If you need a lawyer and you can’t afford one and live in Tennessee, you might want to take a gander over at this website started by the state’s Supreme Court called JusticeForAllTN.org. “The court realizes that sometimes people cannot get help from a lawyer because they cannot afford one or they decide they want to represent themselves.” That and some plain-English initiatives started by the court can go a long way towards reducing legal costs for many common activities such as divorce, mediation and parental rights.
Wait a minute. Plain English legal language? Started by a court? For free? Yes, this is for real. And the site is nicely designed and easy to use too. It is about time, and shall we say sets a new high bar for similar kinds of public information sites from their government.
The website, which was created by the court’s Access to Justice Commission, also has tips on self-representation, instructions on who qualifies for legal aid, and a way to locate the nearest such office. The court claims that more than a million residents of the state can’t afford a lawyer, about 20% of total cases brought before the various courts. “To our knowledge, this is the most extensive statewide site,” says Anne-Louise Wirthlin, the coordinator of the project for the court. The project prepared this short promo video:
According to this column by Gail Kerr in The Tennessean, in addition to the site, six of Nashville’s larger law firms have split up the various legal specialties and agreed to offer pro-bono legal services. Both are worthwhile efforts and I hope more states follow with similar acts in the future.
