Three times as many people are now obtaining assistance in civil legal matters in Texas from the web site www.TexasLawHelp.org. In February 2005, the Texas Legal Services Center, the Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation, and the Travis County Law Library formed the Partnership for Legal Access to expand and improve the web site with a grant from the Texas Education Agency. The grant enabled the partnership to add 400 new web resources (including self-help forms) and to hire 295 librarians and community advocates trained to assist others in using the site. The web site now includes information on family law matters, housing, rights for the disabled, employment, and other issues, as well as a comprehensive directory of legal aid programs that can be searched by zip code and county. To ensure quality, legal services lawyers develop and review all proprietary content on the web site. Much of the content is available in Spanish.

Source: Press Release, Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation, Aug. 31 2006; also based on original reporting by Brennan Center staff.

Reprinted with permission.