited number of participating attorneys so be sure to get your application in to us at least ten days prior to any deadline.  And, even if you qualify, the MCBA cannot guarantee that a Modest Means attorney will be available.

REFERRAL and CONSULTATION PROCESS:  We will contact you by phone after your application has been reviewed. Allow five business days for the MCBA to review your request. If you qualify for the program we will refer you to an attorney participating in the Modest Means Program.  You will be responsible to make an appointment with the attorney for your one-half hour consultation. The attorney will charge you $25.00 for a consultation fee.  

Whether you hire the attorney to represent you after the consultation is a decision for you and the attorney to make.  The MCBA cannot guarantee that a lawyer will take your case.

Legal Fees & Costs:  Modest Means attorneys have agreed to charge discounted fees.  These fees are outlined on the application form.  During your initial consultation you should discuss all fees with the attorney.  Fees charged by the courts and non-attorney representation fees are your responsibility to pay. 

Application available here.


Pro-Bono Limited Services Program

The Monroe County Bar Association (MCBA) created a Pro-Bono Limited Services Program to assist low-income residents of Monroe County obtain legal assistance in four specific areas.  These include cases in the Monroe County courts for child custody, debt collections for debtors, and tenants with landlord/tenant cases as well as expungements in the PA courts.  Representation is provided by members of the Monroe County Bar Association who chose to participate.  The case must be in Monroe County and the applicant must be a resident of the county as well.

APPLICATION AND APPLICATION PROCESS:  To apply, complete the application and submit it along with the outlined supporting documents.  The application and documents can be submitted by mail, email or fax. Contact information is on the application.  Should you bring your application to the MCBA office, the MCBA staff will not review it at that time.  Please note that incomplete applications will not be processed.  Applications must be signed, and verification of all household income must be provided as outlined on the application.  DOCUMENTS YOU SUBMIT WITH YOUR APPLICATION WILL NOT BE RETURNED.  Please submit copies when appropriate.

ELIGIBILITY: This is based on all household income and assets in relation to the number in your household as well as the availability of Pro-Bono Limited Services Attorneys.  There are a limited number of participating attorneys so be sure to get your application into us at least ten days prior to any deadline.  And, even if you qualify, the MCBA cannot guarantee that an attorney will be available.

REFERRAL and CONSULTATION PROCESS: We will contact you by phone after your application has been reviewed.  Allow five business days for the MCBA to review your request.  If you qualify for the program, we will refer you to an attorney participating in the Pro-Bono Limited Services Program.  You are responsible to make an appointment with the attorney for a one-half hour consultation.   There will be no fee for a 30-minute consultation.  Should you require a longer consultation, please discuss the fee with the attorney as a longer consultation fee will apply.

LEGAL FEES & COSTS:  At the end of your consultation if you decide to hire the attorney, they will discuss fees not covered with their representation.  These fees generally include court costs and non-attorney representation fees such as postage and document copying fees.  These fees will be your responsibility.  The decision for you to have the attorney represent you and for the attorney to accept you as a client is between you both.  The MCBA cannot guarantee that a lawyer will take your case.

Application form here.

 

Attorney Dispute Information

Fee Dispute Information - In order to assist clients and attorneys who have a dispute over legal fees, the Monroe County Bar Association has a Fee Dispute Committee.  All committee attorneys are members of the Monroe County Bar Association who have volunteered to serve without compensation in assisting members of the public and member attorneys to fairly and promptly resolve their fee dispute with Monroe County Bar Association Members. 

A client or attorney may initiate a request for legal fee dispute committee consideration by submitting the Fee Dispute Commitee Brochure and Application and all supporting information by mail to:

Monroe County Bar Association
Attn:  Fee Dispute
913 Main Street
Stroudsburg PA 18360

Attorney Disciplinary Process - The Monroe County Bar Association does not handle attorney discipline complaints or matters of professional conduct and ethics.  Under the Constitution of Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has exclusive jurisdiction to oversee the conduct of lawyers.  The Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania receives and investigates complaints.

Complaints - The Monroe County Bar Association is a non-sanctioning body, and therefore is unable to discipline any attorney.  We do suggest that you consider meeting with the attorney to resolve any concern or issues that may arise.  There may be times when you have a minor complaint with the attorney you have hired. In this instance, you may complete our Complaint Form and return it to us by mail.  Upon receipt of the completed form, if the attorney is a member of the Monroe County Bar Association and the complaint is not a Fee Dispute or regarding an attorney's staff we will contact you.  Remember that the concern you have must be minor in nature.  


And remember, under no circumstances should you feel it necessary to continue to be represented by an attorney who you are dissatified with.  Don't act hastily, however.  Often a conference with the attorney may ease your concerns.  It is always your choice about which lawyer you hire and want to represent you.  Please do remember that a dismissed attorney may be entitled to a fee for services actually rendered.

Should you decide to discontinue using your attorney, that attorney has certain obligations and duties to you such as returning all documents and papers in possession, filing the necessary withdrawal stipulations with the court and helping your new attorney become familiar with the case. 




For the most up-to-date brochure regarding the next round of GTS Guardian Workshops for court-appointed guardians, please click here.

This series offers sessions in the summer of 2024. Guardians who participated in any of the prior workshop/webinar sessions will not need to attend since the material being presented is essentially the same. This series is again being offered exclusively as ‘Online Workshops’.

The guardians will need to register online per the GTS Workshop Schedule.

MCBA posts this event for the convenience of the guardians.  MCBA cannot assist with registration or answer any questions related to the program.

LCL offers confidential services, support and information.  Help is available for lawyers, judges, family members, colleagues and law students.  LCL is available to help you and your family.  Services are 100% confidential, voluntary and provided at no charge to Pennsylvania lawyers. 

Click here for LCL's COVID-19 Resource Guide for the Legal Profession.

For more information or for assistance please go to www.lclpa.org or call 1.888.999.1941.

 

The American Bar Association recently released its 2020 ABA Profile of the Legal Profession. As a member of the MCBA you may click here to view the full report.