‘Pro bono in your pajamas’

You don’t have to wear pajamas while volunteering on the website Free Legal Answers — but you can. And some Missouri attorneys do.

“I must admit that I have,” said Ronald J. Eisenberg, a partner at Schultz & Associates in St. Louis. “Recently, I even answered a question while taking a break from kayaking in Florida.”

The site, which was created by the American Bar Association and is run by The Missouri Bar, is described as a “virtual legal advice clinic.” Clients fill out a form to certify their low-income status, type up questions about non-criminal legal issues and then receive written responses from anonymous volunteer attorneys.

These attorneys can answer however and whenever they like, hence MoBar’s nickname for the program: “Pro bono in your pajamas.”

Since the site launched in January 2017, volunteers have answered 2,500 questions, according to MoBar President Ray Williams. The topics include domestic and property disputes, landlord-tenant conflicts, debts, wills, employment, workers compensation and other issues. These days, Williams said, approximately 100 volunteer lawyers frequent the site and answer four out of five questions posed, which is higher than the average among the dozens of states who run their own versions of the site.

The volunteers, Williams said, are addressing “the justice gap” by helping Missourians who can’t afford attorneys.But out of all other pro bono opportunities available — many offering the chance to be mercifully far from a computer screen — why would they choose this one, which requires even more screen time?

“The recipients are really appreciative,” said Eisenberg. He had felt guilty a couple years ago, he said, about not doing enough pro bono work, so he started visiting the site. Now he logs in two or three times a week; so far in 2019, he said, he has logged about 15 hours helping clients.

Robert G. Pennell, another volunteer in St. Louis who is on the site most days, said it allows an attorney to accomplish a lot with a little. For example, he recently gave advice to a man who wanted to change his first, middle and last names because they had become a mental-health trigger for him. Thankfully, Pennell said, the process was not complicated.

“I’m a solo attorney,” said Pennell. “This allows me to give back small pieces at a time in a way that’s meaningful and helpful, but I have control over how much of a commitment time-wise I get tied down with.”

Chesterfield attorney Christopher P. Cox observed that many clients hail from rural towns, and their questions suggest they’re struggling.

“You can tell [there are] abusive situations, and you explain that there are restraining orders you can get,” he said. “Some of this stuff is common sense to you and me, but it’s not for a lot of people.”

He often finds himself encouraging the client to find more full-service legal representation if the problem is complex, but the questions are often as simple as which court has the form they need to fill out.

“Sometimes it’s simple info like that, it’s easy to answer and it doesn’t take a lot of my time,” said Cox. “But the value to the people on the other side is just immense.”

Cox expressed surprise that only 100 attorneys in Missouri participate.

“That’s low,” he said. “This is so easy to do, I’m shocked there’s so few people doing it.”

The site is missouri.freelegalanswers.org.