> Skip to content
FEATURED:
  • The Evolution of Race in Admissions
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
Sign In
ADVERTISEMENT
News
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Show more sharing options
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Copy Link URLCopied!
  • Print

Provide Legal Aid to Vulnerable Populations

By  Maura Mahoney
April 21, 2020

While the courts are mostly closed, people still have legal problems. Some are in the middle of litigation. Even the relatively simple tasks of printing out forms, filling them in, and delivering them to a courthouse (or scanning and submitting them electronically) can be a hurdle right now. Many people don’t have a printer or a scanner at home, and lack access to a library or retail printing service.

Those needs prompted a group of students and staff members at Suffolk University Law School, in Boston, to organize an assembly line of volunteers to design mobile-friendly court forms and assist lawyerless people with their filings. Court officials are sharing relevant documents with Suffolk’s Legal Innovation & Technology Lab, which parcels out the tasks based on volunteers’ skills. Lawyers, paralegals, and law students provide brief explanations that will show up on the screen of anyone using a form. Tech specialists and students in the law school’s legal-innovation-and-technology concentration are assisting with technological aspects. Volunteers without a legal background can test early versions or help translate forms into languages other than English. Local legal-aid programs refer clients to the forms, which will be hosted on a Suffolk website and can be submitted electronically by the university. In the future, court sites may link directly to the mobile forms

We’re sorry. Something went wrong.

We are unable to fully display the content of this page.

The most likely cause of this is a content blocker on your computer or network. Please make sure your computer, VPN, or network allows javascript and allows content to be delivered from c950.chronicle.com and chronicle.blueconic.net.

Once javascript and access to those URLs are allowed, please refresh this page. You may then be asked to log in, create an account if you don't already have one, or subscribe.

If you continue to experience issues, contact us at 202-466-1032 or help@chronicle.com

While the courts are mostly closed, people still have legal problems. Some are in the middle of litigation. Even the relatively simple tasks of printing out forms, filling them in, and delivering them to a courthouse (or scanning and submitting them electronically) can be a hurdle right now. Many people don’t have a printer or a scanner at home, and lack access to a library or retail printing service.

Those needs prompted a group of students and staff members at Suffolk University Law School, in Boston, to organize an assembly line of volunteers to design mobile-friendly court forms and assist lawyerless people with their filings. Court officials are sharing relevant documents with Suffolk’s Legal Innovation & Technology Lab, which parcels out the tasks based on volunteers’ skills. Lawyers, paralegals, and law students provide brief explanations that will show up on the screen of anyone using a form. Tech specialists and students in the law school’s legal-innovation-and-technology concentration are assisting with technological aspects. Volunteers without a legal background can test early versions or help translate forms into languages other than English. Local legal-aid programs refer clients to the forms, which will be hosted on a Suffolk website and can be submitted electronically by the university. In the future, court sites may link directly to the mobile forms

An assembly line of volunteers is helping create mobile-friendly forms.
Courtesy of the Suffolk Law LIT Lab
An assembly line of volunteers is helping create mobile-friendly forms.

The impetus for the project came from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s Access to Justice Commission Covid-19 Task Force, which is trying to fill cracks in the justice system that have been widened by reductions in court hours and availability, says David Colarusso, director of Suffolk’s legal lab. The new mobile forms could, for example, help a domestic-violence victim seeking a restraining order or a tenant who has been illegally locked out by a landlord, says Quinten Steenhuis, a legal technologist and clinical fellow in the lab. “Domestic violence — which unfortunately we know is worsened by people being stuck inside all day — and housing emergencies are our two priority areas,” he says. Beyond that: custody issues, adoption, and debt collection. The project’s immediate goal is to build 30 forms involving family and housing issues. That would normally take several months or even years, says Steenhuis. But the volunteers, working together, hope to do it in a few weeks.

How is your institution contributing to the “war effort” against the coronavirus? Tell us here.

ADVERTISEMENT

Read other items in this What Colleges Are Doing to Help Their Communities Fight the Pandemic package.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Maura Mahoney
Maura Mahoney is a senior editor for Chronicle Intelligence. Follow her on Twitter @maurakmahoney, or email her at maura.mahoney@chronicle.com.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Explore
    • Get Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Blogs
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Find a Job
    Explore
    • Get Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Blogs
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Find a Job
  • The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Write for Us
    • Talk to Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • User Agreement
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Site Map
    • Accessibility Statement
    The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Write for Us
    • Talk to Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • User Agreement
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Site Map
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Customer Assistance
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Post a Job
    • Advertising Terms and Conditions
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
    Customer Assistance
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Post a Job
    • Advertising Terms and Conditions
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
  • Subscribe
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Manage Your Account
    Subscribe
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Manage Your Account
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2023 The Chronicle of Higher Education
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin