FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 6, 2017
Contact: Amy Starnes
Public Information Director, State Bar of Texas
(800) 204-2222, ext. 1706, or (512) 427-1706
astarnes@texasbar.com
Texas Legal Answers adds disaster category to help with Harvey relief
AUSTIN — Texas Legal Answers is a free online legal advice clinic where people can post their non-criminal legal questions and receive answers from volunteer lawyers. The site—TexasLegalAnswers.org—is the product of a partnership between the State Bar of Texas and the American Bar Association.
In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, dozens of attorney volunteers have joined Texas Legal Answers. They are now able to assist people with their disaster-related legal questions on topics such as insurance concerns, renter’s rights, employment matters, and consumer protection issues, among others.
Individuals can log on to the site, post questions, and have them answered by volunteer attorneys. Individuals with complex legal matters and those needing representation will be referred to legal aid agencies for more in-depth assistance.
The online Q&A style of Texas Legal Answers also ensures that individuals who lack transportation or who can’t easily get to legal aid or disaster-relief offices can still receive assistance.
The State Bar of Texas also operates a legal hotline — (800) 504-7030. The toll-free hotline — answered in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese— is designed to connect low-income people affected by a disaster with legal aid providers in their area who can help with a variety of disaster-related legal issues. For more information on the State Bar’s disaster relief resources, visit texasbar.com/disasters.
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The State Bar of Texas is an administrative agency of the Supreme Court of Texas that provides educational programs for the legal profession and the public, administers the minimum continuing legal education program for attorneys, and manages the attorney discipline system. For more information, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @statebaroftexas, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/statebaroftexas, or visit texasbar.com.
