Resources for State & Local Bars

Materials to help bar associations promote their members

A campaign like this is needed now, more than ever. Our courts are flooded with Americans who represent themselves without the expertise of those who can best resolve those problems -- lawyers. At the same time, the latest research shows that people who can most benefit from legal counsel, don’t seek help from attorneys because they don’t understand their problems to be legal ones.

You have cultivated the resources that can help connect people with the legal assistance they need. This educational campaign helps you spread the word: Lawyers are America's problem solvers.

Most Americans do not know they need a lawyer, according to the latest findings from American Bar Foundation. Ground-breaking research by ABF Faculty Fellow Rebecca L. Sandefur confirms that less than a quarter of U.S. civil justice problems ever involve lawyers or Courts.

"People do not understand their justice problems to be legal problems and so do not consider lawyers, legal aid or courts as a source of assistance."

However – studies cited by Sandefur in her research demonstrate that people receive far more satisfactory outcomes with legal assistance.

For more, read Sandefur’s full article, "Accessing Justice in the Contemporary USA." Or, view talking points that summarize Sandefur’s findings (developed for U.S. Dept. of Justice, Feb. 2016).

Several customizable tools - videos and ads - can help you spread the word.

Use these assets alone or in conjunction with several turnkey templates optimized for posts on social media.

FindLegalHelp.org is our destination site, where users will find a clickable map to your legal resources.

Downloadable materials here