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 Live now -- online forms and guides for these issues:

• Unpaid Wages Demand Letter
• Petition for Judicial Review – Denial of Unemployment Benefits
• Security Deposit Refunds – Moving Out and Demand Letters
• Basic Divorce Forms (Simple Situations with No Minor Children)
• Going live online shortly: court forms from the Consumer Debt Task Force of the Louisiana State Bar Association (forms only).

Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS) is pleased to announce new free online legal forms hosted by LawHelp Interactive. The national civil legal aid community uses LawHelp Interactive to host automated forms to help people clear life's legal hurdles. SLLS paired these new automated forms with information guides designed for public libraries.

The New York Times applauded LawHelp Interactive in "Legal Aid with a Digital Twist." These resources extend help online anytime, anywhere, to anyone. SLLS won federal funding for the project through the competitive Technology Initiative Grant program of the Legal Services Corporation.

SLLS created automated forms and guides to help people create letters for security deposit refunds, demand letters for unpaid wages, petitions for court review of unemployment compensation claims, and simple divorce court packages for couples with no minor children or complicating factors. Find these new resources here.

The forms and related resources are packaged into "LibGuides," a librarian-friendly format. Anyone can find the LibGuides and related forms on LouisianaLawHelp.org, a free legal information and resource site administered by SLLS in partnership with Pro Bono Net.  Louisiana's site is part of the LawHelp.org network, which has won a Webby.

SLLS developed the automated forms with two innovative software programs:  Access to Justice Author and HotDocs. Access to Justice Author creates an interactive interview to help users enter information for the online form.  HotDocs meshes the user's answers into the form. The LawHelp Interactive site processes the form and delivers it to the user, who can print it, save it, or receive it by e-mail.

Using technology to improve access to justice is gaining traction in the U.S. and abroad.  SLLS is on the cutting edge of Louisiana's technology-for-justice movement. With participation and input during a pilot project with the Orleans Parish Civil District Court, SLLS launched Louisiana's first automated uncontested divorce forms years ago. SLLS helped Louisiana become one of the first states to adopt a mobile format in English and in Spanish for LouisianaLawHelp.org, the free legal information site administered by SLLS.

About Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS)

SLLS (slls.org) is among Louisiana's largest providers of free civil legal aid. SLLS serves half of Louisiana's low-income people from six offices throughout 22 parishes across the southeast area of the state. In many parts of our service area SLLS is the only organization that can help. In 2018 SLLS aided more than 25,000 people, with a direct economic impact of $21 million.

About Pro Bono Net

Pro Bono Net is a nonprofit leader in developing innovative technology and forging collaborations to increase access to justice. Its programs, including www.probono.net, www.lawhelp.org and www.lawhelpinteractive.org, enable legal advocates to make a stronger impact, increase volunteer participation, and empower the public with resources and self-help tools to improve their lives. LawHelp Interactive makes implementing document assembly initiatives easier and less costly for legal aid organizations as well as pro bono and court-based access-to-justice programs. LawHelp Interactive is operated by Pro Bono Net in partnership with Ohio State Legal Services Association, with support from Legal Services Corporation's Technology Initiative Grants program, among other funders.