Peoples Law Library

Maryland - 020039

Abstract Number: 020039

July 2002

The Peoples Law Library (PLL), www.peoples-law.org, is a legal information and self-help website supported by Maryland's 28 non-profit legal services providers, in partnership with the courts, and is offered as a service to the public. The information is tailored to Maryland residents and is targeted to low- and moderate-income individuals and families. PLL is a project of the Maryland Legal Assistance Network (MLAN), which was created by a 3-year grant from the Open Society Institute to the Maryland Legal Services Corporation (the IOLTA funder for Maryland). The website was adapted from a previously existing site and is now a collaborative effort (managed by MLAN) of the Maryland non-profit legal services providers with the goal of providing a single "portal" to Maryland legal and self-help information.

PLL provides legal self-help information in a broad range of content areas, including:

• Bankruptcy
• Criminal matters such as record expungement, identity theft and victim/ witness assistance
• Consumer Law
• Domestic Violence
• Elder Law
• Family Law - divorce, custody, visitation, support
• Government Benefits (federal and state)
• Guardianship
• Immigration
• Landlord/Tenant and Public Housing
• Mediation
• Small Claims
  as well as practical finding tools such as driving/parking directions to Maryland courthouses; information on how to locate vital records (e.g. birth certificate); directories of services such as supervised visitation and monitored exchange centers, mediation centers, legal services providers and self-help family law programs.

Peoples Law Library Innovations include:

• a partnership with the Legal Aid Bureau to establish 11 outreach sites around the state where the public may go to a public library, law library, senior center and community agencies to use a computer, a limited access phone and legal self-help books.
• a "holistic" approach to the family law section including topics such as benefits and divorce, books on talking to kids and teens about divorce, tips from the court on common mistakes and appropriate dress, domestic violence and the job - to serve as a model for other content sections.
• setting standards for excellence in a legal website that we apply to our own website and provide as a guide to the public when looking at other legal information sites on the web - "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Signs of excellence in a legal website" is posted on the web.
• developing a series of diagnostic self-help quizzes in divorce to assist potential pro se litigants to determine if their personal skills and traits as well as the circumstances of their case (property and alimony quizzes) are appropriate for pro se.
• developing new problem-centered approaches to content, especially where there is no single or targeted legal remedy (such as emancipation in Maryland).
• internal organizational tools such as a comprehensive style sheet, quality control new posting checklist, commercial links protocols and a "tickle database" as part of our tracking the currency of posted content.
• content development partnerships outside the legal services network with entities such as the state law library, the courts and the state office of new Americans.

To learn more about this project, access the Maryland Peoples' Law Library website at: http://www.peoples-law.org.

Contact Information:

Ayn Crawley
Maryland Legal Assistance Network/MLSC
15 Charles Plaza, Suite 102
Baltimore, MD 21201
Phone: (410) 576-9494 or 800/492-1340
Fax: (410) 385-1831
Email

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