Recently, I attended a session that brought together Legal Aid officials and representatives of legal clinics, among others, to discuss how to improve access to clinic services by members of racialized communities. I want to mention only one point that a participant raised at the meeting and that is the use of technology to provide information to people using the legal system (or wanting access to the legal system), ostensibly to increase their capacity for "self-help".
It appears, perhaps not surprisingly, that those for whom the technological resources are often developed — those lacking access to legal resources in other forms (most particularly, lawyers) — receive the least benefit from it. There may be many reasons for this: computer-based technology or similar tools require a certain degree of literacy, they require a certain degree of technical knowledge (even though we may think this is pretty minimal), they require access to the technology in an environment that the individual feels reasonably comfortable raising his or her problem (we think that having available terminals in libraries and other public places may be sufficient, but this may not be the case), they require a basic knowledge that allows the recipient of information to interpret and apply it.
In short, while these resources may be useful as a complement, they do not seem particularly helpful as a substitute for direct human resources.
As the Law Commission of Ontario proceeds with several of its projects, including our family law process project, I'm interested in whether slawyers have any information they can share on this point.
In the US, legal aid programs have found that this is not the case. While not every legal aid eligible person will be able/want to access the resources online, a large number of low-income community members are accessing legal information online. A growing number turn to the Internet first to find legal information, locate their legal aid office, and so on. Having this information online frees up resources to help others who need more than legal information. (For a more elegant discussion of this topic, I would recommend the paper "Civil Legal Assistance for All Americans" available at http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/programs/equalaccess/documents/selfrep07/SystemChange/bellow-sacks.pdf)
In the US the federal legal aid funder has provided technology initiative grants, which have set off many innovative projects that are changing how legal aid programs deliver services. This work is being replicated in Canada as well. In fact, as part of my job with Pro Bono Net, a nonprofit that works with legal aid organizations, pro bono programs, and courts to improve access to justice through increasing volunteerism, collaboration, and effective use of technology, I've had the opportunity to work with Pro Bono Law Ontario and seen how adding technology to their service delivery (both as support for their programs and as information for the general public) has allowed them to be more effective and efficient in their work. – K
In the United States there is a community website called SelfHelpSupport.org which is geared to courts, community and legal aid self help practitioners.
http://www.selfhelpsupport.org Members of the site have access to library resources, including the Self-Help Technology section.
Technology is a useful tool that can help deliver legal information and legal service, particularly to those who cannot be served in any other way. You raise the concern that the projected users of the technology may be deterred by literacy issues or confusion on how to access/use a computer or their degree of comfort in finding a place where they can feel private. A lot is being done with cell-phones and other mobile technology – resources which can be more accessible, more user-friendly and more prevalent than a computer. At a recent Equal Justice Conference (United States) there were a few sessions on these tools and how they could be used:
Tech Systems for Clients and Legal Aid Programs: Online Project Management, Open Source Legal Opinions and Client Use of Mobile Devices
http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/ejc/workshop_preview_2008.html#171
Our Clients and Technology: Mobile Technology, Social Media, and Serving Low Income Communities
http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/ejc/workshop_preview_2008.html#7
The point to make is that we are surrounded by technology, so we should explore how to use it as a useful medium for helping. There are a number of projects that not only leverage technology to deliver help, but to also make it a simpler process than in the past. One example would be LiveHelp, by which a person seeking legal information can be assisted by either chat or phone conversation while they view web pages – an example may be found at the Iowa Legal Aid website http://www.iowalegalaid.org/IA/index.cfm . Another would be the HotDocs document assembly project (NPADO project) which develops online forms to help pro se users get their documents in order http://www.lsntap.org/lilbookshelf?tid=49&name=Document%20Assembly . The HotDocs project is using A2J Author (Access to Justice Author) software http://www.a2jauthor.org/ to build very user-friendly interfaces to the document assembly tools. Some states use video to help the pro se user understand more about their situation such as Illinois Legal Aid Online and a sample video "What Happens If I Receive an Eviction Notice?"
http://www.illinoislegalaid.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.dsp_Content&contentID=6038 or even a video to help them familiarize with the steps and procedures in going to the actual court room " Going to Daley Center Eviction Court" http://www.illinoislegalaid.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.dsp_content&contentID=5552
More information about technology and the delivery of legal services may be found at:
The Legal Services National Technology Project (LSNTAP) http://www.lsntap.org
The Legal Services Corporation's Technology Initiative Grants Program
http://tig.lsc.gov/
The Legal Services Corporation's Technology Initiative Grants conference presentations
http://tig.lsc.gov/tigconferencepresentations.php
The Pew Internet and American Life Project
http://www.pewinternet.org/
WLJ