Legal Aid and Other Low-Cost Legal Help

Each legal aid organization has its own eligibility rules, but many provide services to people who have experienced domestic violence, abuse, or other violent crimes regardless of immigration status. Some legal aid offices can also help with other immigration issues.
 

Go to www.LawHelp.org for information about the rules for the legal aid offices in your area. Visit LawHelp's Immigration Legal Help portal for legal help resources available to all immigrants, regardless of your status.

Civil legal aid does not handle cases for money damages such as medical malpractice, or car accident cases or traffic violation cases or criminal cases. (For the difference between civil and criminal issues, see The Differences between Criminal Court and Civil Court).

Legal aid lawyers have the same qualifications as other lawyers. Everything you say to your lawyer is confidential, which means that it is not shared with anyone outside of the legal aid office. Since everything you say to your lawyer is confidential, tell your lawyer the truth. Your lawyer can help you best when you tell your lawyer the truth. 

You can search via your local bar association, which is an organization for lawyers. You can call your local bar association’s lawyer referral service to find a licensed, private lawyer who has experience with your type of legal problem and will meet with you for a reduced fee. The lawyer will meet with you for 30 minutes about your case for a fee of less than $50. It is very important to carefully review the fee agreement before you hire the lawyer to start working on your case. Sometimes there is no fee for medical malpractice, car accident, or workers’ compensation cases because the lawyer will only get paid if you win your case.
 

You can also ask your local bar association about any of the following services for people needing legal help:
 

• A volunteer lawyer or pro bono program
• Free legal workshops
• Self-help clinics
• Know Your Rights presentations
• A modest means or reduced-fee attorney panel for people who cannot afford standard legal fees
• Law school legal clinics, where supervised law students provide free or low-cost legal services in certain types of cases
• Community organizations that serve specific populations, such as veterans, older adults, people with disabilities, immigrants, or survivors of domestic violence
• Employee legal benefit plans or legal insurance, if offered through your employer or union
• Limited-scope (unbundled) legal services, where an attorney helps with part of your case, such as reviewing documents or appearing at a single hearing
   

To contact the bar association in your area and find other lawyer referral services, visit the ABA's Find Legal Help resources. 

• The ABA's Free Legal Answers program is an online pro bono program that matches low-income clients with volunteer lawyers, who agree to provide brief answers online for free.
• Some state court systems provide self-help centers for people representing themselves in court without a lawyer. Self-help centers may offer free services such as workshops, informational materials, court forms and help completing forms. Visit your state court's website or contact your local legal aid program to see if self-help services are available in your area.
• Your local Area Agency on Aging helps seniors, 60 years old or over, with many types of problems. Your local Area Agency on Aging may also provide free or low-cost legal help. To find your local Area Agency on Aging, visit ACL's Elder Care Locator.
• StatesideLegal.org provides referrals and helpful legal tools created specifically for veterans, service members, and their families.

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools (sometimes called assistants or chatbots) can help people better understand legal information, organize documents, prepare questions for a lawyer, explain legal procedures in plain language, and locate legal resources.
 

While these tools can be helpful, they are not a substitute for legal advice from a qualified lawyer. AI tools may provide incomplete, outdated, or incorrect information and may not account for the specific facts of your situation or the laws in your state. You should carefully review any information or documents generated by an AI tool before relying on them.
 

If you use AI or another online legal tool:
 

• Do not assume the information is correct without verifying it through reliable legal resources or a lawyer.
• Protect your privacy by avoiding the sharing of sensitive personal, financial, or confidential information unless you understand how your information will be stored and used.
• Remember that communications with an AI tool are generally not protected by the attorney-client privilege – personal information you enter into an AI tool may not be confidential.
• Note that if your case involves an upcoming court hearing, important filing deadline, criminal charges, immigration consequences, domestic violence, or other urgent legal issues, you should seek advice from a qualified attorney or legal aid organization as soon as possible.

AI tools are often most useful for helping you prepare to meet with a lawyer, understand legal terminology, organize your documents, or learn about general legal processes. They should not be relied upon as the sole source of legal guidance.

Many people appear in court without a lawyer because they cannot afford one, cannot find one, or choose to handle their case themselves. A person who represents themselves in court is commonly called a self-represented litigant. You may also hear the terms pro se, pro per, or litigant in propria persona, although many courts now prefer the term self-represented litigant because it is easier to understand.
 

If you represent yourself, you generally must follow the same court rules, filing requirements, deadlines, and rules of evidence as a lawyer. Court staff, judges, or self-help centers may be able to provide legal information, explain court procedures, and direct you to forms and resources, but they generally cannot provide legal advice or tell you how to present your case.
 

Many courts recognize that self-represented litigants need additional support and provide resources such as:
 

• Court self-help centers
• Plain-language forms and instructions
• Online filing guides and document preparation tools
• Educational videos explaining court procedures
• Law libraries
• Court navigator or community justice worker or legal technicians or other assistance programs where available
• Referrals to legal aid organizations, lawyer referral services, or pro bono volunteers for limited-scope legal representation

Before representing yourself, consider whether your case involves complex legal issues, significant financial consequences, child custody, immigration, criminal matters, or other situations where legal representation may be especially important. Even if you cannot afford full representation, you may be able to obtain limited legal advice, document review, or representation for part of your case through a legal aid organization, a modest means program, or an attorney offering limited-scope services.
 

If you decide to represent yourself, preparing in advance can help. Read the court's instructions carefully, organize your documents, keep copies of everything you file, meet all deadlines, and ask court staff about available self-help resources. Many state court websites also provide instructional materials designed specifically for self-represented litigants.

Different levels of government make different kinds of laws. It is important to understand what level of government you are dealing with as you search for legal aid.

If you are unsure which laws apply to your legal problem, a lawyer, legal aid organization, or court self-help center may be able to help you find the right resources