The American Bar Association 2024 Summary Report indicates PILI in Illinois remains a national leader for the virtual online legal clinic.
Over 401,000 civil legal questions have been answered since the launch of the ABA Free Legal Answers website in 2016 according to the ABA’s 2024 Summary Report. The site, which allows low-income people to post civil legal questions for lawyers to answer. Over 15,000 volunteer attorneys across the country have made an incredible impact in expanding access to justice by assisting those in need in underserved and underrepresented communities. 71,263 questions were responded to on the site by volunteers in 2024, accounting for over 16,543 hours of pro bono work.
ABA Free Legal Answers offers, for some, the only opportunity to get assistance to a legal question for those who cannot access legal services for a number of possible reasons whether it be financial, geographical, or transportation constraints. 3,696 questions were submitted by veterans and 4,360 questions were submitted by seniors. The most common types of questions submitted pertained to Family and Children (38%), Housing and Homelessness (16%), Other (18%) or Consumer/Financial (10%). People may now get responses to questions about two federal areas of law, immigration and veterans’ benefits. According to the ABA, Free Legal Answers also became an important resource for those impacted by weather related catastrophes and was an effective disaster recovery response resource.
PILI is the statewide administrator in Illinois, which remains the state with the most volunteers on the site with 1,454 registered volunteer attorneys. PILI continues to focus on volunteer recruitment and training across the state, regularly working with law firms, corporations and law schools to set up both in person and virtual clinics to train volunteers to use the site and then answer questions together. In 2024, Illinois Free Legal Answers volunteers answered 3,365 civil legal questions to help those in need.
PILI already works with many law firms, corporations, bar associations and law schools in Illinois to host Illinois Free Legal Answers clinics for their volunteers. PILI can provide a training on how to use Illinois Free Legal Answers for participants. PILI can also provide a CLE program with Illinois MCLE credit for volunteers. This is also a great partnership opportunity for these groups to come together for a joint clinic. Learn more »
If you would like to volunteer to answer questions for those in need, please visit our website or reach out to PILI Managing Attorney Abigail Causer by email or at 217-693-6017.