VIDEO: School brings lawyers to ‘legal deserts’

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Instead of clients coming to a legal clinic at the University of South Carolina School of Law, the school takes the clinic to them. The Palmetto LEADER is a bus set up to work as a law office, including serving South Carolinians in “legal deserts,” areas where there are few lawyers. In a video, Taylor Gilliam, pro bono program director USC Law, talks about what happens when the vehicle comes to a town. His observations include:

• “When the Palmetto LEADER arrives in a community, heads turn.”

• “The bus has a capacity of about 11 people, which means we pack it with law students and lawyers.”

• “The most common services that we tend to provide are wills and health care powers of attorneys. However, for an upcoming trip in November, we’ve been asked to bring lawyers to answer questions about expungements and child custody questions.”

• “The reaction of the class that we serve observe is always positive — joy, gratitude.”

Watch for South Carolina Lawyers Weekly’s cover story “Legal Deserts” to be published later this month in the print edition and to be posted online soon at sclawyersweekly.com.

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