Revamped site features expanded referral tools and Legal Help Guides on essential topics
Pro Bono Net is pleased to announce the launch of the redesigned and expanded LawHelp.org, the national gateway to nonprofit legal aid resources and referrals in the U.S. This inviting and inclusive redesign allows users to more easily find and access help for fundamental legal needs.
LawHelp.org was created to help people without lawyers understand their rights, make informed decisions, and connect to help in their local community. This national platform provides referrals to trusted civil legal aid resources in every U.S. state and territory, including a network of 20 statewide legal information portals developed using the LawHelp platform.
LawHelp.org features basic Legal Help Guides that answer common questions about navigating the legal system and finding free and low cost legal help. The Guides also help people understand their rights and options on pressing national issues such as eviction, reproductive health care rights, and COVID-19.
The redesigned LawHelp also offers links to helpful legal tools, including:
- A national Legal Help Finder for nonprofit civil legal aid and immigration legal services providers across the country.
- LawHelp Interactive: A platform that provides free online legal forms with easy-to-follow instructions that empower individuals without a lawyer to create legal documents on their own.
- Immigration Legal Help: A portal that connects people to help for immigration legal issues, including an affordable path to citizenship.
- Disaster Legal Help: A resource that connects people impacted by climate-related emergencies to legal support and self-advocacy tools, including for FEMA applications and appeals.
“Millions of people start their search for legal help online, but finding trustworthy information and nonprofit legal services can be hard on the Internet,” said Liz Keith, Program Director at Pro Bono Net. “The new LawHelp.org combines basic legal rights guides with better referral tools to connect people to trusted, community-based help for issues such as family safety, food security, housing stability, and recovery from climate-driven disasters.”
The national LawHelp redesign was developed in collaboration with Pro Bono Net’s design partner, Ideal Design Co, and comes on the heels of a recent redesign of the state LawHelp platform. “The new LawHelp.org was designed the same way we redesigned the state LawHelp platform, employing a human-centered design process with an emphasis on mobile optimization,” said Ariadne Brazo, Product Manager at Pro Bono Net. “From the illustrations, to the map layout, to the way we display our Legal Help Guides, we focused on ensuring users can find a calming yet informative hub of information to help with their legal situation.”
The Spanish language version of LawHelp.org will relaunch this fall.
Please visit LawHelp.org for more information, or contact Liz Keith, Pro Bono Net’s State and National Programs Director, at lkeith@probono.net.
To read our three-part blog series on the redesign of the state LawHelp platform, visit: Designing and Testing the New LawHelp.
For more information on Pro Bono Net and our programs, visit: https://www.probono.net/programs/.