Community & Pro Bono

Community

Our legacy is built on serving and supporting the communities in which we live and work. Our firm recognizes, encourages and supports our people in their efforts to contribute to their communities, helping enrich the quality of life for others. Serving the community is an obligation of Miller & Martin attorneys and is supported firmwide by participating in pro bono cases, organized bar activities and community service.

Miller & Martin provides many opportunities for our people to pursue their own interests in community service. Collectively and individually, our people are involved in community service activities, touching real world concerns such as children's issues, education, housing and health issues, the arts and more.

In addition to our involvement in numerous bar associations and civic organizations, Miller & Martin strongly encourages all of its attorneys to participate in Pro Bono matters for individuals who are unable to afford legal services.

Pro Bono

Pro Bono service is an essential element of every attorney's professional responsibility. It is our belief that Miller & Martin attorneys have a duty to contribute to the welfare of the communities where we live and work; to assist in the development of the legal profession; and to broaden the overall commitment to access to justice for all people.

The firm encourages our lawyers to perform at least 50 hours of pro bono legal service each year, providing our attorneys billable hour credit for the number of pro bono hours worked.

Miller & Martin attorneys have been inducted into Legal Aid of East Tennessee's ("LAET") Hall of Fame, and the firm was named Pro Bono Firm of the Year by LAET. Many of the firm leaders have taken an active role in pro bono efforts, setting a strong example, not just for our own attorneys, but also for attorneys throughout our footprint in Georgia and Tennessee.

In 2013, Miller & Martin was the first law firm in Chattanooga to be part of a new legal aid initiative, in conjunction with LAET, known as the Pillar Law Firm Model. Originated by a peer firm in Nashville, Tennessee, the program formalized a more efficient way to accept referrals or requests for services from Legal Aid.

This model enables a law firm to volunteer by accepting pro bono assignments related to a high-demand area of law by Legal Aid clients. The process streamlines intake for Legal Aid, as it directs cases to the volunteering law firm's selected area of law, rather than attempting to match a pro bono client with a list of attorneys offering pro bono services. As a result of this effort, the Access to Justice Commission, appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court, adopted an informal goal to have a Pillar Law Firm in each major city in Tennessee. Miller & Martin led this effort and chose to focus on Housing as its specific area of law; we are very proud to have been the first firm in Chattanooga to be a Pillar Law Firm.

If you are in need of pro bono legal services, we accept cases by referral through Legal Aid:

            Atlanta Legal Aid Society – 404.524.5811

            Legal Aid of East Tennessee – 423.756.4013

            Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands – 1.800.238.1443

For inquiries, please contact Robin Musumeci.