Capital One Financial Corp. and Virginia lawyers have joined to develop a computer system to help low-income people get free legal services, officials said Thursday.
The new technology system, JusticeServer, will make it easier to match qualified clients with lawyers willing to take on their civil cases as a public service. JusticeServer should assist 1,500-5,000 low-income clients annually.
The streamlined technology is expected to improve client service, with more attorney one-on-one counseling, as well as reduce case backlogs.
"National statistics show that legal-aid programs like ours are meeting only 20 percent of the actual client demand," said Steve Dickinson, the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society's executive director. "An exceptionally talented Capital One team is figuring out technology solutions. That's truly exciting."
Capital One is putting nearly $150,000 into developing the system, according to Bill Burnet, who is leading the project for Capital One, the Richmond area's largest private employer.
Besides the $25,000 grant in start-up funds announced Thursday, Capital One has already donated $60,000 in services and $6,000 in laptops for the project, Burnet said.
"We believe that this system will help us all focus our energy and efforts where we can do the most good — support the legal rights of Virginians for whom access to the courts and legal counsel could make all the difference in helping them avoid homelessness and keep crucial benefits or jobs," said John Finneran, Capital One's general counsel.
JusticeService system is expected to cost $100,000 to fully implement, with the remainder coming from private donations.
Besides Capital One, partners in the initiative include the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, the McGuire Woods law firm, the Legal Aid Justice Center and the Greater Richmond Bar Foundation.
"JusticeServer will be a tool to put millions of dollars of legal time to work for disadvantaged clients," said Scott Oostdyk, McGuireWoods attorney and the Virginia Bar Association Pro Bono Committee's co-chair.
The program should help increase the number of volunteer legal aid lawyers from 200 to 700. Virginia has about 30,000 actively practicing lawyers, according to Pia Trigiani, president of the Virginia Bar Association and principal in the MercerTrigiani law firm.
JusticeServer will launch in central Virginia this month and will be fully functional statewide in 2013. The program will be used initially on a limited basis by a group of law firms including Hunton & Williams, LeClairRyan, McGuireWoods, Sands Anderson, Spotts Fain, ThompsonMcMullan, Troutman Sanders, Williams Mullen, Hirschler Fleischer, and Goodman Allen & Filetti.
"With resources tight, we have to be as efficient as we can to meet the legal needs of the underprivileged in our community," Greater Richmond Bar Foundation President Brian Marron said. "The use of technology will be essential for matching low-income clients to volunteer lawyers willing to take their cases."
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