By Michael G. Bermann, Executive Director of PILI

Since August 2019, PILI (the Public Interest Law Initiative) has been responsible for the day-to-day operations of Illinois Free Legal Answers, including volunteer recruitment, management, training and support. The site was first launched in Illinois in 2017 with Illinois Legal Aid Online as the original state administrator. In 2023, Illinois Free Legal Answers volunteers answered 3,565 civil legal questions to help those in need. Illinois also leads the nation with the most volunteers registered on the site. Since 2019 when PILI became the state administrator, 15,843 questions have been answered on the site.

A project of the American Bar Association first launched in 2016, Free Legal Answers is a secure website where lower-income individuals can ask a volunteer lawyer for help with a civil legal issue. Currently, the site is active in 41 states. Qualified users post questions securely on the site and then volunteers log onto the site and select questions to answer. Over 330,000 civil legal questions have been answered across the country since the launch of the ABA Free Legal Answers.

Illinois Free Legal Answers provides a way for attorneys to volunteer their time in the way that best fits their schedule. They can choose where and when to log in and which questions to answer. Volunteer attorneys who provide brief advice and counsel via the website are covered by professional liability insurance maintained by the ABA.

Since becoming the state administrator, PILI has partnered with many law firms, corporations, bar associations and law schools in Illinois to host Illinois Free Legal Answers clinics for their volunteers. PILI provides training on how to use Illinois Free Legal Answers and can also provide a CLE program with Illinois MCLE credit for volunteers. If you are interested in hosting a clinic, please email us.

PILI received initial funding for its work with Illinois Free Legal Answers from the Illinois Bar Foundation when it took over the state administrator. The IBF counties to support PILI’s work on the site along with the Illinois Access to Justice grant program, the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation and the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice.

PILI is so grateful to all of the Illinois Free Legal Answers volunteers, and especially to the following twenty volunteers who have answered the most questions since PILI became state administrator in 2019 and remain active on the site :

• Reuben A. Bernick, Arnoux Sharma Standeford, LLC (Chicago)
• Barbara J. O'Brien, Pro Bono Network (Chicago)
• Jennifer L. Kincaid, Pepping, Balk, Kincaid & Olson, Ltd. (Silvis)
• Anthony Frank, MCC Label (Rosemont)
• Harold B. Hilborn, Much Shelist (Chicago)
• Mike McElvain, Attorney at Law (Bloomington)
• Sara T. Ghadiri, Chapman and Cutler LLP (Chicago)
• Laura Gastel, Pro Bono Network (Mt. Prospect)
• Steven C. Lindberg, Attorney at Law (Hinsdale)
• Akwei O. Acquaye, State Farm (Bloomington)
• Rebecca A. Fabian, Chapman and Cutler (Chicago)
• John A. West, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP (Chicago)
• Steve M. Grossi, State Farm (Chicago)
• Jessica A. Ring, Troutman Pepper (Chicago)
• Maria R. Rossi, Seyfarth Shaw (Chicago)
• Shannon Heilman, Joseph A. La Zara & Assoc (Chicago)
• Ted A. Donner, Donner & Company Law Offices LLC (Wheaton)
• Laura Jozaitis, Jenner & Block LLP (Chicago)
• Danny L. Goldberg, Mayer Brown (Chicago)
• Billie J. Constant, Constant, Wawrzynek, & Grove, LLC (Mattoon)

Whether you are already a volunteer or new to Illinois Free Legal Answers, join PILI in celebrating this milestone and help those in need of civil legal assistance by taking our 5 for 5 Pledge and answering five questions on Illinois Free Legal Answers between now and October 15th. PILI will recognize all who complete the Pledge in our monthly e-newsletter, the PILI Post, in mid-October.