Law students and large law firms this year are teaming up with community groups to help low-income people deal with legal issues before they reach court.

The Pro Bono Collaborative is, for example, helping parents navigate special-education systems and providing workshops on subjects such as housing, immigration and juvenile justice.

The Feinstein Institute for Legal Service at the Roger Williams University law school launched the collaborative earlier this year with a $57,416 grant from the Rhode Island Foundation, and law students and lawyers have now provided more than 1,200 hours of free legal services.

“People who are low income in Rhode Island communities have a lot of problems that involve the law or regulations that merit legal assistance beyond representation in court,” collaborative director Eliza Vorenberg said yesterday. “Our program is about empowering people in the community, educating them and assisting them with legal problems that don’t rise to the level of court cases.”

The impetus for the collaborative was a racial justice colloquium held at the law school in 2004. The collaborative aims to fill legal needs that, under existing guidelines, can’t be met by organizations such as Rhode Island Legal Services or the Rhode Island Bar Association’s Volunteer Lawyers Program.

So far, three large law firms and five nonprofit groups have collaborated with law students. Partridge Snow & Hahn has worked with Casey Family Services and Meeting Street School, providing education and assistance to parents of special-needs children.

Brown Rudnick Berlack & Israels is supporting the Community Housing Land Trust, researching potential legislation and drafting legal documents to ensure that the state’s limited number of affordable condominiums remains affordable in the future.

And Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge is educating parents of at-risk youths about their legal rights through workshops at Children’s Friend & Service and Rhode Island Children’s Crusade.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank J. Williams called the collaborative “a welcome addition,” saying, “I see it as precisely the vehicle that, with the other pro bono programs in the state, will help bring to fruition my goal of increasing every Rhode Island attorney’s participation in pro bono activity and improve access to justice for all.”

For more information, contact Vorenberg at (401) 254-4597 or Leslie Gifford at (401) 254-4559.