Reaching Out to Our Volunteers and Clients Through the Internet
By Vicki Jacobs, VLSP Managing Attorney

At the Voluntary Legal Services Program, we have noticed a trend towards clients using the internet as the means of contacting us to seek assistance, as opposed to calling us on the telephone. For the 22 years VLSP has been in existence, our primary method of client intake has been by telephone. At times, this has not been the most efficient system, as it can be difficult to reach our clients when we call back to discuss their legal problems. Since our organization has a limited staff, we do not have the resources to have an intake worker on the telephone to answer calls as they arrive; rather, we return telephone messages left by our clients.

With the increased presence of computers at public libraries, and as computers are in ever increasing numbers of homes (including the friends of our low-income clients), we receive more inquiries and requests for services through e-mail. We've decided we'd better learn to keep up with the times, and make it easier for potential clients to find out about the services we offer on the internet. In addition, doing some initial client screening over the internet can help increase the likelihood that we can assist these clients.

Until now, VLSP has had a small web site that has provided information (some of which had become outdated) concerning the services offered by our program. In an effort to anticipate the future growth of the internet and email communication, VLSP has updated our web site to provide far more complete and accurate information to potential clients and to our volunteers. Our updated web site should be on line by the time this article is published. Please check us out at www.vlsp.org. This web site is capable of being easily updated by our staff so that our information will be current.

Of course, our attorney volunteers, like our clients, have also increase their use of the internet and e-mail communications in recent years. Our new website will also provide much of interest to current and potential volunteers. Our calendar contains information about upcoming MCLE trainings, for example. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, you can complete an application on-line. If you are a volunteer who happens to move offices, you will be able to update your contact information with VLSP through our web site. In the future, we will have a password-protected area of our website, accessible only by our attorney volunteers, in which we will list cases that are currently available for assignment to a pro bono attorney.

Our web site provides detailed information about the services we provide, and the opportunities for volunteering by attorneys. If you have a client you would like to refer to us, our web site will tell you how to do that. If you'd like to make a contribution on line, that option is available as well.

Along with our new website, we have decided to update our logo so that it more accurately reflects the work we do and the valuable assistance of our volunteers. That logo, which accompanies this article, shows three people, representing our volunteers, holding up the scales of justice. By the time this article is published, you should be starting to see this logo on all of our correspondence and anything publicizing our program.

We hope that our efforts will result in more efficient and informed communication between ourselves and our volunteers and clients. If you have any suggestions as to how to improve our website, please feel free to contact Vicki Jacobs, VLSP Managing Attorney, at vjacobs@vlsp.org. Your input would be appreciated.