WHAT KIND OF HELP DO YOU NEED?

At Access to Justice, we work to create better public policy so that every Arkansan gets treated fairly in the civil justice system. We don’t provide legal advice or representation to individuals, but we hope that we can connect you with resources that will help. Keep reading to find the right resource for you.

I need to find legal fact sheets and forms.

Arkansas’s legal aid providers, the Center for Arkansas Legal Services and Legal Aid of Arkansas, have created a site with legal resources available to the public. These resources include fact sheets, videos, forms, and more. To access these resources, click one of the links below.

I need to ask a lawyer a question.

AR Free Legal Answers can help you with this! AR Free Legal Answers is a website that allows you to post a question about your non-criminal legal problem and have it answered for free by an attorney. In order to qualify, you must be unable to afford to hire an attorney. This service only provides answers to legal questions, the attorney who answers your question will not represent you in the full case or go to court for you. To ask your question, click the button below.

Our pro bono lawyers can help with any non-criminal legal issue you have in Arkansas. This includes questions about divorce, custody, visitation, debts, bankruptcy, unemployment benefits, eviction, housing discrimination, etc.

Here are some examples of questions we can help with:

  • My ex isn’t following the visitation plan from our divorce decree. How do I enforce the visitation schedule?
  • What do I need to say at my divorce hearing?
  • My income has dropped. How do I get my child support payments reduced?
  • My credit card company is suing to collect a debt. How should I respond?
  • The court clerk told me that I need to “serve” the papers that I filed with the court. How do I do that?
  • My parent passed away. How do I get the title to their house changed?
  • How can I seal my old criminal record?

Apply for help.

That varies. When you post your question, we try to match you with a pro bono lawyer. You will get an email notification when we match you with a pro bono lawyer. Sometimes that will be the same day and sometimes it will take a few days. You can help us get you matched with a volunteer sooner by including plenty of details with your question. It’s especially helpful to attach any document related to your question. For example, if you are asking about an eviction, you can upload the eviction notice or letter from your landlord.

Apply for help.

This service is free to those who qualify thanks to pro bono attorneys who volunteer their time and knowledge. We also receive support from the American Bar Association, the Arkansas Bar Association, and the Arkansas Bar Foundation.

Apply for help.

Unfortunately, we cannot answer questions about pending criminal cases or criminal appeals. However, if you want to ask about sealing an old criminal record, we can help with that. You must have finished your sentence and paid all fines and fees before you can ask the court to seal your record.

Apply for help.

To qualify to get your question answered by a pro bono lawyer, you must earn a low or moderate-income and not have enough savings to hire a lawyer. You can quickly find out if you’re eligible by applying here. It only takes a few minutes to apply.

Yes! If you need help understanding court papers or want a lawyer to look over papers before you file them, we can help. Just upload the papers with your question.

Apply for help.

If you qualify for Free Legal Answers, you can ask three questions per year. However, if your questions are related, you should post all parts of your question together. That will make sure that the pro bono attorney who helps you is aware of all parts of your legal problem.

Apply for help.

No. When someone talks to an attorney, that conversation is confidential and protected by attorney-client privilege. To make sure the conversations on AR Free Legal Answers remain confidential, we require the person with the legal problem to post the question.

Apply for help.

I need low-cost legal help.

If you can’t afford full-priced legal assistance, you may want to consider hiring an attorney who offers “unbundled services” also known as “a la carte legal services”. Attorneys who offer this type of service generally charge a reduced fee. In exchange, you agree that they will only handle part of your case and you will be responsible for the rest of your case.

For instance, if you are getting divorced, an attorney who offers unbundled legal services might agree to draft the divorce complaint and coach you on what to say at the hearing, but you would be responsible for filing the complaint, appearing before the judge, and handling the other parts of your case. You and an attorney who offers unbundled services can agree on the attorney handling more or less of your case. Generally speaking, the more of your case the attorney has to handle, the higher their fee will be and the more of your case that you handle, the lower their fee will be.

You can find attorneys who offer this type of low cost legal help by clicking the button below. You do not have to be low-income to use this service.

I need to apply for free legal aid.

Arkansas’s civil legal aid providers, the Center for Arkansas Legal Services and Legal Aid of Arkansas, accept most clients through a statewide toll-free HelpLine. You can also apply online. When you call or apply online, you will be screened to make sure you are financially eligible for help. Then, if the legal aid program takes your case, the services you receive may include the following:

  • Advice to help you resolve your problem (71% of completed cases).
  • Brief service, where a lawyer or paralegal provides limited assistance to help you resolve your problem. For example, the lawyer or paralegal may send a letter or make a phone call for you.
  • Full representation, where a staff lawyer or volunteer lawyer represents you (21% of completed cases).

To apply for legal aid, click the button below or call 1.888.540.2941.

I need to find a lawyer in my area.

If you’re looking for a lawyer in your area, the Arkansas Bar Association can help. The Arkansas Bar Association is a group that lawyers join to network with other lawyers and improve their legal skills. They have a directory of attorneys from around Arkansas. Click the button below to use their Find-A-Lawyer service.