California
California Free Legal Answers
Frequently Asked Questions for Volunteer Attorneys
What is Free Legal Answers ("FLA")?
Free Legal Answers offers you a unique opportunity to do brief pro bono at a time that works for you - before breakfast, when the kids are finally asleep, or during a break in your meeting schedule. FLA is a virtual legal advice clinic that offers free legal advice to low-income residents of California. The clinic is hosted by the American Bar Association and the California Administrator.
How does FLA work?
Low-income residents of California ("users") post a request for legal advice and/or information and provide facts that will help the attorney answer those legal questions. Attorneys then choose a question, conduct any necessary research, draft an answer to the question, and post the answer to the user.
What is the role of the volunteers?
Volunteers agree to provide legal advice through the site on a pro bono basis. Volunteers must be licensed and in good standing with the California State Bar. Once approved by the Administrator, and the volunteer agreement has been signed, volunteers will be authorized to use the system and respond to users' requests for legal advice and/or information. Volunteers can then see what questions have been posed by users and select one to answer - and do so at whatever time of the day works for them.
How do I sign-up?
First, go to ca.freelegalanswers.org to review the user agreement and create an account.
Second, login to your account to see a list of user questions and select a question to answer.
Third, research the legal issue if necessary, draft a response, and post the answer to the user.
What if I don't know the answer to a particular question?
You should only select and answer questions you feel comfortable answering. Of course, because you are drafting an answer on your own time, you will have time to conduct any necessary research, confer with colleagues if desired, and double check your answer.
What if I need more information from the user in order to more accurately answer their question?
You may ask for additional information before responding to the user’s request. Then, the user will have a choice to respond to that request or not. The user and attorney have the ability to continuously communicate with one another regarding the user’s legal question, so long as the attorney does not categorize the question as “closed.” The user may also ask followup questions about your answer, and you can respond. However, you must always use the platform and not have a separate phone call or meeting with the user.
Will the users have any of my personal information?
Users will not know the name of the attorney who answers their questions unless any of the following apply:
1) A user has made a specific request for the name of the attorney who replied to their question in connection to a potential claim; or
2) It is required by a court of law.
Is it ethical to provide brief advice on this platform? What about signing retainer agreements? Taking only part of the case? What about conflicts checks?
Rule of Professional Conduct 1.2(b) permits limited scope representation with certain conditions, which this platform is designed to meet. The user signs a limited scope agreement as part of submitting their question. In addition, Rule of Professional Conduct 6.5 specifically permits attorneys who are staffing a limited legal services program (like this one) to NOT check conflicts, unless the attorney recognizes that there is a conflict. For example, if the user posts a question about being sued by National Bank X, and you know that your firm represents National Bank X, you cannot select that question to answer. You do not need, however, to conduct a conflicts search to determine whether your firm represents National Bank X.
Will I need to provide my own malpractice insurance?
Malpractice insurance is provided by the ABA for the legal guidance that you provide through the ABA Free Legal Answers site. Malpractice insurance coverage is limited to liability for only those claims that are made against you in relation to the legal guidance you provided on ABA Free Legal Answers.
If a lawyer chooses to communicate with a user outside of the ABA Free Legal Answers site for the purpose of taking the user’s case on a pro bono basis, lawyers are asked to contact the Administrator. Please note that the ABA does not provide malpractice insurance for your services beyond the legal guidance you provide on the FLA website.
What if I would like to help the user more extensively than brief advice on the platform?
You may choose to take on the user for full scope representation on your own, but you will have to have your own expert supervision and your own malpractice insurance. The ABA insurance will not apply. Also please note you would have to create a new engagement letter.
What if a user offers me money?
By signing the Attorney Use Agreement, the attorney agrees to answer the user’s legal question on a pro bono basis. Furthermore, the attorney agrees not to solicit users for commercial purposes. If the user wishes to send you payment in thanks, graciously decline.
Volunteer Attorney’s Navigation of the Site
When an attorney’s account has been approved by the administrator, there will be a notification email. To get started, visit ca.freelegalanswers.org and select “Sign In” at the top right side of the screen. After entering the username (which is the email address), the site directs to the webpage with a list of all the questions that have been posted.
Questions are coded by flags. Questions older than 10 days are indicated by a red-outlined flag. Questions 25 days and older are indicated by a solid red flag. Questions not answered within 30 days will be closed and the user notified.
There are a few different ways to view questions in the queue:
1) A list of all of the questions is the default view.
2) A list of questions 25 days or older can be sorted by clicking on “Importance” under the “Sort” button.
3) A list of questions filtered by legal categories can be sorted by clicking on “Filter.”
4) A list of questions taken by yourself by clicking “Home” on the menu and looking at questions in your personal queue.
Selecting Questions to Answer
It is possible to read the first few lines of each posted question by clicking “Preview.” To see more details, click the subject to be taken to the question detail page. To select a question to answer, click “I want to answer this question” on the bottom of the question detail page, “Answer Now” or “Answer Later.” If the question is not responded to within 3 days, the question will be moved back into the queue. “I want to return this question” returns the question to the full queue.
Once selecting a question, reply to the user by providing an answer in the text box. The reply may include follow-up questions. The user will not know the volunteer’s identity unless the volunteer chooses to provide it. If and when a user responds, the volunteer attorney will receive an email notification prompting logging back into the website to read and possibly respond.