How Does NH Free Legal Answers Work?

Watch An Instructional Video on How to Register as a Volunteer Attorney (3 min)

Watch An Instructional Video on how to Answer Questions (3.5 min)

NH Free Legal Answers is a program where members of the public can request brief advice and counsel about specific New Hampshire civil legal issues from volunteer lawyers.  Lawyers provide information and basic legal advice without any expectation of long-term representation.

Users must meet the eligibility standards found below, agree to the user agreement, create a username and password, post a request for legal advice or information and provide facts about their case to help the lawyer answer the question.  Users select a category (such as “housing” or “debt”) that best describes their question.   

Which Rule Allows New Hampshire Lawyers to Volunteer with Free Legal Answers?

Rule 6.5 of New Hampshire’s Rules of Professional Conduct addresses Nonprofit and Court-Annexed Limited Legal Services Programs and allows members of the NH Bar Association to participate in Free Legal Answers. The NH Supreme Court's Comment to Rule 6.5 states: "For purposes of participation by New Hampshire lawyers in the ABA Free Legal Answers website (to increase access to advice and information to clients who cannot afford an attorney), 'one time consultation with a client' will include reasonably contemporaneous communication with a client, such as through an email exchange, online chat session, or other online messaging service, directly related to the matter initially discussed."

What Are Volunteer Lawyers Expected to Do?

The role of the participating volunteer lawyers is to:

• Engage in dialogue with users concerning their problems to help determine if they involve actual legal issues,
• Inform users about the appropriate state and/or federal law(s) that apply to their situations,
• Suggest options regarding how users may proceed with their matters, and
• Direct users to other resources by providing links to websites and/or phone numbers of resources/organizations listed on the “Training Resources” page.

 Key points for volunteer lawyers to know about users:

• While lawyers may ask for additional information before responding to a request, users have the choice whether or not to respond.
• Unless provided in the narrative, only the clients’ names and counties are accessible by volunteer lawyers.
• Users are required to list the name(s) of adverse parties, if any.
• Users are informed Free Legal Answers provides no guarantee their questions will be answered.
• Users with questions remaining unanswered after 30 days will receive email notification from the website administrator to seek help elsewhere.

Who Is Eligible to Use NH Free Legal Answers?

A user is eligible to post a question on the website if:

• Household income is less than 250% of poverty;
• Liquid assets do not exceed $10,000 (includes checking and savings account balances, value of stocks or bonds);
• Not incarcerated;
• Age 18 or older;
• Requests help with a civil legal matter and resides in New Hampshire.

They must provide their name, county and zip code in order to request assistance.  Users are limited to posting three (3) separate legal questions per year.

Who is Eligible to Volunteer?

Attorneys licensed to practice law in New Hampshire who meet the qualifications stated in the next section are invited to register.  Retired attorneys may participate if approved for limited active status by the NH Pro Bono Referral Program Director.  Free Legal Answers offers a convenient way for attorneys to do pro bono work.  

How Do Lawyers Sign Up to Volunteer?

Lawyers who would like to participate are asked to create a username and password, provide contact information and their New Hampshire attorney license number, agree to the lawyer use agreement, and request approval from the website administrator.  The website administrator checks that the lawyer is currently licensed and in good standing (neither suspended nor disbarred and up to date with all licensure obligations) to practice in New Hampshire.  Once approved by the website administrator, the lawyer will have his or her account activated, receive an email notification, and then can begin answering user questions.  The website administrator has the authority to preclude attorney participation in NH Free Legal Answers for violating the attorney agreement and also for cause as determined by the NH Pro Bono Governing Policy Board, the ABA’s partner for Free Legal Answers in New Hampshire.  

Who Administers NH Free Legal Answers?

The site is administered by the NH Pro Bono Referral Program at the NH Bar Association. 

What type of relationship exists between the client and lawyer?

When a user submits a question and receives an answer from a lawyer, a lawyer/client relationship is formed between that client and the lawyer who responds.  That relationship, however, will be limited in scope and duration as described in the use agreements for both users and lawyers.  The representation will be limited to providing an answer to the legal question and will not involve any continuing representation of the client beyond the act of providing such an answer.  The lawyer will provide short-term, limited legal services to a client (the eligible user of this site) without expectation by either the lawyer or the client (the eligible user of this site) that the lawyer will provide continuing representation in the matter.  Both the eligible users and lawyers must consent to the limited nature of this relationship both as to scope and duration as indicated when they accept the terms of the use agreement.  Eligible users and lawyers who do not accept the terms of the use agreement will not be allowed access to the site.

How Do Lawyers Check for Conflicts of Interest?

Given the limited nature of the legal services permitted by Rule 6.5, conflicts of interest rules apply only where the attorney knows representation of the client involves a conflict of interest or that another attorney associated with the same law firm is disqualified by a conflict of interest.  Since the names of the client and anyone adverse to the client concerning the subject matter of the question will be provided, an attorney can make sure not to answer the question once aware a conflict of interest exists.  If based on information the client provides--whether client name or any details of the question—the lawyer determines an actual conflict of interest does exist that precludes him/her from answering, s/he should return the question to the available questions queue.  If the lawyer has already responded to the client, s/he should contact the NH state administrator for referral of the question to another volunteer attorney.  If the question goes beyond a one-time consultation as contemplated by Rule 6.5 (see above), the lawyer is required to perform a conflicts check.

What happens if a lawyer selects a question to answer, and then decides not to answer it?

If a lawyer determines that s/he can’t answer a question, the lawyer may place the question back into the open question queue to allow another volunteer to try to assist the user.  If a lawyer takes a question and doesn't respond within three days, the question will automatically return to the open questions queue.

What about professional liability insurance coverage?

Volunteer lawyers who provide brief advice and counsel via the website will be covered for communications within the website by professional liability insurance maintained by the American Bar Association.  The New Hampshire Pro Bono Referral Program will provide secondary coverage.

What if an attorney wants to do more for the client than answer the question through the website and take the case pro bono?

To provide additional assistance to the client beyond answering the question through the website, the lawyer can take the case on a pro bono basis.  When deciding to provide additional pro bono service to the client outside the scope of this website, the attorney must make it clear to the client that a new lawyer/ client relationship is being formed and that NH Free Legal Answers /ABA Free Legal Answers is not involved in this new relationship.  The professional liability insurance provided by the ABA that covers participation in NH Free Legal Answers /ABA Free Legal Answers does not apply to assistance provided to the client outside the scope of this website.  Should the client meet the eligibility guidelines of the NH Pro Bono Referral Program, then malpractice insurance coverage and other supports will be provided.  Contact the Pro Bono at 715-3203 or salexander@nhbar.org for further information about qualifying a client through NH Pro Bono.  Please note the eligibility requirements for the Pro Bono Program may differ from those for Free Legal Answers.

Is there a confidentiality issue with client information/lawyer advice being housed on the internet? 

This site is designed to ensure client privacy.  Since the web program is administered through a platform that limits access based on a screening, confidentiality will be maintained since only the website administrators have access to content between a client and a lawyer.  Information available to the website administrator and the lawyer responding to a client request shall remain confidential, subject to the limitations of the Privacy/Confidentiality Policy.  Client questions, however, and the response of the lawyers participating in NH Free Legal Answers are maintained in a database for review in order to measure the effectiveness of the project.  Steps will be taken to maintain the security of this database and it will only be utilized by the administrator but an absolute guarantee of security is not possible when using the internet and internet based systems.

For each visitor to the Webpage the web server automatically recognizes only the user domain name.  This is the information that is collected for statistical purposes. Aggregate information is collected on the pages users access or visit on this website.

The information collected is used to improve the content of the Web page and is not shared with other organizations for commercial purposes.  Information may be disclosed when legally required at the request of government authorities conducting an investigation, to verify or enforce compliance with the policies governing our website and applicable laws or to protect against misuses or unauthorized use of our website. This information may also be studied by contracted researchers to improve access to justice.  Any personal information that could identify users will be removed before files are shared with these researchers or results are made public.

Navigating the Website

How do I sign up?

Click the Volunteer Attorney Registration link in the top horizontal menu.  You will be asked to agree to the User Agreement, then provide some basic contact information and your NH Bar number.  Once you submit your registration, you will received an email from noreply@freelegalanswers.org so you can verify your email address.  If you do not see this email, check your spam folder.  Your account will not be activated until you click the link in the verification email to verify your email address.

How do I log in?

Go to https://nh.freelegalanswers.org and select “Sign In” at the top right corner of your screen. After you enter your username (which is your email address) and password, you will automatically be directed to a page that lists all the questions that have been posted for lawyers to answer. The list of questions is called "the queue."

I'm having problems logging in; what can I do?

Make sure you are logging in as an attorney, not a client.  Also make sure that you are using the email address that you used when signing up for NH Free Legal Answers.

If you are still having a problem, you are likely using the wrong password.  You can click the link to reset your password.  You will need to check your email to finish the reset process.

How do I see the questions that users have asked?

Click the "Home" link in the navigation menu to see open questions in the queue.

You can sort these questions by legal category (e.g. Housing, Family Law) or by how long they have been open.  Click the "Sort" button and select "Kind of Problem" to sort by category, or "Importance" to sort by how long they have been in the queue.

By default, you will see all open questions in the queue. If you only want to see questions that fall into specific legal categories, click the "Filter" button, then select the categories you are interested in.  Click the "Apply Filter" button when you are done.  These filters will remain in place every time you log in to the website.  To remove the filters and see all questions again, click the "Filter" button, then click "Clear All."

What do the flags next to the user questions mean?

You will notice that the questions are coded by flags. These flags let you know how long each question has been in the queue. Questions with red-outline flags are those that have been posted for more than 10 days and questions with filled-in red flags are questions that have been in the queue for at least 25 days and will be closed if no lawyer is able to answer them. Questions that are not answered within 30 days will be closed and the user will be notified.

How do I select the questions I want to answer?

You will see the user's name, the opposing party, the legal category, legal deadlines (if known), the user's short summary of the issue and the date the question was opened right from the queue.  If you want to find out more about the question, click the "Preview" button; this displays the first few lines of each posted question. If you decide you want to see more details of the question, click the subject line to be taken to the question detail page. To take the question, click the “I want to answer this question” button on the bottom of this question detail page. Otherwise, click the "Home" button to return to the queue.

Once you click the “I want to answer the question” button, the question moves out of the general queue into your personal queue and other volunteer attorneys will no longer be able to see or take the questions. If you eventually decide you cannot take the question, click the "I want to return this question" link at the bottom of the screen to send it back to the full queue. You can also decide if you want to answer a question immediately by clicking "Answer Now" or answer the question later by clicking "Answer Later."

How many days do I have to answer the question?

Please make your initial contact with the client within three (3) calendar days of taking a question. If you need more information before you can answer the question, this initial response can take the form of asking for more information.  If you do not communicate with the client within three (3) calendar days, the question will be moved back into the general queue.

How can I see the questions that I have taken but have not completed yet?

Questions that you have taken but have not finished answering are in your personal queue.  All questions in your personal queue show at the top of the general queue, under the heading "Your personal queue."  Click the "Home" button in the navigation menu to go to your personal queue. From the queue, click the "Subject" line in the question to go to the full question detail screen and to communicate with the client.

How do I communicate with the client to find out more information or answer the question?

Go to the question detail screen by clicking on the "Subject" line for the question from your personal queue.  To initiate contact with the client, click the "Answer Now" button at the bottom of the question detail screen. This will open up a box with the heading "Post your response." Type whatever you would like to communicate to the client into this box.  You can also attach files.  When you are finished, click either the "Submit" or "Save as Draft" buttons at the bottom of the screen. The client will be notified by email that a response is waiting in the website, so they can log back in and see it. When they log in, the client will see your response.  They will not see any other contact information  

The client will have a chance to respond to your inquiry.  You will receive an email when the client responds and a prompt to log back into the website to respond.  To continue the dialogue, use the "reply" button at the bottom of the question detail screen.  All responses from both you and the client will show on the question detail screen.

Important -- for security purposes, the website will time out after 15 minutes of no activity.  You should click the "Save as Draft" button regularly so you do not lose your work if you are called away while in the middle of preparing a response.  

I am finished answering the question.  How do I close it?

When you determine that you have completed answering the question, click the “Mark as Closed” button at the bottom of the full question detail screen. This will end any further communication between you and the client. It will also generate an email to the client with a short feedback survey about their experience using the website.

If possible, please keep the question open for a day after you have answered it, to give the client a chance to ask any clarifying questions about your response.

How many questions can I take at one time?

You can have up to 10 questions open at any one time.

Can I get notifications when people ask questions in a particular category of the law?

Yes! If your area of practice is specialized and you only want to answer certain types of questions, you can subscribe to a Category and receive an email notification each time a question in that particular Category is posted.

To subscribe to a Category (for example, Immigration), click on the “Manage Subscriptions” tab at the top of the screen. Scroll down to the Category you are interested in and click on the red circle. When the red circle changes to a check mark, you have successfully subscribed to that category. You may also choose where you want to get subscription emails. To change it from the default - your username email -click on your email address next to the green check and enter your different email address. Click the save icon to save your email address. You can unsubscribe at any time.

How do I keep track of the time I have spent helping clients?

Each time you attempt to log out of the website, you will be prompted to enter the time you have spent researching and answering questions. You may log your time in tenth of an hour increments. Your hours may be viewed at any time by clicking on “Log My Hours” from the navigation menu.

Where can I see previous questions I have answered?

Click "Question History" from the navigation menu to see your question and answer history.

What if a user's question isn't answered?

When users sign up for the site, they are told it is possible that their question might not be answered.  If a question is not answered within 30 days, the user will receive an email from the website administrator instructing them to seek assistance elsewhere. The user will also be provided with a list of additional resources.

How do I contact the administrator with a question?

If you have a question or run into a technical problem with the site, you may contact the administrator by emailing NHFLA@nhbar.org.