Playing with the Law: Clear and Convincing Legal Resources for Public Librarians Minnesota Library Association 2010 Annual Conference October 6, 2010 John Freeman, Minnesota Legal Services Coalition Brian R. Huffman, Washington County Law Library Mary Ann Van Cura, Minnesota State Library Services

Course Agenda I. Background: Access to Justice: National and State Overview II. Present: Self-Help Resources and Minnesota Initiatives III. Future: Resources for Public Librarians: WebJunction Minnesota and Collaborations

Overview: The modern American legal landscape National access to justice movement and involvement of public librarians. Why public librarians need to be involved. Minnesota access to justice history and recent endeavors. Access to Justice: National and State Overview

American Legal System is Strained to the Limits Increased Filings Budget Cuts Economic Downturn Less use of Lawyers

Access to Justice – Minnesota – Statistics Minnesota Dissolution with Child Filings,

Not a New Problem Minnesota Chief Judges recognize need to involve librarians as far back as Minnesota court funding one of the worst in the nation (Stawicki, 2008). Enter the Access to Justice Movement

Access to Justice Movement History Friction Points:  Increased costs of legal counsel  Increased demand for access to court  Increasing interests of new stakeholders  Increased complexity and costs of process Goals: Turning courts into access-to-justice institutions; provide leadership and public access points outside and inside the legal system Model: Richard Zorza’s Problem-Solving Gateway solution

Public Libraries & Access to Justice Conference 2010 – Austin, TX Attendees: 45 participants from 15 states Kudos! The Minnesota Team’s application was one of 15 states selected from 45 applications Purpose: The conference will be a unique opportunity for participants to meet with public librarians and with legal and court experts to discuss strategies for integrating access to legal information into their programs, including how to the best locate content and tools, how to talk about the content with library patrons, how to work with content partners to make sure that needed content is developed, how to share what they have learned statewide, and how to use successful programs to advocate for the importance of public libraries as gateways to government institutions.

Minnesota Public Libraries and Access to Justice Minnesota Public Libraries and Access to Justice (MN PLATJ) is a collaboration of Minnesota legal services, courts, law libraries, public libraries, and the state library agency MN PLATJ Team Members: – Mary Ann Van Cura, State Library Services –John Freeman, Minnesota Legal Services Coalition –Brian Huffman, Law Library Director for Washington County [Public] Library –Sara Galligan, Ramsey County Law Library –Katrina Zabinski, Minnesota Courts Self ‐ Help Center –Patrick Noonan, Minnesota Legal Services Coalition –Ellen Smart, Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis

MN PLATJ Goals Create a central repository for resources that promote access to legal information at libraries (Tool: WebJunction Minnesota) Provide training for library staff on resources Promote two-way communication between public library staff and law library staff and between legal content providers (legal aid, courts, self-help efforts, etc.) and public libraries

How Can Public Librarians Help? Access Point for Public Trusted Convenient Locations & Hours Key Concepts of Librarianship Access Customer Service Provides Accurate Information Trained Staff Listen / Navigate / Don’t start with a “No” Community Referral and Partnering

Minnesota Access to Justice Key Groups: Legal Assistance to the Disadvantaged Committee (MSBA) Minnesota Legal Services Coalition (regional civil legal aid programs and other specialized providers) Minnesota Legal Services Planning Committee (Minnesota Supreme Court)

Library Involvement: Partner in ATJ State and county law libraries (resources and programming) Legal clinics at law libraries (academic and public) Self-help centers throughout the state (forms and phone service) Grant-funded pro se legal training initiatives in Washington County State library agencies Minnesota Access to Justice for Public Librarians team Law Library Associations Ongoing web presence on WebJunction Minnesota for public librarians

References Nordick, Andrea. (December 28, 2009). Leveling the playing field for pro se litigants. The Hennepin Lawyer. See Recommendations from the Minnesota conference of chief judges. (1996). See Report to the community: The 2009 annual report of the Minnesota judicial branch. p. 19, See Stawicki, Elizabeth. (December 30, 2008). Minnesota's court budget woes are part of nationwide trend. Minnesota Public Radio. See Zorza, Richard. (2010). Courts in the 21 st century: The access to justice transformation. The Judges Journal. 49(1), 14-19; Zorza, Richard. (2010). “Public Libraries and Access to Justice” in“Public Libraries and Access to Justice” Future Trends in the State Courts 2010Future Trends in the State Courts See

Self-Help Resources and Minnesota Initiatives John Freeman Staff Attorney / Website Coordinator Minnesota Legal Services Coalition

The Challenge: Unmet Legal Need Four findings of the Sept Legal Services Corporation “Justice Gap” Report

Eligible Low-Income Individuals Turned Away 1.For every client served by legal aid, one person who seeks help is turned down because of insufficient resources. –Many others are turned down for other reasons (conflicts, priorities, relative merit, etc.). 2.Fewer than 20% of the legal problems experienced by low-income people are addressed with the assistance of either a private attorney (pro bono or paid) or a legal aid lawyer.

Too Few Attorneys for Low-Income Minnesotans 3.On average, only one legal aid attorney is available for every 6,415 low-income people, while there is one private attorney providing personal legal services for every 429 people in the general population. 4.State courts are facing significantly increased numbers of unrepresented litigants, the vast majority of whom are unable to afford an attorney.

Other Factors –Many, many more qualify for legal aid (at least those up to 125% of poverty level) Poverty level is set low, so many don’t qualify for legal aid yet cannot afford a private attorney Low-income population rising at an alarming rate –14.3% (or 44 million people) in poverty in 2009

The Result More and more Minnesotans are navigating the legal system on their own And of course… More often, they are turning to librarians and library resources (including the internet) for assistance

Some Good News MN ranks 4 th in nation for internet use About 50% of unmet needs can be addressed through low-cost intervention, such as educational and self-help materials. –American Bar Association. Findings of the Comprehensive Legal Needs Study National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Current Population Survey (CPS) Internet Use Oct

Websites & Other Web-Based Resources LawHelpMN.org –by: Minnesota civil legal services providers –for: Low-income Minnesotans with civil legal needs MNCourts.gov/SelfHelp –by: MN Judicial Branch Virtual Self-Help Center –for: Self-represented litigants in state courts mn.webjunction.org/platj –by: Minnesota Public Library / Access to Justice team –for: Minnesota librarians –includes links to sources above and several others

LawHelpMN.org A free website for low-income Minnesotans with civil legal needs Legal Resources Legal Referrals Multi-Lingual and Multi-Media

LawHelpMN – Legal Education 18 Topics Fact Sheets Booklets Videos Links 22 Languages and 2 Translated Sites A closer look…

LawHelpMN – Legal Forms Automated Document Assembly – FormHelperwww.LawHelpMN.org/ FormHelper Other Forms Links to Self-Help Center A closer look…

LawHelpMN – Legal Referral Legal Help Near You Legal Aid Office Directory Private Attorney Referral Services A closer look…

LawHelpMN – Other Assistance LiveHelp Navigational Assistance LawHelp Video Tutorial

LawHelpMN – 2011 Site is in the process of being redesigned and in 2011 will include: –New Look and “Feel” –More functionality over fewer disjointed screens –Ability to integrate external content –Better support for multimedia –Integrated calendar tool –Better multilingual content support

MN Courts on the Internet Minnesota Judicial Branch: Court Forms: Statewide “Virtual” Self-Help Center:

Self-Help Center One-on-one help via call-center and –No income limits –Answer questions about forms & procedures Court forms with clear, plain language contextual information –State Court issues A closer look…

New Tools for Pro Se Litigants Automated Document Assembly –Like TurboTax® for Legal Forms Online Intake in 2011 –For Hennepin and 21 other counties –3 more counties for seniors and all 87 counties for disability law issues Online Advice in Late 2010 –For 22 Northwest Minnesota Counties –Free legal advice through LION (Legal Info Online Network)

Resources for Public Librarians: WebJunction Minnesota and Collaborations Mary Ann Van Cura State Library Services, Minnesota Department of Education

What is WebJunction Minnesota (WJMN)? An online portal to resources, courses and community for the Minnesota library community A place to centralize and share best practices, policies and procedures, forms, learning opportunities, and expertise to promote high quality library services to Minnesotans Find all the resources of webjunction.org and additional Minnesota resources A joint project of Minnesota State Library Services and Minitex, funded in part by the Library Services and Technology Act, a program of the Institute of Museum and Library services, a federal agency that fosters innovation, leadership and a lifetime of learning

Can Anybody Join WJMN? Anyone may view the web site without joining Members of the Minnesota library community are eligible for a free account An account is required to –Add a document to a Topic page –Participate in discussion or Group –Enroll in a course and get it for free! Sign up for a free account at

Public Libraries & Access to Justice: Getting to the Resources on WJMN From the WebJunction Minnesota home page –Click the top level tab Library Services –In the left navigation panel, click Public Libraries & Access to Justice –Or use the friendly URL

WJMN Demo: Public Libraries & Access to Justice Bookmark this site: Overview: What’s Available, What’s Coming Adding Your Own Documents: Where, How Discussion

MN PLATJ on WJMN The Minnesota PL/ATJ Team identified and created the initial site We invite all to: –Visit and use the site –Contribute your material –Contribute thoughts, questions, and ideas to the discussion The Goal: Service to the public via libraries in tough times

The Goal: Support the End User via Libraries “Public libraries are critical access points to government institutions. As times get tougher, it becomes more and more important that people have libraries where they can find out how to protect their rights and navigate the complexities of our society. It also becomes more and more important that libraries can show how important and effective they are at meeting this need.” --Richard Zorza, Public Libraries and Access to Justice--Materials from Jan 2010 Conference, information/-/articles/content/ http:// information/-/articles/content/

Join the MN/PLATJ Team! Looking for public library staff from metro and from Greater Minnesota (1-2+) –Assist in making WJMN website relevant for libraries that are open to the public –Review resources –Advise on content and organization –Provide perspective of library staff/user –Participate in online meetings, as time permits –May participate without attending meetings

Brian Huffman, Washington County Law Library, John Freeman, MN Legal Services Coalition, ext. 105 Mary Ann Van Cura, State Library Services, Sara Galligan, Ramsey County Law Library, WebJunction Minnesota–Public Libraries & Access to Justice For More Information