Virginia Legal Aid Society

03/30/2026

Just a reminder: For free, civil legal advice, please call our LawLine at (866) 534-5243. Our hours are: 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. (Closed Wednesdays.)

12/02/2025

To honor our first 50 years, Virginia Legal Aid Society has created a 50th Anniversary Fund. The fund will support our efforts to reduce evictions, protect domestic violence survivors, defend victims of consumer scams, and the many other ways we work to provide stellar legal services to people who might not otherwise be able to afford an attorney. To those of you who like to make donations on Giving Tuesday, please consider a contribution to the fund.

11/12/2025

LawLine, our client intake system, will reopen 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 21. Virginia Legal Aid Society is transitioning to a new case management system. To assist in that transition, we had closed LawLine for about a week. Thank you for your patience as we continue to work our way through this transition.

11/03/2025

Because of uncertainty over SNAP benefits due to the federal government shutdown, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has authorized an emergency temporary food assistance program called Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance (VENA). VENA benefits will be issued via the existing electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card that SNAP recipients currently hold beginning today (Nov. 3).

VENA benefits will be issued on a weekly basis rather than a monthly basis. This means that the normal monthly SNAP benefit amount will be divided into four payments issued weekly. VENA benefits are approved at least through November. They will stop once federal SNAP benefits restart.

Recipients that normally receive SNAP on November 1st will receive their VENA payment on Mondays. Those who normally receive SNAP benefits on the 4th of the month will receive VENA benefits on Wednesdays. And those who normally receive SNAP benefits on the 7th of the month will receive their VENA benefits on Fridays.

For additional information visit https://dss.virginia.gov/snapfacts/

For information on available foodbanks visit https://vafoodbanks.org/ or dial 2-1-1

Explore food banks across Virginia with the Federation of Virginia Food Banks. Connect with local resources and help improve food access for families in need.

10/28/2025

David Weilnau, long-time Managing Attorney of our Danville office, has become VLAS's third Executive Director. He replaces David Neumeyer, who has retired after leading VLAS for 35 years.

David Neumeyer led our growth into an organization with more than 50 employees, serving 26 cities and counties in Central, Southside, and Western Tidewater, Virginia. We thank him for his decades of leadership and look forward to the coming years with David Weilnau at the helm.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18MJTXKu3f/?mibextid=wwXIfr

David Weilnau, the managing attorney of VLAS’s Danville office for the last six years, was chosen by the organization’s board of directors in August as the new leader, effective Oct. 1. He will oversee a staff of 53 employees in direct service and support roles.

08/22/2025

Hope to see you at the Nutrition and Holistic Health Expo Saturday, Aug. 23, at 609 Keen St. in Danville. The event runs from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Stop by our booth and say hello.

06/23/2025

On Saturday, June 21, VLAS presented its Cunningham Award for promoting access to justice in Virginia‘s 10th Judicial Circuit to Farmville attorney James E. Ghee. Jr.,  a long time advocate for the poor and disadvantaged in the civil and criminal courts of Southside Virginia and founder of VLAS in 1977. The award is named for another long time advocate and first African-American judge in the 10th Circuit, Circuit Court Judge Joel Cunningham Sr. Pictured left to right are VLAS board president Bruce Robinson and Ghee, with Ghee’s wife Mary in the left background, on the occasion of Ghee’s 80th birthday party organized by Mary and his daughters.

06/16/2025

The parade must go on, and the Army sidestepped a major crisis of image and messaging.

06/16/2025

A powerful letter signed by chief justices from 37 states calls on Congress to protect funding for the Legal Services Corporation.

"The promise of justice must be real to all who seek it," they write. "Justice for only those who can afford it is neither justice for all nor justice at all. In view of these facts on the ground, we urge you take all necessary steps to protect funding for LSC in FY 2026."

Read more: https://lsc-live.box.com/s/p5zyylywmmlgrfb00mfk21pl8g0vzint

06/15/2025

Harriet Miers, Ken Frazier, David Zapolsky, Alex Miller, and Jonathan Lippman speak about the importance of supporting the Legal Services Corporation and its...

06/03/2025

Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, Senator John Cornyn of Texas, Representative Mary Gay Scanlon of Pennsylvania, Repres...