Free Legal Help in Dallas: Legal Aid Offices, Walk-In Clinics and Hotlines
Dallas has more free legal help than most people realize: a large downtown legal aid office, neighborhood branches, courthouse eviction clinics and evening walk-in clinics run by volunteer lawyers. The trick is knowing which door opens fastest for your kind of problem.
AT A GLANCE
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Start here: which number to call
Your situation | Best first step | Number |
|---|---|---|
You've been sued, or a court deadline is coming | Call the Dallas office directly | 214-748-1234 |
Divorce, custody, child support, visitation or family violence | Call the Dallas office (no online applications for family cases) | 214-748-1234 |
Eviction notice or eviction lawsuit | Walk into a justice court eviction clinic, or call the landlord-tenant line | 469-694-2258 or 855-548-8457 |
Benefits ending within 7 days | Call the nearest office and say it's urgent | 214-748-1234 |
Currently unhoused | Call the nearest office and say it's urgent | 214-748-1234 |
Debt collection, SNAP or disability denial, other civil problem | Apply online or call the Legal Aid Line | 888-529-5277 |
You can't get LANWT help, or want advice the same evening | A DVAP neighborhood clinic | 214-243-2236 |
Questions after a disaster | LANWT disaster line | 817-339-5391 |
LANWT's own advice is to call your local office rather than the general line if you have a deadline, have been served with a lawsuit, or have a family law problem.
Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas in Dallas
LANWT covers 114 counties across North and West Texas, and the Dallas office is its largest branch. Staff attorneys, paralegals and social workers there work with partners including the Housing Crisis Center, Genesis Women's Shelter, Children's Medical Center and Housing Forward. LANWT also has a full-time attorney housed at The Family Place, which it calls Texas's largest domestic violence service provider, and one at the Salvation Army.
Who LANWT can help
According to LANWT, legal aid is for people who:
Have a low income.
Have a civil problem. It can't help with criminal cases or personal injury.
Are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. Undocumented immigrants may get help with a U visa, T visa or VAWA case.
Live in, or have a case in, a county LANWT serves. Dallas County is one of them.
You likely qualify if you already get SNAP, Medicaid, SSI or WIC, or live in public or subsidized housing. Calls are answered in English and Spanish. Speakers of other languages are helped through a phone interpreter service.
What the Dallas office handles
Housing. Evictions; security deposits, utility cutoffs, wrongful lockouts, retaliation and repair problems; terminations in public housing and voucher programs; foreclosure prevention, including tax-related foreclosures; and access to shelters and homeless programs.
Family and safety. Protective orders after physical abuse, threats of violence or sexual assault; divorce involving family violence; custody where child support can be collected; name changes; and advice on other family law questions.
Benefits. Getting or restoring benefits, every level of Social Security appeal, Social Security overpayment and cessation cases, Texas Health and Human Services fair hearings, and court review when a hearings officer denies SNAP.
Debt. Unlawful debt collection, explaining what happens once you're sued, and stopping wrongful seizure of property.
"If you are employed, Texas law does not allow creditors to seize earnings from paychecks." (Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas)
LANWT notes that wages can still be garnished in some cases, such as unpaid child support or taxes. It also lists your home, your car, Social Security and retirement payments, unemployment benefits and child support as property generally protected from a creditor with a judgment.
Neighborhood offices most people miss
Besides the Main Street office, LANWT runs several Dallas-area projects:
Office | Address | Phone | What it's for |
|---|---|---|---|
Community Lawyering Center, Downtown | 511 Akard St., Ste. 102 | 214-855-7892 | Evening and weekend appointments; custody, landlord-tenant, probate |
Community Lawyering Center, Fair Park/South Dallas | 4716 Elsie Faye Heggins St. | 469-351-0024 | Same services as Downtown |
Dallas South | 6969 Pastor Bailey Dr., Ste. 120 | 972-441-5260 | Family, consumer, landlord-tenant and employment problems |
Legal Aid Pro Se Assistance | George Allen Courthouse, 600 Commerce St., Ste. 575-H | 214-653-6108 | Limited help if you're representing yourself |
Home Preservation Project | 2350 Valley View Ln., Ste. 250, Farmers Branch | 469-694-2258 | Eviction and landlord-tenant matters |
The Community Lawyering Center is a partnership with UNT Dallas College of Law. Law students work under supervising attorneys there. Dallas South sits across the street from Concord Church. The courthouse Pro Se Assistance attorney reviews your court papers and orders to check that they follow state law and local rules. It won't take over your case.
Eviction clinics at the justice courts
If you have an eviction case, these walk-in clinics are the quickest way to talk to a lawyer. All use 469-694-2258.
8301 S. Polk St., Dallas (Justice Courts 1-1 and 1-2): Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 a.m. to noon.
823 N. Galloway Rd., Mesquite (Justice Court 2-2): Mondays, 8:30 a.m. to noon. It also takes intakes for most other civil problems.
6820 LBJ Freeway, Ste. 3100, Dallas (Justice Courts 3-1 and 3-2): Thursdays, 8:30 a.m. to noon. It also takes intakes for most other civil problems.
106 W. Church St., Ste. 205, Grand Prairie (Justice Court 4-1): Thursdays, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Bring your notice to vacate and any court papers. Under Texas law, as LANWT explains, a landlord must give you a written notice to vacate with a reason before filing an eviction suit. The notice has to be delivered properly: by hand to someone 16 or older, by mail, inside the door, or outside the door in a sealed envelope marked "IMPORTANT DOCUMENT."
Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program clinics
DVAP shares LANWT's 1515 Main St. address. It recruits and trains volunteer lawyers who give free advice, and sometimes full representation, to low-income Dallas County residents. Cases include family, housing, employment, landlord-tenant, real property, consumer, wills, probate, expunctions and nondisclosures, Chapter 7 bankruptcy, tax and veterans benefits. DVAP does not take criminal cases, tickets, or cases a private lawyer would take for a fee, such as personal injury.
Clinic | Where | When |
|---|---|---|
South Dallas | MLK Jr. Community Center, Building A, 2922 Martin Luther King Blvd. | 2nd and 4th Tuesday, 5 p.m. |
East Dallas | Grace United Methodist Church, 4105 Junius at Haskell | 3rd Thursday, 5 p.m. |
West Dallas | West Dallas Multipurpose Center, 2828 Fish Trap Rd. | 4th Thursday, 5 p.m. |
Veterans | VA Medical Center, Spinal Cord Injury Center, 4500 S. Lancaster Rd. | 1st Friday, 1:30 p.m. (Nov. 6 and Dec. 4, 2026) |
North Dallas | Esperanza Community Center at Dobie, 14040 Rolling Hills Ln. | Nov. 4, 2026, 5 p.m. |
Virtual | By phone after you apply online | Thursdays |
How a DVAP clinic works
Arrive early. Clinics are walk-in only, and DVAP suggests getting there early to hold a place in line and start the paperwork.
Get screened. Staff check your eligibility at the clinic.
Talk to a lawyer. If you qualify, a volunteer attorney interviews you about the problem.
Wait for review. After the clinic, DVAP reviews your case. If it can help further, it offers your case to volunteer lawyers for full representation.
For the virtual clinic, fill out the online form linked from DVAP's Get Help page. Then watch your email for your scheduled date, and expect a phone call that day. DVAP says applications can take 2 to 3 weeks to process.
Clinics can be canceled for bad weather, federal holidays or voting. Call 214-243-2236 to confirm before you go. The 4th Thursday in November 2026 is Thanksgiving, so check the West Dallas date in particular.
If legal aid can't take your case
LANWT points people it can't represent to TexasLawHelp.org. The site has free guides, checklists and court forms, including kits for uncontested divorce, protective orders, name changes and custody modifications, plus a statewide clinic calendar.
Before you call
☐ Proof of income for everyone in the household (pay stubs, benefit letters)
☐ Proof you live in Dallas County (DVAP clinics ask for this)
☐ Every notice, lawsuit, citation or court order, with the dates you got them
☐ Your SNAP, Medicaid, SSI or WIC card or letter, if you have one
☐ The other side's name and address
☐ A short written timeline of what happened
WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK
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More help in Dallas
Related guides
Official sources
Last checked: October 23, 2026. Office addresses, phone numbers, clinic schedules and eligibility rules come from Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas's location, eligibility and topic pages and the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program's Get Help page. Clinic dates change, so call before you go.
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