Find people & guides to help you with problems like divorce, custody, evictions, debt collection, traffic tickets, and other legal problems. And take care to avoid bad information.
Where to find Expert Legal Help Online
Connect with free or paid lawyers, do-it-yourself guides, and court help centers that can assist you.
Legal Aid
Find a free, local lawyer who can assist you with your situation.
Use this national directory of legal aid groups here at the Legal Services Corporation.
DIY Legal Guides
Use step-by-step guides, form-filling tools, and other free resources to do it yourself.
Find your state’s ‘Law Help’ webpage that has these guides and tools at this national directory.
Court Help Centers
Get free help with your court case, forms, and hearings. Your local county court might have a Help Center or you can talk to court clerks for assistance.
Search online for your local county court. And find your state court help website here.
Private Lawyers
Hire a lawyer by connecting with your local bar association. These private lawyers can help you with your case, for a fee.
Use this national directory of lawyers from the American Bar Association.
Law Libraries
Connect with local law librarians, who can help you research what the law says, what your rights are, and what options you have.
Use this directory of statewide law libraries to find yours. You can also search for your county law library.
Free Lawyer Chat
Chat with a volunteer lawyer in your state. The American Bar Association runs a state-by-state program of free advice chat called Free Legal Answers.
Use Free Legal Answers by visiting the national site and then going to your local state page.
How to Avoid Bad Legal Information
Ask these questions to make sure you are getting correct, trustworthy legal help online.
Location right?
Is the legal info meant for your location? (This is also called checking for jurisdiction.)
Make sure it’s for your city, county, or state. Or else it could be wrong for you.
Up to date?
Is the legal information up-to-date?
Laws and paperwork change all the time. Check when the info was last updated, to make sure it still applies.
Trustworthy?
Is the info from a trustworthy expert?
Or is it from someone with limited legal experience?
Or could it be a scam?
Be Careful with AI tools
Some people use Artificial Intelligence (or AI) tools for legal help. These AI tools include ChatGPT, Google Bard, or Microsoft Bing Chat.
If you choose to use AI, please be very careful in double-checking the information it gives you.
Always double-check any legal information an AI tool gives you.
A law librarian or a lawyer can help you double-check. Or you can do your own legal research, to verify the info.
Why be careful with AI?
AI makes up fake laws, cases, legal aid groups, hotlines, forms, and other legal info. AI tools may seem confident in their answers. But they make many mistakes.
See this guide on how to use AI safely to find legal help from legal aid providers.
It is from a group of legal aid lawyers and experts who can help you understand what AI is, and how it can help a person trying to find legal information.