It’s been remarkable to see how Wisconsin Free Legal Answers has grown in scope and importance during 2020. We are a virtual brief legal advice service for people who have questions about civil (non-criminal) problems. So, when almost everything else shut down in the spring, our volunteers were often the only resource left for people who couldn’t afford to hire a lawyer when they faced a civil legal problem. We saw our monthly questions double in the spring and then continue to rise over the summer before finally settling down in the fall. Here is a closer look at our 2020 numbers.
Questions
- 1,901 questions asked (90% increase over 2019)
- 1,812 questions answered (91% increase)
- 1,646 people helped (84% increase)
- 163 coronavirus related questions
The pandemic related questions were heavily employment related but our overall question mix for the year was again dominated by family law issues (41% of the total). The other top areas for questions were housing (13%), employment (9%), and consumer (9%), with significant numbers of questions on real estate, probate, and civil rights.
Volunteers
- 321 volunteers are signed up
- 54 volunteers answered at least one question in 2020
- 466 volunteer hours were recorded (.25 hrs/question average)
- 753 questions answered by our top volunteer! (with help from Marquette Law School students)
- 5 the median number of questions answered (among those who answered questions).
Wisconsin Free Legal Answers a project of the Access to Justice Commission with support from the State Bar of Wisconsin. We are part of the national ABA Free Legal Answers network.