A group of North Carolina lawyers and business leaders has a launched a $1 million fundraising campaign for a nonprofit agency that provides legal services to the poor.
The money will go to Legal Aid of North Carolina, which has faced a funding crunch as demand rises for its free legal services.
Legal Aid provides services for victims of domestic violence, abused and neglected children, the working poor, the disabled and the elderly. Its clients' average income is $9,000 a year.
In a statement, lawyers A.P. Carlton Jr. of Raleigh and Willis P. Whichard of Durham - a former president of the American Bar Association and a former state Supreme Court justice, respectively - said they were motivated to become involved by the dire circumstances of most legal aid clients.
Legal Aid officials say their federal funding has been stagnant. Legal Aid also gets funding from the interest on lawyers' trust accounts, but low interest rates have hurt the agency.
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