The Michigan Legal Help Project and the Role Libraries Played in Approving Access to Justice
| dc.audience | Audience::Law Libraries Section | |
| dc.audience | Audience::Public Libraries Section | |
| dc.audience | Audience::Government Information and Official Publications Section | |
| dc.conference.sessionType | Law Libraries with Public Libraries and Government Information and Official Publications | |
| dc.conference.venue | Greater Columbus Convention Center (GCCC) | |
| dc.contributor.author | Mancini, Laura | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-09-24T08:36:31Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-09-24T08:36:31Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2016 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Access to legal information is a critical component of access to justice. Without it, it can be extraordinarily difficult for a non-lawyer to address a legal issue or even represent oneself in a court proceeding. At the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century, free, reliable, and authoritative legal information was not consistently and uniformly available to the nine million residents of the state of Michigan. Then Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Marilyn Kelly, in partnership with the Michigan State Bar Foundation, formed the Solutions on Self-Help (SOS) Task Force to address this situation in order to improve access to justice for the state’s citizens. This initiative led to the development of the Michigan Legal Help website and the establishment of legal self-help centers throughout the state. From the SOS Task Force’s very inception, it recognized the critical role public libraries would have to play in this endeavor in order to truly change the access to justice environment. Law librarians were recruited to be members of the Task Force and were charged with collaborating with the state’s public libraries to train them on how to better assist patrons with legal questions and how to use the Michigan Legal Help website. Through the support of the Michigan State Bar Foundation, training programs for public libraries were developed and conducted throughout the state in two phases. These programs brought Michigan law libraries and public libraries together in ways they had never been before. This paper will discuss the evolution of this collaboration, what lessons were learned for both types of libraries, and will offer recommendations on how law libraries across the United States can collaborate with their public library colleagues to improve access to justice in their own communities. | en |
| dc.identifier.citation | John T. Broderick, Jr. Chief Justice, N.H. Address at the National Access to Justice Conference (May 9, 2008). U.S. Const. amend. VI. LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION, DOCUMENTING THE JUSTICE GAP IN AMERICA: THE CURRENT UNMET CIVIL LEGAL NEEDS OF LOW-INCOME AMERICANS 1, 9 (Sept. 2009). Linda Rexer, Co-Chair, SOS Task Force and Executive Director, Michigan State Bar Foundation, Address at the State Bar of Michigan Pro Bono Workshop (May 23, 2012). Id. See Chief Justice Marilyn J. Kelly, Original Charge to Solutions on Self-Help Task Force, SOLUTIONS ON SELF-HELP TASK FORCE (April 2010), available at sostf.org/about. Press Release, Michigan Legal Help, “Solutions on Self-Help” Task Force Announced by Chief Justice Marilyn ; Goals Include Online Resource those Handling Legal Matters Without Lawyers” (April 10) (on file with the author). Kelly, supra note 6. See American Library Association, Number of Libraries in the United States, ALA LIBRARY FACT SHEET 1 (September 2015), available at http://www.ala.org/tools/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet01. MICH CONST, art. VIII, §9. Richard Zorza, Public Libraries and Access to Justice, FUTURE TRENDS IN STATE COURTS 2010, NATIONAL CENTER FOR STATE COURTS 127 (2010). Interview with Linda Rexer, Co-Chair SOS Task Force and Executive Director for the Michigan State Bar Foundation (January 11, 2013). MICH. COMP. LAWS ANN. §600.916 (WEST 2000). Program Evaluation Form, Public Libraries, Legal Information and Access to Justice Program (Oct. 29, 2010) (on file with author). See Michigan Judicial Institute, Employee Guide to Legal Advice, MICHIGAN JUDICIAL INSTITUTE (May 30, 2016) available at https://mjieducation.mi.gov/documents/resources-for-trial-court-staff/6-employee-guide-to-legal-advice/file Steven Anderson, Margaret Butler, Sara Galligan & Sarah K.C. Maudlin, Access to Justice, AALL Spectrum, Dec. 2014, at 1-2. Joseph D. Lawson, Promoting Access to Justice With Your Local Public Library, AALL Spectrum, May 2013 at 38. See American Association of Law Libraries, Law Libraries and Access to Justice: A Report of the American Association of Law Libraries Special Committee on Access to Justice, 11, (2014), available at http://www.aallnet.org/mm/Publications/products/atjwhitepaper.pdf. E-mail from Darlene Hellenberg, Head of Adult Services, Ferndale District Library, to Laura Mancini, Dir. Library Services, Adams-Pratt Oakland County Law Library (May 19, 2016 3:12 EST) (on file with author). Telephone interview with Susan Albert, Reference Dept, Howell Carnegie District Library, (May 26, 2016). E-mail from Denise Bearre, Library Dir., Alcona County Library, to Laura Mancini, Dir. Library Services, Adams-Pratt Oakland County Law Library (May 26, 2016 9:27 EST) (on file with author). Broderick, supra note 1. | |
| dc.identifier.relatedurl | http://2016.ifla.org/ | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://repository.ifla.org/handle/20.500.14598/5791 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.rights | Attribution 4.0 International | |
| dc.rights.accessRights | open access | |
| dc.rights.uri | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | |
| dc.subject.keyword | Legal Information | |
| dc.subject.keyword | Access to Justice | |
| dc.subject.keyword | Michigan Legal Help | |
| dc.subject.keyword | Public Libraries | |
| dc.subject.keyword | Law Libraries | |
| dc.title | The Michigan Legal Help Project and the Role Libraries Played in Approving Access to Justice | en |
| dc.type | Article | |
| ifla.Unit | Section:Law Libraries Section | |
| ifla.Unit | Section::Public Libraries Section | |
| ifla.Unit | Section::Government Information and Official Publications Section | |
| ifla.oPubId | https://library.ifla.org/id/eprint/1407/ |
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