[pdkl95]

Ignoring the problems with public defenders for a moment, technology could help a lot in other areas, such as:

1. Providing access to (supposedly publicly accessible) court records.

2. Automated document preparation for common situations.

3. An expert system to guide people to which documents (re: #2) they need, or if they should seek the assistance of an actual lawyer.

The goal is to allow people to interact with the legal system on their own in simple/common situations, without having to pay for a lawyer or wait for someone to help them pro bono. This would give more options to the poor or otherwise disadvantaged, who often have to simply ignore injustices or make unreasonable concessions because they lack the funds to even talk to a lawyer. This would even help in cases where a lawyer would have to be involved: it might be easier to find pro bono help if you have some of the background work already done.

#1 and #2 should fairly trivial for someone with some legal experience; there are many easy ways to implements database of documents, and numerous template systems already exist.

[aadraple]

Agreed. It's an absolute tragedy that 80 percent of the legal needs of the poor go unmet.