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Legal Services State Support

Legal Services State Support. MMLA Board Meeting June 12, 2013 | Minneapolis, MN. Improving the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Client Service. Statewide support services: educate low-income about legal rights, processes, and assistance;

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Legal Services State Support

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  1. Legal Services State Support MMLA Board Meeting June 12, 2013 | Minneapolis, MN

  2. Improving the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Client Service • Statewide support services: • educate low-income about legal rights, processes, and assistance; • train legal aid and pro bono on poverty law topics, facilitate pro bono work, provide resources to support the work of justice community providers; • pioneer innovative technological approaches to client service. • Collaborative approach: • work closely with other providers to assess and address needs and maximize efficient use of resources between programs. www.mnlegalservices.org

  3. Resources for Advocates

  4. Training & Training Virtualization • 43 poverty law CLEs in 2012: • 83 CLE credits • 940 total attendees • approx. 400 pro bono attendees • approx. half of trainings were via webinar • saves legal aid resources • Increases pro bono attendance • All trainings (webinar and in-person) are recorded and archived www.projusticemn.org/calendar

  5. Pro Bono / Legal Aid Website • Legal resource website for legal aid and pro bono attorneys • Combines volunteer recruitment, training, and support • Features a Law Library • Resources in each poverty law area • housing, consumer, gov’t benefits, family, immigration, etc. • Many types of resources • practice aids, forms, manuals, law summaries, etc. www.projusticemn.org

  6. CLE Portal • Access to 2.5 years of poverty law CLEs • video or webinar recordings • PowerPoints • other training materials • Currently, materials for 47 trainings www.projusticemn.org/trainings

  7. Case Placement Tool • Began slowly in mid-2011 • In 2012, 50% of cases were successfully placed • Process: • Legal aid providers post info about available cases • Volunteer attorneys can check the site, or receive email alerts tailored to preferred topics and counties • Available Case Widgets • Syndicates available cases to intranet site • Also available for upcoming poverty law CLEs www.projusticemn.org/volunteer

  8. Advocate Newsletter • Sent monthly to entire website membership (approx. 1,800) • Brings content to practitioners www.projusticemn.org/archives

  9. Resources for the client community

  10. Community Legal Education • 138 fact sheets, many in multiple languages, co-produced by MMLA and State Support • Adding approx. 20 disability law fact sheets in next year • Eight comprehensive booklets (divorce, landlord-tenant, etc.) • Just added kinship caregiving manual • In-person outreach to nearly 3,000 in 2012 • Many service providers (incl. 135 librarians from 35 libraries www.lawhelpmn.org/lasmfactsheets

  11. LawHelpMN.org • Fact sheets, booklets, legal aid referral, and more • New version launched February 29, 2012 • Recent dramatic increases in usage • Each month, 100 or more directly served through navigational assistance chat tool • Not only prepares clients and pro se litigants, but prevents legal crises www.lawhelpmn.org

  12. January 1, 2013 through June 10, 2013: 944 Visits Per Day

  13. Partner Highlight: Public Libraries • Part of national Public Libraries / Access to Justice movement • Recognizes unique capacity of librarians to help educate low-income persons with legal needs • Strong partnership with public libraries • Trainings (resources, referrals, UPL) • Co-branded LawHelp mini-sites on library websites www.ramseycountylawhelp.org

  14. Document Automation • Like TurboTax for legal forms • 16 interviews for pro se litigants • Six of those have been translated into Spanish • Approx. 8,000 documents created in 2012 www.lawhelpmn.org/formhelper

  15. Online Advice • Pilot project in Northwest Minnesota – hope to expand throughout the state • Clients go through basic eligibility screening process, then can ask legal advice question • Volunteer attorneys are notified by email and provide answers through the system • Good pro bono model • limited scope • increases geographic reach • potential for early intervention • potential to spread pro bono resources throughout state www.lsnmlaw-lion.org

  16. Online Intake • 24/7 access to legal aid application for MMLA (including MDLC) and CMLS • Statewide for disability and tax cases • Expansion soon to Legal Services of NW MN • Applications are routed to one of three offices • Increases accessibility and geographic reach www.legalaidintake.org

  17. Questions?

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