Many people hope to leave a legacy. Elmore Holmes III did.  

Mr. Holmes, an attorney who practiced corporate law and also managed the pro bono activities of his firm, Armstrong, Allen, Gentry, Johnson and Holmes, died in 2005. He believed strongly that everyone, regardless of financial resources, should have access to able legal help.  

The Community Legal Center serves the working poor of the Memphis area with top-quality legal advice and representation. The Center’s fund at the Community Foundation helps to ensure that it continues to live on and fulfill its mission.  

Mr. Holmes was a guiding force for the Center that was founded in 1994 to serve the working poor who are caught between having too much income to receive free legal assistance but too little to afford an attorney.  

The Community Legal Center’s executive director, Meg Jones, said that today more than 100 volunteer lawyers and mediators carry on Mr. Holmes’s legacy, offering access to legal services as little as $15. “We have clinic, where we interview clients, twice a month,” said Ms. Jones. “When we refer someone to an attorney, the client is seen at the attorney’s office. Our clients are treated with the same respect as anyone else.”

This year, the Community Legal Center (CLC) celebrates sixteen years of providing pro bono legal services, to individuals and families in the Memphis area.  These clinics are by appointment only and meet the first and third Tuesday of the month at 5:30pm at St. John’s UMC. The number to call to make the appointment is 543-3395.

More information can be found at www.clcmemphis.com

Story courtesy of the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis

Picture of Sara Holmes with Elmore's original art by Murray Riss