Legal Help Workflows · Now recruiting

Help shape the future of
legal help technology

Across housing, reentry, debt collection, and public benefits, there is a chance to decide together what good technology looks like before it gets built. The Legal Help Commons is opening four areas where you can help set a common agenda for responsible, values-aligned tools, and we are looking for the people who will help steer it.

Join the work → See the four areas
The opportunity

Set the agenda for what gets built

Technology will keep arriving in legal help. This is a chance to get in front of it and decide together what is worth building, what would genuinely help people, and what fits the values of access to justice work.

The Legal Help Commons is convening four areas to plan a common agenda. The aim is a clear, shared vision of what could be possible and what would be valuable, so the people who do this work guide where the technology goes.

This is about more than large language models. A strong agenda will include simpler rules-based tools, limited and affordable approaches, and solutions that pair technology with people. The work is to match the tool to the need and keep people at the center.

A shared agenda gives builders and funders something real to aim at. When the field names what is valuable and what is values-aligned, it directs the buildout and draws the investment and clarity that good work needs.

The groups are recruiting now, and the priority issues and workflow maps are still open on purpose. The people who do this work should help shape them. Once the groups form, the agenda gets set together and shared.

The four areas

Four areas to shape first

Four areas where the legal need is high and the same work comes up across the country. Each one runs as its own group you can join.

Now recruiting

Housing

The civil legal problems that decide whether a person can keep a safe, stable place to live.

Join this group
Now recruiting

Reentry

The civil legal problems that follow a criminal record and shape whether a person can work, find housing, and move forward.

Join this group
Now recruiting

Debt Collection

The consumer debt cases that pull people into court, and the defenses and resolutions that keep a debt from turning into a spiral.

Join this group
Now recruiting

Public Benefits

Getting and keeping the public benefits people are entitled to, and challenging wrongful denials and terminations.

Join this group
Who's invited

Bring your expertise to the table

Planning these areas works best with the people who do the work and the people who build the tools in the room together from the start.

Practitioners and subject-matter experts

People who do this work directly: brief advice, full representation, court appearances, and the day-to-day of helping people through these problems. You know where the real difficulty sits, and your judgment keeps the agenda grounded in what actually helps.

Builders and technologists

Engineers, designers, and data and AI people who want to build in these areas. Help shape what is worth building, and put the agenda to work as it takes shape.

Researchers and evaluators

People who study what works and can measure it: researchers, social scientists, and evaluators. You help define what good looks like, test whether these tools actually help the people they are meant to serve, and keep the agenda honest and grounded in evidence.

Organizations and funders who want to support this work can get in touch the same way.

Get involved

Help shape the agenda

Tell us which area you work in and how you would like to take part. The groups are forming now, and the agenda gets shaped together.

Join the work →

Want to talk it through first? Get in touch.