Students will help people navigate the website TexasLawHelp.org when they visit the site seeking legal information and resources. By serving as Live Chat representatives, law student volunteers will interact directly with website users to help them locate relevant legal information on the site, as well as referrals to legal resources in their communities. TexasLawHelp.org is a statewide website that provides free and reliable legal information and resources, and empowers individuals who cannot afford to hire a lawyer to advocate more effectively for themselves in the legal system. In 2015, more than 1.2 million unique user visited TexasLawHelp.org, and over 200,000 individuals downloaded resources from the site.
Organization
Texas Legal Services Center
TLSC is a nonprofit legal office that provides assistance and training to poverty law advocates and their clients in the areas of litigation support, education and communication. TLSC sponsors projects that assist individuals in Texas and, in some cases, nationwide. TLSC manages TexasLawHelp.org and Texas Lawyers Help, which are statewide web initiatives to increase access to justice.
Project Details
- Website
- http://www.tlsc.org
- Project Start Date
September 2016
- Approximate hours of work requested
- 2-4 hours per week; students must schedule one or more regular shifts between 10am-3pm, Monday-Thursday and work a minimum of 2 hours per week
- Training
- Students will independently review training materials and website content for approximately 2 hours before engaging in supervised chat sessions under the immediate supervision of a TLH staff attorney; shifts will begin September 19-23 and volunteers will receive instant feedback through a private messaging system during that period; after supervised training, volunteers will receive feedback every few weeks through a case review process
- Skills used
- Community education, communication with client population
- Project location
- Students can perform live chat from any location with an internet connection
- Number of student volunteers requested
- 3
- Class year preference
- 2L, 3L, LLM
- Required skills
- Spanish helpful but not required
- To Apply
- Submit email stating interest, language skills, and desired shift times to Sarah Sedgwick at ssedgwick@law.utexas.edu