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;  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.

Resources for Advocates

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

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.

CLE Portal  Access to 2.5 years of poverty law CLEs  video or webinar recordings  PowerPoints  other training materials  Currently, materials for 47 trainings

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 alerts tailored to preferred topics and counties  Available Case Widgets  Syndicates available cases to intranet site  Also available for upcoming poverty law CLEs

Advocate Newsletter  Sent monthly to entire website membership (approx. 1,800)  Brings content to practitioners

Resources for the client community

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

Questions?