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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 June 2015
In Queensland, Australia, community legal centres utilise a range of different types of information technology to provide legal advice and assistance to their clients, which include marginalised and disadvantaged groups. In this article Emma Phillips and James Farrell considers the use and efficacy of different types of information technology within the community legal sector, discussing the findings of recent empirical research on this issue in the context of the relevant research literature. The article then explores issues associated with the use of information technology in the provision of legal information and advice, including the limitations associated with this technology in the context of the delivery of legal assistance to vulnerable clients.
1 Allens Linklaters, Literature Review: The Use of Technology by Community Legal Centres, Report to the Queensland Association of Independent Legal Services (14 October 2013).
2 National Association of Community Legal Centres Inc (NACLC), National Census of Community Legal Centres 2013 (March 2014).
3 Allens Linklaters (fn 1) 8, citing Australian Bureau of Statistics, ‘Household Telephone Connections, Queensland Report, 2003’.
4 Allens Linklaters (fn 1) 8.
5 28.5% of the 78% of respondents that offered a telephone service.
6 Allens Linklaters (fn 1) 9.
7 Wayne Moore, ‘The Future of Legal Aid: Systems’, paper submitted to the ILAG Conference (The Hague, June 12–14 2013), 4.
8 Nigel Balmer and others, ‘Just a phone call away: Is telephone advice enough?’ (2012) 34(1) Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 63.
9 Julianne Evans, ‘LawAccess NSW and its legacy’, paper submitted to the ILAG Conference (The Hague, June 12–14 2003), 2; Focus Consultants, ‘An Evaluation of Family Legal Services of the Legal Services Society: Final Report for Legal Services Society’ (May 2012) Legal Services Society 21.
10 NACLC (fn 2) 39.
11 Suzie Forell, Meg Laufer & Erol Digiusto, ‘Legal assistance by video conferencing: what is known?’ (November 2011) Law and the Justice Foundation of New South Wales.
12 Ibid.
14 Allens Linklaters (fn 1) 36. See also Catherine Arcabascio, ‘The Use of Video-Conferencing Technology in Legal Education: A Practical Guide’ (2001) 6 Virginia Journal of Law and Technology 1, http://www.vjolt.net/vl6/issuel/v6ilaO5-Arcabascio.html, which provides practical tips on the use of videoconferencing technology in education and Peter Martin, ‘Distance Learning: The LI's Experience and Future Plans’ (1999) www.law.comell.edu/background/distance/liidistance.htm, which discusses the use of videoconferencing to deliver a copyright class to students at four law schools, including three remote locations, of Cornell Law School.
15 This form of technology allows parties to engage in real-time conversation when typing over a computer screen.
16 Australia Bureau of Statistics, ‘Household use of information technology report’, Australia, 2010–2011.
17 Susskind, Richard, The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Service (Oxford University Press, 2008)Google Scholar; Catrina Denvir, Nigel Balmer and Pascoe Pleasance, ‘Surfing the web – Recreation or resource? Exploring how young people in the UK use the internet as an advice portal for problems with a legal dimension’ (2011) 23 Interacting with Computers 96, 96.
18 Allens Linklaters (fn 1) 17.
19 NACLC (fn 2) 39.
20 Allens Linklaters (fn 1) 17.
21 NACLC (fn 2).
22 Ibid.
23 Attorney General and Justice of New South Wales, ‘Review of the delivery of legal assistance services to the NSW community’ (June 2012).
24 Roger Smith, ‘Can digital replace personal in the delivery of legal aid?’ discussion paper submitted to the ILAG Conference (The Hague, June 12-14 2013), [27].
25 Allens Linklaters (fn 1) 21–22.
26 Catrina Denvir, ‘Exploring how older people use the information superhighway’ (2013) March Ageing and Society Journal 1, 8.
27 Allens Linklaters (fn 1) 18.
28 Ibid, 19.
29 In 2012, LawAccess assisted 198,566 customers and provided 19,159 legal advice sessions and 94.5% of customers rated themselves as being ‘highly satisfied’ with the service.
30 Smith (fn 23) [15], [18].
31 Standing Council on Law and Justice, Parliament of Australia, Harnessing the benefits of technology to improve access to justice (Commonwealth Government, 2012); Allens Linklaters (fn 1) 20.
32 See http://lawhelpny.org.
33 Allens Linklaters (fn 1) 21.
34 Jeff Giddings and Barbara Hook, ‘The Tyranny of Distance: Clinical Legal Education in “The Bush”’ (2002) International Journal of Clinic Legal Education 64, 66.
35 Ibid, 78.
36 Ibid.
37 Jeff Giddings, Barbara Hook and Jennifer Nielsen, ‘Legal Services in Rural Communities: Issues for Clients and Lawyers’ (2001) 26 Alternative Law Journal 57, 62.
38 Johnathan Jenkins, ‘What Can Information Technology Do For Law?’ (1998) 2(1) Harvard Journal of Law & Technology 589, 589-91.
39 Ibid, 591.
40 Lynn Epstein, ‘The technology challenge: Lawyers have finally entered the race but will ethical hurdles slow the pace?’ (2003-2004) 28 Nova Law Review 721, 721.
41 Ibid.
42 Allens Linklaters, (fn 1) 9.
43 Jeffrey Stutz and Lucille Narun, Technology in Aid of Client Services (Report for Legal Aid Ontario, 2008), 2–3.
44 Ontario Community Legal Clinics Provincial Strategic Plan, 2013–2017, http://www.aclco.org/, accessed 26 February 2014.
45 Mary Jane Mossman, Karen Schucher and Claudia Schmeing, ‘Comparing and Understanding Legal Aid Priorities: A Paper Prepared for Legal Aid Ontario’ (2010) 29 Windsor Review of Legal and Social Issues 149, 161–2.
46 See Allens Linklaters (fn 1) 23–34, for a fuller discussion of the specific information technology needs of these groups.
47 Mossman, Schucher and Schmeing (fn 44) 161.
48 Ibid.
49 Ibid, 193.
50 Jessica Pearson and Lanae Davis, ‘The Hotline Outcomes Assessment Study Final Report – Phase III: Full-Scale Telephone Survey’ (2002) Center for Policy Research, iii.
51 Ibid.
52 Ibid.
53 Moore, (fn 7) 4.
54 Ibid, 4.
55 Pascoe Pleasence and others, Reshaping legal assistance services: building on the evidence base (2014) Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, 24.
