1. Welcome to LSNTAP’s Innovations in
Technology-enabled Pro Bono!
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4. Innovations in Technologyenabled Pro Bono
October 23, 2013

5. Presenters
Mirenda Watkins
LawHelp Interactive Coordinator, Pro Bono Net
Adam Friedl
Pro Bono Coordinator, Pro Bono Net
Carolyn Coffey
Supervising Attorney, MFY Legal Services
Liz Keith
LawHelp Program Manager, Pro Bono Net

6. Road Map
1.
Technology-enabled pro bono Initiatives
•
•
•
•
2.
LawHelp Interactive
NY Family Court Remote Volunteer Attorney
Project
NYC Consumer Debt Defense Clinic and Forms
Latest Innovations: Mobile and remote services
If you build it, they will come. Does the Field
of Dreams maxim hold true for tech and pro
bono volunteers?

7. What to think about when
you think about
incorporating tech.
Takeaways
What volunteers need to
embrace new, unfamiliar
models.
Remember that the Legal
Services-Tech empire was
not built in a day.
A few ideas to explore and
how to get started.
Image Courtesy of Ginnerobot / Flickr

8. Goals for Tech-Enabled Pro Bono
Pro bono programs
New pathways for volunteers to learn about and engage in
your programs
Pro bono lawyers
Enhanced support, access to expertise, and new forms of
volunteering
Clients
Greater resources and efficiencies; increased services to
underserved clients and communities

9. LawHelpInteractive: Examples of Technology
Tools with the Power to Enhance Pro Bono
Initiatives
Mirenda Watkins, Esq.
LawHelp Interactive Program Coordinator
Pro Bono Net

10. LawHelp Interactive

11. What is LawHelp Interactive (LHI)?
o
o
o
A training center—we teach people how to
create interactive interviews
A tech support center—we provide technical
support
A replication/best practices engine—we share
best practices, a community of sharing

12. What is LawHelp Interactive (cont’d)
A personalized
document is created
from the answers.
Advocates or Selfrepresented Litigants
answer questions during
an interview.
Supports use of HotDocs™
and/or A2J Author™ interviews.

13. How are Pro Bono Volunteers using LawHelp
Interactive Forms?
Direct Representation:
• Pro bono lawyers are taking cases in an area outside their expertise and filing
pleadings using LHI technology
Limited Scope/Unbundled Legal Services
• Remote review of pleadings by pro bono lawyers/not having to go downtown to
do pro bono
• In person review by pro bono lawyers at self-help centers
Information/referral/Screening
• Emeritus attorneys staffing self-help centers in libraries and courts
• Emeritus attorneys staffing foreclosure hotlines (Georgia)
• Screening for N-400s (Citizenship Works)
• Law students/AmeriCorps staffing self-help centers, leading workshops, and
college students staffing drop-in centers (Los Angeles, Kentucky, Bet Tzedek)

14. What are the Benefits of Interactive Forms in a
Pro Bono Context?
•
Standardize Content
•
Electronic remote sharing
•
Reusable information
•
Reduce training time by providing checks &
balances, references, and calculators
•
Sample pleadings can be reduced to one interview, one
URL–no need to send out multiple documents in one big
binder

15. Building a Program - Partners
•
Build support among court staff
•
Engage access-to-justice community partners
•
Don’t overlook other potential partners
•
Plan, plan, plan, and plan for delays
•
Be ready to compromise
Pro Bono Net, NPADO
©2008 National Center for State Courts

16. Lessons Learned
•
Creative Thinking Plan for sustainability from the beginning
•
Use standard forms that every court must accept
•
Learn from other jurisdictions’ projects
•
Find a “champion”
•
Build support for the project
•
Do not be overly ambitious
•
Integrate the project into existing service delivery channels
•
Train staff to use the system
•
Promote the project
•
Evaluate
Pro Bono Net, NPADO
©2008 National Center for State Courts

17. New York Family Court
Remote Volunteer Attorney Program
Adam Friedl
Pro Bono Coordinator
Pro Bono Net

18. Family Court in New York – the numbers
Number of dispositions per judge, 2005:
–Family Court: 2,120
–Supreme Court, Civil: 525
–Supreme/County Courts,
Criminal: 222
–Court of Claims: 63
Another way to think of it:
In 2006, 127 Family Court judges were
responsible for 680,791 new filings
Percentage of litigants proceeding pro se:
>80%

19. Family Court Remote Volunteer Attorney Project
• The Family Court Volunteer
Attorney Project (VAP)
provides
free, discrete, unbundled legal
advice by volunteer attorneys
to un-represented litigants.
• In 2012, we began a pilot that
extended the service to Staten
Island using
videoconferencing.
Credit: http://wikitravel.org/en/New_York_City

20. Previous Limits on Resources
Staten Island (Richmond County) has not been covered in
the past by VAP due to geography and limited resources.
–Geography
• The vast majority of volunteer attorneys
participating in VAP are based in Manhattan
–Resources
• No dedicated space for VAP
• No dedicated personnel for the program in
Staten Island

21. How the Remote VAP Works
The idea: use technology to make VAP
services available
• Use web-based communications
technology to allow experienced
volunteer attorneys in Manhattan
to assist pro se litigants in other
counties
• Use scanning and remote IP
printing to deliver documents from
litigants to volunteers and vice
versa

22. Project Requirements
• Computer stations in Manhattan and
target counties equipped with video
conferencing
software, cameras, microphones, speak
ers, printers, and scanners
• Secure, stable lines of communication
•Trained person to screen litigants and
experienced family law attorney to
supervise/mentor volunteers

23. The Process
• Screener conducts intake with litigant in Richmond intake room
• Screener escorts litigant to consultation room. Volunteer in
Manhattan counsels litigant via video call
• If volunteer has a question, mutes video call and telephones
mentor/supervisor
• Volunteer returns to video call, finishes consultation
• Volunteer prints any documents litigant needs to IP printer in
target county

24. Current Status
•Expanding to service locations beyond New York City
–The program is in the process of expanding to multiple
counties upstate

25. Contributors to Success
• Staff conducting the pilot in NYC very experienced and
enthusiastic – good environment for volunteers
• Every county has dedicated IT personnel who are
able/willing to make the technology work seamlessly
• Workflow has been simplified as much as possible with
step-by-step instructions for volunteers
• Extensive efforts to create buy-in from local court
administrations and bar associations

26. Challenges
• Upstate/downstate divide: initial reluctance and
assumption that ―they don’t understand‖
• New and different staffing models required based on
circumstances of individual counties
• Navigating administrative and political concerns to
maintain positive experience for volunteers/litigants

27. Thank you for your time!
For questions or comments, please feel free to contact:
Adam Friedl
Pro Bono Coordinator
afriedl@probono.net

28. The NYC Consumer
Debt Defense Project
Carolyn Coffey
Supervising Attorney
Consumer Rights Project,
MFY Legal Services

29. Consumer Debt
• In 2011, 42% of overall debt collection
lawsuits resulted in default judgments –
but debt buyers obtained default
judgments in an estimated 62% of their
cases
• 95% of people with default judgments
reside in low- or moderate-income
neighborhoods

30. Only 2% of people sued by debt
buyers in NYC are represented by
counsel
Only 10% of people sued
answered the summons
and complaint

31. The Pro Bono Response
• CLARO (Civil Legal Advice and Resource Office)
• Weekly, walk-in clinics held in courthouses
• Litigants receive advice about their case and
assistance preparing some documents
• Staffed by experienced experts, pro bono
attorneys, and trained law students
• Very successful — and very popular

32. Challenges of this Model
• Clinics overflowing with litigants
• Significant learning curve for pro bono lawyers
and students
• Some essential responsive documents too
complex to be drafted during brief services
(especially MSJs)

33. Document Assembly Resources
for Pro Se Litigants
• Motion to Vacate a Default Judgment
• Debt Verification Letter
• Answer
• Demand for Documents

34. Document Assembly
Resources for Advocates
Why?
• Efficiency for advocates
• Support for volunteers

36. Document Assembly Resources for
Advocates
• Clinics – CLARO
• Attorney for the Day Programs
• Legal services attorneys

37. One Template, Many Documents

38. Built-in Contextual Information

39. Editable Word Document

40. Sample Response to a
Motion for Summary
Judgment
•
Created in
minutes, as
opposed to hours

41. Benefits and Factors of Success
•
•
•
•
Clinic volunteers can now serve clients more
quickly, and thus serve more clients
Less experienced volunteers now have
expert guidance just by walking through the
interview
Most clinic supervisors are strong supporters
of technological innovation
New volunteers being trained in tech
methods from the beginning

42. Challenges and Considerations
•
Some personnel are very comfortable with
previous “by hand” methods and adjustments
they had made
•
Learning curve of using the software
•
As tech use expands, adapting to procedural
idiosyncrasies of new locations

44. For More Information
Contact:
Carolyn Coffey — ccoffey@mfy.org
NYC Consumer Debt Defense Project
http://www.probono.net/ny/consumer/
CLARO website:
http://www.claronyc.org/claronyc/default.html

45. Mobile and Remote Innovations to
Support Pro Bono Engagement
Liz Keith
LawHelp Program Manager
Pro Bono Net

46. MN “Pro Bono to Go” Project Overview
•
•
2013 TIG to Legal Aid Services of Northeastern
Minnesota
•
Partners: Legal Services State Support, MSBA &
Pro Bono Net
Goal: Create a mobile version of ProJusticeMN.org
featuring mobile-optimized settlement checklists and
client interview guides

47. Why mobile checklists?
•
Settlement opportunities can arise
unexpectedly, often at court
•
Good settlements can have
tremendous benefits to the client
•
But settlements have benefits and
pitfalls that an inexperienced
attorney might overlook
•
Checklists can help with issuespotting and make volunteers
more confident taking cases
outside their area

48. Why mobile interview guides?
•
Walk-in clinics are a staple of
volunteer attorney work
•
Standardized interview
guides can help practitioners
get better and more
complete information from
clients – and provide better
advice as a result
•
The guides can also speed up
issue-spotting, making
sessions more efficient

49. Other uses of mobile
• Mobile apps to connect attorneys with information about
volunteering and practice resources
• Illinois Legal Aid Online, Arkansas Legal Services
Partnership, Public Counsel (LA)
• Screening resource for non-legal volunteers
• R3 Domestic Violence Screening app (Recognize,
Respond and Refer)
• Bay Area medical-legal partnership created an app to
help social workers and nurses screen clients for legal
issues
• Your ideas?

50. Remote services pro bono models
• Virtual legal clinic and lawyer in the
library programs
• Pro Bono Project of Silicon
Valley Virtual Legal Services
clinics
• Remote document review from
court-based self-help centers
• LiveHelp/ live chat
• Asynchronous online advice
platforms
• e.g. OnlineTNJustice.org

51. Where is LiveHelp / live chat
being used with law student and
private attorney volunteers?
Blue = Live projects staffed by legal aid
staff, Americorps*VISTA volunteers, and
librarians
Green = Live projects using volunteers
Yellow = Projects in development that will use
volunteers

52. What kind of assistance are volunteers providing?
•
•
Information-finding and referral assistance (all)
•
•
•
•
•
Help applying for services online (UT)
Individualized legal assistance after screening (TX)
Help finding & using online self-help forms
(MT, KS, AR, OK, TX)
Bilingual Spanish assistance (NY, IL)
Court self-help services (MD)
Pro bono counsel & advice (OH – 2014)

53. Considerations for using volunteers in LiveHelp
•
Anytime/anywhere option is attractive
•
Volunteers who participated in LiveHelp
•
Does your program have online content (FAQs, instructions,
referral info) that volunteers can lean on?
•
LiveHelp system content and admin tools can help with
support and supervision
•
Use of volunteers requires a greater investment in staff
supervisor time
•
Need a system for back-channel support (e.g. Google chat)

54. What does the (not so distant) future hold?
•
More sophisticated & tailored case
marketing and matching
•
Auto-generated personalized
referral packets for volunteers
(drawing on statewide website
content & automated forms)
•
Virtual law office platforms with
secure client and volunteer portals
(e.g. RocketLawyer) to provide
unbundled or full services
•
Your ideas?

55. For More Information
LiveHelp:
• Contact: Liz Keith, lkeith@probono.net or
Xander Karsten, xkarsten@probono.net
LawHelp Interactive:
• Contact: Mirenda Watkins,
mwatkins@probono.net or Claudia Johnson,
cjohnson@probono.net

56. THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING TODAY!
Next up by PBN:
Beyond Online Intake: Looking at Triage
and Expert Systems
December 4, 2013 More information at
www.lsntap.org

57. Contact Information
Brian Rowe (brianr@nwjustice.org) or via chat on www.lsntap.org
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