Causes: Crime & Law, Human Services, Legal Services
Mission: Illinois Legal Aid Online (ILAO) opens opportunities for justice by educating Illinoisans about their rights and connecting them to lawyers, solutions, and each other. ILAO's vision is a just society where all people have equitable access to opportunities. For more than 20 years, ILAO has simplified the law so that people can seek justice and resolve their problems. Through innovation, we make the law understandable and accessible. We give people tools to help themselves get the justice they seek.
Results: Illinois Legal Aid Online (ILAO) serves everyday heroes. The people we help inspire us. Some come to us wounded by an unfair legal system, others diminished by a society that rewards privilege above diversity. Those we serve come to us unsure of their potential, such as parents, who lie awake at night, worrying about their families. They grab their mobile and find ILAO. ILAO provides real-time empowerment tools to people most in need of justice, but for whom a lawyer is out of reach. We believe that, with the right knowledge and guidance, people can be their own best advocates. We mobilize people with plain-language, 24/7 tools - in three languages - so families can understand and assert their legal rights. ILAO helps people, who are unable to find or afford attorneys, open opportunities for justice.
Target demographics: People facing barriers to justice - such as race, ethnicity, language, education, or income - use the law to get the justice they seek
Direct beneficiaries per year: more than 2 million Illinoisans with critical issues like unemployment, food stamps (SNAP), debt, domestic abuse, criminal records, eviction and more
Geographic areas served: Illinois
Programs: - An award-winning website, IllinoisLegalAid. org, which provides free, easy-to-use legal tools - in English, Spanish, and Polish - for Illinois residents who can't find or afford a lawyer, but who are facing critical legal problems like domestic violence, eviction, unemployment, and more. - A Community Navigator program, in which we train and support grassroots leaders or influencers who have earned the trust of peers and neighbors, to advocate for exercising one’s legal rights. - Automated document apps (similar to TurboTaxⓇ) - also called ‘Easy forms’ - employ a simple question-and-answer format that results in free, personalized court forms and legal documents. - Get Legal Help, a statewide triage and intake system, directs people to the best available help for their problem. This help includes legal forms, self-help tools, and connections to lawyers. The system performs triage screening and online intake applications for twelve Illinois legal services partners. - A LiveHelp service, staffed by law-student volunteers who chat with website visitors in real time, helping them find the information they seek.
Mission: Illinois Legal Aid Online (ILAO) opens opportunities for justice by educating Illinoisans about their rights and connecting them to lawyers, solutions, and each other. ILAO's vision is a just society where all people have equitable access to opportunities. For more than 20 years, ILAO has simplified the law so that people can seek justice and resolve their problems. Through innovation, we make the law understandable and accessible. We give people tools to help themselves get the justice they seek.
Results: Illinois Legal Aid Online (ILAO) serves everyday heroes. The people we help inspire us. Some come to us wounded by an unfair legal system, others diminished by a society that rewards privilege above diversity. Those we serve come to us unsure of their potential, such as parents, who lie awake at night, worrying about their families. They grab their mobile and find ILAO. ILAO provides real-time empowerment tools to people most in need of justice, but for whom a lawyer is out of reach. We believe that, with the right knowledge and guidance, people can be their own best advocates. We mobilize people with plain-language, 24/7 tools - in three languages - so families can understand and assert their legal rights. ILAO helps people, who are unable to find or afford attorneys, open opportunities for justice.
Target demographics: People facing barriers to justice - such as race, ethnicity, language, education, or income - use the law to get the justice they seek
Direct beneficiaries per year: more than 2 million Illinoisans with critical issues like unemployment, food stamps (SNAP), debt, domestic abuse, criminal records, eviction and more
Geographic areas served: Illinois
Programs: - An award-winning website, IllinoisLegalAid. org, which provides free, easy-to-use legal tools - in English, Spanish, and Polish - for Illinois residents who can't find or afford a lawyer, but who are facing critical legal problems like domestic violence, eviction, unemployment, and more. - A Community Navigator program, in which we train and support grassroots leaders or influencers who have earned the trust of peers and neighbors, to advocate for exercising one’s legal rights. - Automated document apps (similar to TurboTaxⓇ) - also called ‘Easy forms’ - employ a simple question-and-answer format that results in free, personalized court forms and legal documents. - Get Legal Help, a statewide triage and intake system, directs people to the best available help for their problem. This help includes legal forms, self-help tools, and connections to lawyers. The system performs triage screening and online intake applications for twelve Illinois legal services partners. - A LiveHelp service, staffed by law-student volunteers who chat with website visitors in real time, helping them find the information they seek.
info@illinoislegalaid.org
120 S. LaSalle Street, Suite 900, Chicago, IL 60603
312-977-9047
Crime & Law
Chicago
