Massachusetts Bar Association volunteers offered free legal advice to 210 Massachusetts residents through Ask A Lawyer on Wednesday, Nov. 29, at the WBZ studios. Ask A Lawyer is a call-in program presented annually by the MBA, WBZ Call For Action, WBZ NewsRadio 1030 and WBZ-TV. Like the MBA’s own monthly Dial-A-Lawyer program, it provides a unique opportunity for Massachusetts residents to speak to a qualified lawyer anonymously at no charge.
Seven volunteer lawyers took phone calls on the Ask A Lawyer hotline from 7 to 9 p.m., answering questions on a range topics. Staff from the MBA and WBZ Call For Action also helped facilitate calls.
“Many people cannot afford a lawyer or don’t know where to turn, and the Massachusetts Bar Association and our partners at WBZ NewsRadio, WBZ-TV and WBZ Call for Action are committed to closing this justice gap through the Ask A Lawyer program,” said MBA President Christopher P. Sullivan. “With just one phone call, our volunteers provide a much-needed helping hand to those who are facing critical legal issues at home or in the workplace.”
Thank you to the following MBA members who volunteered and answered calls during the Ask A Lawyer event: Jeffrey Barmach, Michael E. Katin (Scheier Katin & Epstein PC), Ian C. Keefe (Adler, Cohen, Harvey, Wakeman & Guekguezian LLP), Soraya Sadeghi (Law Office of Soraya Sadeghi), MBA Young Lawyers Division Chair Samuel A. Segal (Law Offices of Samuel A. Segal), Stephen A. Smith and Paul F. Zerola (Zerola & Associates PC).
The MBA and WBZ Call for Action revived the Ask A Lawyer program in 2012. It had been a regular program from 1978 until 2005. WBZ Call For Action, in existence for 46 years, is a non-profit telephone information, referral and action service dedicated to resolving people’s problems. A free service, it is a member of the national organization, Call For Action Inc.
MBA president guests on “NightSide”
During the Ask A Lawyer program, Sullivan appeared as a guest on WBZ News Radio 1030’s “NightSide with Dan Rea,” from 8 to 9 p.m. The MBA president spoke with Rea about his own background and the types of programs the MBA provides to lawyers as well as the public. Sullivan also answered callers’ legal questions, and touted the Ask A Lawyer program and the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral Service.
In addition to his radio appearance on NightSide, Sullivan was featured in a promotion for Ask A Lawyer on WBZ-TV earlier in the week.
Interested in volunteering for the MBA’s monthly Dial-A-Lawyer program? Email LRS@massbar.org.