Technola : Public Interest Law & Technology Updates & Commentary : Matthew Burnett & Kate Bladow : Tech Advice for the Non-Profit Legal Sector

 

This video, which features a client of Montana Legal Services Association telling the story of how a MLSA attorney, Amy Hall, helped keep her and her children safe from abuse is a great example of the effective use of video by a legal services organization. It's simple, straightforward and powerful.  To learn more about how your organization can use video to support your work, see Sharing Your Story Social Media Style, part of the We Are Media Project by the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN). -M

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Equal Justice Works, an organization mobilizing the next generation of public interest lawyers, just launched a YouTube Channel. This channel features several videos, including short spots where Equal Justice Works Fellows describe their projects. Take a few minutes to watch. The variety of programs and areas that they represent is amazing. - K

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Internet for Everyone has just released a new report, Wired Less: Disconnected in Urban America, which uses multimedia and storytelling to highlight the urban digital divide. -M

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YouTube now lets nonprofit organizations that are part of its Nonprofit Program include a call-to-action on their videos, like the one seen in the image from the charity: water video below. (Full video available on YouTube.)

Example of YouTube Call To Action

This tool lets nonprofits ask people to act on what they are seeing, such as asking them to make a donation. Both idealist.org's post "YouTube's New 'Call to Action'" and Frogloop's post "YouTube Adds Call To Action Tool For Nonprofit Videos" discuss using this tool for fundraising.

However, this tool may have other interesting applications for legal aid and pro bono programs. For instance, in the video "Filing a Pro Se Answer to a Lawsuit," Arkansas Legal Services Partnership could point people to additional legal information, send them to an online application for legal aid, or direct them to online automated documents that help them fill out the answer. Alternatively, a pro bono program might use the tool to recruit new volunteer attorneys. For example, videos, like this video from Weil Gotshal Pro Bono Program, could include a link to the National Pro Bono Opportunities Guide.

Is your program one of the many legal aid programs on YouTube? Are you using a call to action yet? If so, how are you using it and what do you think of it so far?  - K

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Just a quick post to point out that Common Craft has posted another technology-related video. This time they cover Computer Software in Plain English. More information about Common Craft is available in these previous posts: What's Under the Hood? and Technology, Plain English, and Whiteboards. - K

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Webcasts from the 2009 LSC Technology Initiative Grants (TIG) Program Conference are now available on IllinoisLegalAdvocate.org. -M

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TechSoup's Kami Griffiths will interview Colin Carpenter and Lori Pottinger from International Rivers about their flash video, "We All Live Downstream", which was chosen as runner up in the Adobe-TechSoup 2008 Show Your Impact contest. Learn about the process  for developing a flash video and how to produce a similar video for your organization. Register online here. -M

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If you weren't able to attend the Legal Services Corporation Technology Initiative Grants (TIG) conference that's taking place through Friday in Austin, TX, you can watch sessions live online thanks to Illinois Legal Aid Online (see the full schedule below).  You can also follow the conference on Twitter here. -M

Wednesday, Jan. 21:

8:30 am-9:00 am: Opening Remarks

10:45 am-12:15 pm: Project Management for Legal Services

2:00 pm-3:30 pm: Network Securities and Computer Use Policies

3:45 pm-4:45 pm: Meeting the Technology Need

Thursday, Jan. 22:

9:00 am-10:30 am: 2009 Google Apps and Microsoft Office Live

10:45 am-12:15 pm: PowerPersuasion

2:30 pm-3:45 pm: You Never Get the Disaster You Want

4:00 pm-5:00 pm: Trying to Raise Money in this Economic Environment

Friday, Jan. 23:

9:00 am-10:00 am: Tools to Engage Court Leadership

10:15 am-11:00 am: NTAP'S Interactive Support Services

11:15 am-12:00 pm: The Essentials of TIG Project Evaluations and Reports

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Yesterday, the Texas Supreme Court held a hearing on the state of legal services. In addition to a great opportunity to learn more about Texas' legal services community, this hearing was also an amazing example of how to include people who can't attend in person: Cynthia Martinez, the TRLA Communications Director, live-blogged the entire session, and the hearing was webcast live and recorded.  - K

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Many of the 51 million people who have a disability don't vote. In fact, only 21 percent do. Some don't vote because they are busy, they forget, or they think that it doesn't matter - reasons why anyone might not vote. But people with disabilities can also be deterred by the fact that many polling places are inaccessible. Advocacy organizations have stepped up to ensure that this population has the right to vote, both in theory and in practice. Check out voting resources available from the National Disability Rights Network, the United Cerebral Palsy's Don't Block My Vote campaign, and the Center for an Accessible Society. Also, the Minnesota Disability Law Center put together a great video that explains why it is especially important for people who have a disability to vote. If you or someone you know has a problem voting, you can contact Election Protection ... and you can even use Twitter to report your problem! - K

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Technology has a lot in common with law. Both are complex fields that use a lot of jargon. Fortunately, CommonCraft, a husband and wife business in Seattle, is working to make technology more accessible to the masses. They create Paperworks videos -- think whiteboard crossed with paper dolls -- to explain current popular technologies in plain English. Their videos cover a range of topics, including social media, podcasting, blogs, wikis, zombies, and RSS. Now if we could just get them to start creating segments on evictions, name changes, and orders of protection. -K

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A post today by Carolyn Elefant on Legal Blog Watch highlights an interesting study by FindLaw, which indicates that putting an online video on a law firm website can help attract clients:

"FindLaw's studies show that when choosing a lawyer online, consumers visit an average of 4.8 sites before making a decision, as compared to just 1.8 sites when a Web page contains a video. Moreover, an increasing number of Internet users -- 74 percent -- watch videos online every day, proof of this visual medium's online appeal." View the full post here.

Although a number of legal aid and pro bono websites use videos to deliver substantive content to users, few use online videos to message to clients and volunteers about their services or introduce them to the outstanding advocates in their organizations. While FindLaw's research is clearly geared towards the business of lawyer marketing, its findings are compelling. They speak to the power of online video to improve a client's confidence in, and increased familiarity with, a firm's services ... something that legal aid programs should be very interested in.

Two excellent examples of using online video to highlight the work of advocates can be found at IllinoisProBono.org and IllinoisLegalAdvocate.org, which feature monthly videos on volunteers and legal aid attorneys who are making a difference in their communities. We know that these folks exist all around us, but do our clients and volunteers? -M

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The Center for Arkansas Legal Services and Legal Aid of Arkansas have a history of using technology to deliver legal services. They have implemented a statewide legal information Web site that uses LiveHelp to help visitors find online legal information and resources; I-CAN E-File; online document assembly; and resources to support legal aid staff and pro bono volunteers, including a poverty law wiki.

And, on top of all that, they have a new innovative project -- posting instructional and access-to-justice videos on YouTube. Below is "Filing a Pro Se Answer to a Lawsuit." It's a great, short introduction to the process.

 

I also highly recommend checking out the music from the "Domestic Violence: You Are Not Alone" video, which is from Stumbling Home. You might recognize Vince Morris, the Associate Director of the Arkansas Legal Services Partnership, as the lead singer and guitarist. -K

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