Shreveport Bar Foundation

The Shreveport Bar Foundation (“SBF”) is a 501(c) (3) organization founded in 1988 with the purpose of performing charitable and educational services in the Shreveport and Bossier communities. It is a non-profit corporation supported by grants, fundraising events and donations.

The SBF is located at the Shreveport Bar Center. This historic building, owned by the SBF, houses the offices of SBF’s five primary programs: the Pro Bono Project (“PBP”), the Self Represented Litigants Program (“SRL”), Legal Representation for Victims of Domestic Violence Program (“LRVDV”), and Community Outreach Program (“CO”) and My Community Cares (MCC”). The PBP provides free legal assistance to low-income clients in Caddo and Bossier Parishes through the recruitment of local lawyers who volunteer their time and services to PBP. PBP is most widely recognized in north Louisiana for its free monthly Ask-A-Lawyer Clinic where our volunteer attorneys provide one-on-one legal advice to all clients who attend. PBP also offers a “Day of Giving,” held annually on MLK day, where our volunteer attorneys assist clients with free legal forms including medical power-of-attorneys and living wills. A third event offered by PBP is our “Self Represented Divorce Clinic” where qualified petitioners come in and receive guidance on completing their divorce petitions by one of our volunteer attorneys. Finally, PBP receives cases, through a client referral system with Acadiana Legal Services, and provides free legal assistance to persons in the local community who fall below the federal poverty income level. The SRL program offers a “Pro Se” library which is available to community members who wish to represent themselves in court. This library is housed at the SBC next to the PBP and LRVDV offices. The library provides a safe and private environment to research legal issues and obtain legal documents to file in court. SBF staff members assist clients in the library. Staff members also conduct clinics at the Bar Center to assist members of the public with the completion of divorce petitions which have been approved for use in Caddo Parish District Court. The LRVDV program addresses the need for legal representation in protective order hearings. LRVDV provides legal representation to men, women, and children in the community, of any income, who are facing issues with domestic violence. This unique program is the only one of its kind in North Louisiana and provides a staff attorney to represent victims in court to obtain protective orders. The attorney may also assist and with ancillary services by requesting temporary custody, support, visitation, and counseling when these issues relate to family violence. We also represent clients who have other problems addressed in the protective order statutes including stalking, cyberstalking, and sexual assault. In short, LRVDV is a “law firm” for victims of domestic violence. LRVDV operates in partnership with Project Celebration, Family Justice Center of Northwest Louisiana, Bossier Parish District Court, and First Judicial District Court to accept referrals of victims of domestic violence seeking protective orders. The CO program is an initiative to serve the local community by hosting various educational events for the public on various legal topics that may be of interest to their legal needs. In addition to the monthly and annual clinics we traditionally host through the PBP program, our CO program, since its inception on July 1, 2022, we have sponsored more than 60 outreach events on various topics, including oil and gas rights, immigration law, domestic violence, expungements, wills and estate planning, heirship, home buying, etc. We are on a trajectory to get into each school and educate adolescents on the power of making good decisions. We are partnering with as many local non-profits as possible to reach the maximum number of people. Our program has helped alleviate many legal issues and questions, and we will continue to reach more people as the program grows. My Community Cares program provides for an attorney to provide MCC work for civil legal aid to eligible clients.

The Shreveport Bar Foundation
Founding Fellows

Organizations who would like to be considered for funding may submit a grant application for consideration.
Click Here to download the grant request PDF.