With the economy staggering, unemployment soaring to unprecedented heights, and families reeling from weeks of confinement and uncertainty, people are turning to their libraries for help. Many of the issues people are struggling with involve civil legal information; questions related to unemployment, debt/money issues, foreclosures and evictions, or family stressors are all on the rise due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this webinar, two law librarians highlight the most common civil legal issues they are seeing, provide guidance on key ways for public libraries to respond to civil legal needs, and discuss best practices for online reference services. Let’s work together to re-empower our struggling communities and demonstrate just how essential libraries are in times of crisis.

Presented by: Jenny Silbiger, State Law Librarian, Access to Justice Coordinator, Hawaii Supreme Court Law Library; and Joseph Lawson, Deputy Director, Harris County Law Library (TX)

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Webinar Attachments

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• Learner Guide (doc) Use alone or with others to extend your learning.

Related Resources and Links

• Improving Access to Civil Legal Justice through Public Libraries, project page
  • Creating Pathways to Civil Legal Justice: Series of four on-demand courses. Learn more about the course series, including a short video introduction.
  • Legal Information vs Legal Advice, a video with Sara Pic, Head of Public Services for the Law Library of Louisiana, about the difference between offering legal information and legal advice.
  • COVID 19 Civil Legal Resources Organized by State
    
• Justice Gap Report: Measuring the Unmet Civil Legal Needs of Low-Income Americans, LSC, June 2017
• Landlord - Tenant
  
  • TexasLawHelp.org: Evictions During COVID-19 Pandemic
  • Houston Volunteer Lawyers: Online Application
  • Houston Bar Association Legal Line
  • Lone Star Legal Aid: COVID-19 Eviction and Other Resources
  • Landlord-Tenant Resources – Legal Aid Society of Hawaii
  • Further information on COVID-19 Landlord-Tenant info in Hawaii
• Family Legal Issues & Personal Safety
  • Q&A COVID-19 Impact, Family Issues and Family Court Legal Aid Society of Hawaii
  • Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence
  • Texas State Law Library – Protective Order Forms
  • Harris County District Attorney – Family Criminal Law Division
  • Law Library of Congress – Domestic Violence: Resources in the United States
• Unemployment
  • Apply for State and/or Federal COVID-19 Unemployment through July 31, 2020
  • Unemployment FAQs – Legal Aid Society of Hawaii
  • Further Unemployment Resources – Hawaii State Law Library
    
  • Federal Health Insurance via COVID-19 Healthcare.gov
• Health (Wills, Estates, Advanced Directives)
  
  • Houston Volunteer Lawyers, Do-It-Yourself Guide for Handwritten “Holographic” Wills
  • TexasLawHelp.org – Transfer on Death Deed
  • Texas Health and Human Services Forms
• Civil Rights
  • Law Library at University of Minnesota Law School: Resource Guide - Civil Rights in the United States
  • Sacramento County Public Law Library: Law 101 Civil Rights
  • ACLU – Rights of Protestors
  • Texas Civil Rights Project | ACLU-Texas | ACLU-Hawaii
  • University of Texas Law School: Civil Rights Clinic
• Pew Research Center, Internet/Broadband Fact Sheet (2018)
• LawHelp.org, Hawaii (www.lawhelp.org/hi) and Texas Law Help (texaslawhelp.org)
• Legal Information Institute
• Nolo.com
• Georgetown University School of Law – curated legal information
• National Directory (ABA)
• Hawaii Access to Justice Commission
• Texas Access to Justice Commission
• Access to Justice Rooms/Self Help Centers - Hawaii
• Legal Aid Society National Directory
  • Legal Aid Society of Hawaii
  • State Bar of Texas Referral Directory
• Pro Bono Organizations (ABA) National Directory
  • Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii
  • Harris County Law Library Pro Se Litigants Handbook
• Domestic Violence
  • National Directory (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence)
  • Resources for State Specific DV programs (Office on Women’s Health)
  • Domestic Violence Action Center (Hawaii)
  • AVDA-Houston (Harris County, Texas)
  • Houston Area Women’s Center
• Indigenous and Native People – Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation
• US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently published guidance for consumers on mortgage relief options with FAQs
  
• Additional links shared in chat
  • Colorado Chief Justice Directive listing permissible things court personnel can tell litigants
  • CARES Act Eviction Moratorium Bench Card for Louisiana Judges
  • Coconino County Law Library has created Arizona-specific COVID-19 legal mini-videos
  • Washington State Law Library COVID resources page
    
  • Massachusetts Trial Courts Law Library COVID page
  • New Jersey Legal Aid COVID 19 links
  • Law Library of Louisiana's Legal Resources for the Public on the COVID-19/Coronavirus Pandemic 
    
  • San Diego Public law Library Covid-19 Legal Resources
  • Washington Law Help
  • The Broadband Gap - who’s not online - Pew Charitable Trusts, May 2020
  • Rural Libraries Connect Communities to Legal Aid (video), a great partnership with legal aid and libraries that uses zoom to connect patrons and pro bono lawyers.
  • Access to Justice Commissions - links for self-representation and state commissions, National Center for State Courts
    
  • South Carolina Legal Services (SCLS) provides free legal assistance in a wide variety of civil (non-criminal) legal matters to eligible low-income residents of South Carolina.
    
  • Virginia Judicial System Court Self-Help, Resources for Self-Represented Litigants in Virginia
    
  • Washington State Law Library
    
  • Maryland A2J Commission Resource Page
    
  • Maryland Peoples Law Library, COVID information throughout
  • Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries
  • Washington State Agency Databases