Background to Free Legal Answers
Free Legal Answers is an online platform where people on low incomes can describe a legal problem or ask a legal question and receive pro bono legal advice from volunteer lawyers.
It is based on a service in the United States supported by the American Bar Association. LawWorks has been granted a license to launch a similar website service in England and Wales. We were kindly provided with project management and technical expertise to assist us in configuring and testing the website to fit the legal environment in England and Wales. We have also been fortunate to receive funding from the Ministry of Justice in partnership with the Access to Justice Foundation. The first phase of Free Legal Answers and its development ran from May 2020, and is due to come to an end in July 2022.
Why now?
With the continuing public health crisis, demand for legal help has increased with more people looking for help and support including online. As we come to the end of the first phase of Free Legal Answers, we are looking to increase its reach and impact as a source of free legal advice. We are also scoping an integrated ‘digital hub’ for all of our digital platforms.
What we need
We are looking for someone to conduct an evaluation of the Free Legal Answers platform and service, as well as being able to recommend potential improvements and future developments. We have quantitative and qualitative data from users of the site: individuals looking for help, volunteer lawyers, referral agencies and administrators. We would like someone to help us make best use of the data we have, identify gaps and to make recommendations.
