January 10, 2022

Community Legal Aid Names Lauren De Oliveira as Managing Attorney of the Fitchburg Office

BY Contact: Laura Hancock Barry, Community Legal Aid Development Managerlhbarry@cla-ma.org / (508) 425-2798

Community Legal Aid, a non-profit organization that provides free legal services to low-income and elderly residents of Central and Western Massachusetts, is pleased to announce that Lauren De Oliveira has been named as Managing Attorney of its Fitchburg Office.

As Managing Attorney, Attorney De Oliveira will oversee a team of attorneys, paralegals, and support staff who provide civil (non-criminal) legal assistance to elders facing abuse or exploitation, at-risk students needing school-based services, victims of domestic violence seeking protective orders and/or family law assistance, individuals and families facing homelessness, and those in need of public benefits, including food stamps, Social Security/SSI, and unemployment. She will also spearhead community outreach to the residents of northern Worcester County who may be eligible for services from Community Legal Aid. De Oliveira joins a management team of four attorneys who manage Community Legal Aid’s offices in Worcester, Springfield, Northampton, Pittsfield, and Fitchburg.

Attorney De Oliveira joined Community Legal Aid in October 2018 as a staff attorney in the Family Law Unit and has been based in the organization’s Fitchburg office since it opened in 2019. During her time in the Family Law Unit, De Oliveira assisted many domestic violence survivors with their family law cases, managed the Uncontested Divorce Project, helped supervise the unit’s AmeriCorps advocate, and trained and mentored new attorneys. As a member of the Fitchburg office, De Oliveira participated in regular Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault roundtables and built strong relationships with the Domestic Violence liaisons from the Fitchburg and Leominster Police Departments, as well as with local community partners and advocates in the Northern Worcester County area. Prior to joining Community Legal Aid, De Oliveira worked for over ten years as a senior paralegal and law clerk in immigration and family law in nonprofit organizations and private firms.

De Oliveira grew up in Worcester and has remained an active member of the community. From 2019-2021, she was a commissioner on the Worcester Human Rights Commission, and she is a member of the Worcester County Bar Association and Community Legal Aid’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. De Oliveira’s passion for the law and equity is particularly evident in her work on language access issues. She is an active member of the statewide legal aid Language Access Coalition and is trilingual herself, fluent in English, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese. She is a graduate of New England Law in Boston and Brandeis University, and currently resides in Worcester with her spouse and two children.

“Lauren’s legal background and skills make her particularly well suited to provide guidance and support for our North County staff as they help the area’s most vulnerable individuals with their urgent civil legal needs,” said Community Legal Aid Executive Director, Jonathan L. Mannina. “We are delighted that she is taking on this role of Managing Attorney, and are excited about the work she will do to assist clients in the North Worcester County region.”

About Community Legal Aid:
Community Legal Aid provides free civil legal services to the low-income and elderly residents of the five counties of Western and Central Massachusetts (Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, and Worcester), and maintains offices in Worcester, Fitchburg, Springfield, Northampton, and Pittsfield. CLA works to assure fairness for all in the justice system, protecting homes, livelihoods, health and families. For more information, please visit www.communitylegal.org.