About
The North Mississippi Rural Legal Services Elder Law Project, directed by Attorney Al Cutturini, is one of the special projects developed by NMRLS to provide civil legal services to the elderly (60 years of age and older) of Northern Mississippi. This service is free and provided at no charge.
The elderly community of Northern Mississippi is a particularly vulnerable population. Rural, impoverished, isolated, these individuals lack access to basic resources. The NMRLS Elder Law Project exists to bridge this gap and to serve and advocate on behalf of this vulnerable, elderly population in 40 counties in the northern half of Mississippi.
The NMRLS Elder Law Project works in partnership with six Area Agencies on Aging to provide these services. The generous support of the six AAAs and of other community volunteers is essential to our continued success and has resulted in the Elder Law Project’s enormous, positive impact on the community. As of 2017, the Elder Law Project represented and/or counseled clients in 660 cases, and conducted 42 outreach/education programs with 3,140 people in attendance.
Additionally, the NMRLS Elder Law Project:
· Represents clients in a wide variety of civil legal matters, including real property matters, divorce, mortgage modifications, foreclosure prevention, adoption, and public benefit appeals;
· Directs an Elder Law Clinic as part of the University of Mississippi School of Law Civil Legal Clinic;
· Conducts community outreach to the institutionalized and homebound elderly and disabled to provide legal assistance;
· Conducts community legal education workshops for the public held at senior centers, churches, and other locations in the communities;
· Conducts "Will Days" and other outreach activities to provide on-site contact with clients in rural sections of the state;
· Prepares written educational materials and brochures to distribute to the community at outreaches and online concerning important estate planning, consumer law, and other elder law topics;
· Cooperates with other governmental agencies, educational institutions, and community organizations to provide legal assistance to the elderly and disabled;
· Provides training for law students, and other service providers to the elderly, including the annual NMRLS Elder Law Conference.
