Across housing, reentry, debt collection, and public benefits, there is a chance to decide together what good technology looks like before it gets built. We are looking for the people who will help steer it.
Technology will keep arriving in legal help. This is a chance to get in front of it and decide together what is worth building, what would genuinely help people, and what fits the values of access to justice work.
The Legal Help Commons is convening working groups to plan a common agenda for each area. The aim is a clear, shared vision of what could be possible and what would be valuable, so the people who do this work guide where the technology goes.
This is about more than large language models. A strong agenda will include simpler rules-based tools, limited and affordable approaches, and solutions that pair technology with people. The work is to match the tool to the need and keep people at the center.
A shared agenda gives builders and funders something real to aim at. When the field names what is valuable and what is values-aligned, it directs the buildout and draws the investment and clarity that good work needs.
Planning these areas works best with the people who do the work and the people who build the tools in the room together from the start.
People who do this work directly: brief advice, full representation, court appearances, and the day-to-day of helping people through these problems. You know where the real difficulty sits, and your judgment keeps the agenda grounded in what actually helps.
Engineers, designers, and data and AI people who want to build in these areas. Help shape what is worth building, and put the agenda to work as it takes shape.
People who study what works and can measure it: researchers, social scientists, and evaluators. You help define what good looks like, test whether these tools actually help the people they are meant to serve, and keep the agenda honest and grounded in evidence.
Organizations and funders who want to support this work can get in touch the same way.
Working groups are where the field plans and builds together. Two kinds are open now: groups building shared infrastructure, and groups scoping the workflows for an issue area. Express interest in one, and we will follow up about taking part.
Shaping the shared knowledge base standard and the content that legal help runs on.
Building the voice and intake tools that meet people where they are.
Building the tool that reads documents and pulls out the facts that matter.
Scoping the common agenda and vision for each area.
Now formingScoping the common agenda for housing.
Now formingScoping the common agenda for debt collection.
Now formingScoping the common agenda for public benefits.
Now formingScoping the common agenda for reentry.
Engineers and designers building any of the shared tools the field needs. Pick one from the agenda, or propose your own.
Building a legal help workflow in housing, debt, benefits, or reentry, or anywhere in access to justice. Tell us, and feature your work on JusticeBench so others can find it.
Work on evaluation and measurement, or contribute datasets, benchmarks, and materials to JusticeBench.
Tell us a bit about yourself and what you care about, and we will point you to the right place.
Express interest →