Technology is the lynchpin of providing access to justice to all Americans. For those living in rural America, there simply is no access without technology. In my home state of Alaska, many residents live in extraordinarily remote circumstances in villages accessible only by air or water. The vastness and diversity of Alaska’s geography is difficult to describe in a manner that adequately relates its magnitude. We have only one time zone in our state, though if we used the conventions normally applied to great swaths of the earth, we would have four. We have a handful of clustered urban communities, but most of our towns and villages are scattered across 570,374 square miles.

Most lawyers are located in the urban clusters, so in addition to the financial obstacles familiar to low-income clients seeking legal representation, rural Alaskans also have serious geographic obstacles. In rural Alaska, lawyers and paralegals simply do not exist, nor do law libraries or commercial vendors that might provide legal information.

Before the Internet, the only access to legal services for rural Alaskans was through periodic intake visits of Alaska Legal Services Corporation (ALSC) attorneys.  Even if individuals could get to a lawyer and fill out an intake form, there was no guarantee that they would get representation. In fact, because of limited resources, most did not. Frustratingly, people often presented with problems they could resolve on their own if directed to the appropriate legal information, but accessing information proved difficult for many.

With the Internet, however, the synergy created among the telephone, e-mail, and web-based information made every personal computer a virtual law office. This was the case for a Native woman who lived in one of Alaska’s most remote and inaccessible villages along the northwest coast. She called and said, “I’ve been trying to get divorced for 13 years but can’t. Could you help me?” We asked, “Do you know about the Internet?” She replied, “I clean at the school and they let me use the computers there when I’m finished working. I have a Yahoo account.”

That night after work she received an e-mail with all of the forms and instructions she needed to complete her divorce. Within a matter of months she accomplished what seemed impossible for 13 years. The Internet gave her access to legal help and timely and responsive legal information.

After that call, we realized how far the access doors had been thrown open by the Internet. We realized we needed to find useful and creative ways to disseminate information that allows people to help themselves, so that the scarce resource of attorney time can be used most efficiently in those cases too complex for self-representation. With the support of the federally funded Technology Initiative Grant program, the Alaska Court System and ALSC teamed up to put computers with Internet and telephone access in six of our busiest courts across the state. In addition, we developed a collection of web-based education modules hosted on the statewide legal services web page. The modules offer web links to a variety of legal, governmental, and social services resources that a user might find valuable. These modules also are translated into various languages, which is an indispensable feature for populations who speak languages other than English. For instance, because we have been able to offer sound clips to accompany the text on a user’s screen, ALSC can now provide an oral explanation of eligibility guidelines in Yup’ik, a language spoken by Native people in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region. Users can return to the oral material as often as they please to fully understand the various points.

To date, we offer online education on applying for divorce and custody, as well as background information on how to prepare for hearings and file motions, modifications, and enforcement actions. The Disability Law Center of Alaska (DLC) has provided online information on guardianships.

The groundwork for this project was nurtured through another significant federally funded project, ALSC’s statewide legal services webpage at AlaskaLawHelp.org. The development of this page brought together a variety of stakeholders, including the courts, the military, the disability community, the Alaska Bar Association, and organizations that help victims of domestic violence. By working together, we are gaining a better understanding of our roles and how we might best complement one another.

For instance, the court-sponsored Alaska Family Law Self-Help Center got a call from a gentleman in a remote village whose sister could no longer care for her children. He was calling to learn about his options for filing for guardianship or custody of the kids. In the course of the conversation, it became clear that a new caseworker at the public assistance office had wrongfully denied him emergency assistance. As a result the young children were without food. While it’s inappropriate for court employees to advocate for an individual, AlaskaLawHelp.org allowed the court staff to refer him to the website with the relevant regulation. By printing it and providing it to the case worker, the problem was resolved.

n Katherine Alteneder is Co-Director of the Alaska Court System's Family Law Self-Help Center.