Clinics provide free legal advice to domestic violence survivors
CHICAGO - Lt. Governor Sheila Simon and representatives of Verizon Wireless to announce a major grant that will support the state's Virtual Legal Clinic, spearheaded by Simon.
The grant to the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ICADV) will grow the clinic, an online legal service piloted in 2011 by Simon's office and the ICADV to assist women and children in rural and underserved areas that lack family law attorneys.
Simon chairs the Governor's Rural Affairs Council and is working to improve access to services in rural communities. Prior to being Lt. Governor, she prosecuted domestic violence crimes as a Jackson County assistant state's attorney and helped found a domestic violence legal clinic at Southern Illinois University's school of law.
