Free State Legal Project to open in Maryland

The Free State Legal Project, a pro bono and reduced-fee legal service for low-income LGBT people, will open May 23 in Maryland, according to an announcement from the group.

The organization has hired its first full-time executive director, Lee Ann Hopkins, a longtime LGBT advocate. The group estimates there are about 25,000 low-income LGBT people in need of its services in the Baltimore Metropolitan Area.

Initially, Free State will accept cases limited to housing discrimination, landlord and tenant concerns, divorce and dissolution, employment discrimination, name changes and sex change corrections for birth certificates and other forms of identification and, finally, basic estate planning, which will include wills, power of attorney documents and advance directives, the group said.

Client intake hours will be by phone from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays, and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays. The phone number is 410-625-5428. Information can be found online at freestatelegal.org.

Area residents who are members of the bar and would like to be placed on the pro bono and reduced-fee volunteer panels are asked to contact Lee Ann Hopkins, at lhopkins@freestatelegal.org or 410-625-5428.