Maryland Legal Aid’s Community Lawyering Initiative places highly-skilled lawyers directly in under-served neighborhoods to provide free, life-changing legal assistance. The concept for the Initiative began in 2015 when Maryland Legal Aid launched its weekly Lawyer in the Library program at the Enoch Pratt Free Library Pennsylvania Avenue branch. As awareness of the program increased and the need for civil legal services and criminal record expungementsRemoving convictions from criminal records. became more and more apparent, Maryland Legal Aid answered the demand for services by designating staff and recruiting pro bono attorneys and law students to help serve clients through the Initiative. 

The Community Lawyering Initiative includes a number of weekly and monthly expungementRemoving convictions from criminal records. clinics coordinated and hosted in partnership with community organizations from around the state, as well as expansion of the Lawyer in the Library program to other library locations in Baltimore City, Baltimore and Montgomery counties.