By Samantha Moppett

When we stand—hands over our heart—to say the pledge of allegiance, we pledge allegiance to a nation with “liberty and justice for all.”  Yet, in the United States, all people do not have access to justice as there is no constitutional right to counsel in civil cases.  Although legal aid agencies exist to help low-income Americans who cannot afford legal representation, more than 80 percent of the legal needs of low-income Americans go unaddressed every year, largely due to insufficient resources.

The American Bar Association (ABA) has called on the profession to leverage technology to address this access to justice problem.  In an effort to answer this call, the ABA pioneered ABA Free Legal Answers—an online virtual legal advice clinic—where attorneys answer civil legal questions that low-income residents post on free state-specific websites.

In an effort to leverage technology to increase access to justice for low-income communities while providing pro bono opportunities for attorneys and students, Suffolk University Law School’s Legal Practice Skills program and the Moakley Law Library partnered with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute—a nonprofit legal services organization that adopted the ABA platform—to sponsor a Research Blitz.   During the Blitz, students and alumni gathered at the law school to answer civil legal questions posted online by low-income Massachusetts residents on Mass Legal Answers Online.  In two short hours, the small groups worked together to select and draft—using skills learned in the legal writing class—answers to questions involving basic human needs such as housing and employment.  While pro bono alone will not solve the access to justice problem in the United States, it is a step in the right direction of leveraging technology to provide “liberty and justice for all.”

Samantha Moppett is a Professor of Legal Writing and Associate Director of Legal Practice Skills at Suffolk University Law School.