Each year, Pro Bono Net celebrates Pro Bono Week by recognizing and thanking the thousands of volunteer lawyers who make a huge difference for those in need. This year, we would like to give a very special thank you to our past and present LiveHelp Volunteers.
As we continue to be immersed in a global pandemic, Pro Bono Net has been focused and unified by the certainty that our mission has never been more important: to use innovative technology solutions and collaboration to fulfill America’s promise of equal justice for all. Trained volunteers staff LiveHelp from 9 AM-9 PM on weekdays, making this service readily accessible to low-income working clients, individuals in rural areas, or people who may be homebound, elderly or living with disabilities. LiveHelp is available in English and Spanish.
Our Livehelp volunteers continue to provide assistance to visitors by offering information about their rights and options in issue areas such as orders of protection, domestic violence, child custody, rent payments and evictions, and emergency assistance programs; issues which have worsened for many throughout the pandemic.
So far in 2021, our LiveHelp volunteers provided detailed assistance to more than 900 New Yorkers each month with ever more complex legal issues. Without the hard work and dedication of law students, LiveHelp wouldn’t have been able to provide high quality legal information to the low-income, vulnerable New Yorkers we serve. In Q3 of 2021, our LiveHelp program helped more than 2,700 people connect to legal rights information, legal aid agencies, and court resources. We had a total number of 55 volunteers this quarter, who served a total of 1,489 hours.
Thank you to the law schools and their student volunteers who believe in our mission, support our work and share our commitment to equal justice! For more on LiveHelp, read our LiveHelp Volunteer Spotlights, featuring Safaa Aly and Jordan Kaufman, to learn more about their experience in their own words.
LiveHelp is a real-time chat service that allows you to chat with staff and volunteers of LawHelpNY and its partner organizations. LiveHelp helps those with complex legal issues learn about their rights and legal options. LiveHelp is available Monday to Friday 9 AM to 9 PM (Eastern Standard Time) and is available in English and Spanish.
LawHelpNY, which is powered by Pro Bono Net, is New York’s statewide legal information website providing access to Know Your Rights information, DIY court forms, as well as referral information for over 250 free legal service providers.