I’m disappointed that we have had so little feedback on the FreeLegalWeb pilot service to date as we had real enthusiasm for the initial concept and a good number of subscribers to the original blog, attendees at the BarCamp and signups to the Google group.
Please take just a few minutes to think about the project and how you can engage with it and help promote it and move it forward.
Firstly, please do use the site in earnest for a bit and let us know whether you think it’s a useful service with potential (for lawyer or lay users) and broadly what’s lacking or what you’d like to see from the site. Bear in mind that at this point it’s a pilot site and the principles of the project are more important than the detail of the execution.
Please give us your feedback and thoughts on the project by writing or commenting on the FreeLegalWeb blog and/or your own blog and/or on Twitter. All publicity is good publicity; if we can revive the public discussion about what we want from a free legal web, then that would be a great start. If you need help posting to the site, see the Author Guide.
We put considerable effort into trying to raise funds during 2009 but the tide of austerity turned against us and for the moment we must carry on for the love of it.
I’m more than happy to carry on developing and curating content for the site; it will be easy enough to expand it beyond the initial Housing Law focus, but it’s only worth doing that if I get your feedback and can see where we’re headed.
Robert Casalis at UniRom will continue to maintain the legislation and case law data and make some progress with developing the Citator functions which will join it all up.
Harry Metcalfe and team at the Dextrous Web developed the custom WordPress interface but we’ll need funds to develop the functionality of the site further.
As to the organisation, I’m happy to keep the ship afloat but what we really need is help with networking/marketing/fundraising. Everyone can play their part by engaging in the blogosphere/Twittersphere, but if you’re game to help seriously move this forward or know of anyone who might be interested, let me know.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Nick Holmes, Legal Training. Legal Training said: Please take a look at the excellent @FreeLegalWeb Help us move this forward: feedback on the FreeLegalWeb pilot service http://bit.ly/h2J8SZ [...]
Legal web???……. please, someone tell me where or how I can achieve justice from just so many avenues, my challenge appears to have snow balled beyond belief. I have so much evidence, I have been denied so much of my human rights and all in authority have just turned their back on me and why? ….i am just ‘Joe Bloggs public’ like an ‘ant in a bucket’ insignificant and such a struggle to he listened to. I have such an overwhelming mission in my desperation to get justice yet I have so much evidence/proof of so much injustice.
Seriously, if anyone can help, it would be so much appreciated. I have so much evidence, please, someone restore some faith and take notice.
I had a cyst on my brain and after a struggle to be listened to many years ago (1993) when my four children were still very young, I had neurosurgery to have it removed. I was insistant it was not post natal depression, I persevered and I was right. Many years on, I go through a nasty divorce whereby my ex husband knew all too well doctors had me down for having mental problems although their records should have noted that I’d had neurosurgery and my symptoms should not have deemed me ‘mental’ and should have noted the correct diagnosis and subsequent surgery. My ex husband used it to his advantage to sway solicitors in to believing I was ‘not of sound mind to make my own decisions’ allowing him to run amock with manipulating solicitors who were supposed to acting for myself but in fact only followed my ex husband’s instruction and enabled him to extort all our marital finance and leave me with nothing (yet we had been married since April 1985) and bought into property at a very good time before house prices escalted extortionatly high.. Failing to acknowledge that I had four children with no intervention with social services over the years, they were all looked after very well and have gone on to all be in good employment fending for themselves now and contributing to society in paying their taxes.
When I complained of reminicent symptoms of the cyst I had many years ago, I was not listened to and only referred to a mental health team. Eventually I did have an MRI scan (not arranged by my local doctors) and regardless of the referral letter which said ‘please reassure this patient she does not have a recurrence of the cyst’. However, an MRI scan revealed that I DO in fact have a cyst encasing my trigeminal nerve (and causing shooting electricity in my face – now being controlled with carbamazipine medication). I complained of punch drunk sensation when walking and an invisible bar under my left foot causing the back of my foot to ache from not walking on it properly. Results had been sent from a consultant at Guys Hospital with a hand wirtten comment advising about the cyst but I was denied this information and eventually found out on a follow up appointment at Guys.
I was victim to a rape in April 2009 and the police wanted my entire medical records for the purpose of the court hearing. With the mention of ‘mental’ in my records, it was debatable if they’d allow me to stand trial but fortunately I did and had a successful conviction of a 12 year sentence for the perpetrator. Whilst I was certainly relieved as to the conviction, I most certainly did not like the necessary interrigation made worse by the questions so clearly bringing into question my mental ability. A good example being that in my audio visual interview and written statement, I had mentioned a ‘massive’ knife’ had been held to my throat yet the exhibit shown was a small kitchen knife. Superimposed photos with extra furniture and a red carpet instead of the laminate wooden floor that I had described. I was just so convinced they assumed me to be mental, I retrieved both my medical and police records under the Data Protection and even found that the police had put in their observation that I was mental. So clear it was influence by my ex husband. The police were not qualified psychiatric doctors to be able to pass such judgement. A statement was taken whereby my ex husband had pulled a top off my head and my ears were buring hot but if they decided I had mental problems I should have been interviewed in front of an appropriate psychiatric doctor and the police were certainly not qualified to pass such judgement! Worse was the incident that followed in a consultation whereby a doctor gave me a letter she’d received in response to a letter unbeknown to myself confirming she had on a previous consultation referred me to the mental health team. Stupidly my symptoms of punch drunk sensation when walking had been noted and the psychiatric nurse even wrote about my symptoms. I had spoken (at great length) explaining my symptoms but also that I was having to deal with a serious court case at the time. This rape incident was completely ignored and wasn’t even mentioned in the referral letter to the mental health team. In fact to this date, I never had the offer of counselling. My results of the MRI scan should have been noted in time for my compensation claim but the CICA had already made their decision and it was too late. Worse still, a doctor handed to me in person the response she’d received from the mental health team and suggested I gave it to the judge! How stupid would that have been? I’d have been thrown out of court and the trial could not have gone afead had I have listed to the doctor!
Oh, so much more to enlighten you with, PLEASE, steer me in the right direction of who could help me with this mess?
June
In this site bio, it says “…useful and efficient free resource for lawyers, advisers and the public at large”
I think doing this for lawyers/advisers is the easier part; they should have the ability and experience to be able to sift and analyse information provided and use it effectively, whether this is on a practical level or just as a learning tool
I think the idea of a (‘useful’ and ‘efficient’) free resource for the public, however, is quite a different notion. Why would it have some value to them? Why would they want to use it or browse it? How would they know it was useful and even worth looking at in the first place?
It can’t rely on the same assumptions about ability, for example, or understanding. The terminology will be all wrong, mixed up and high-folluting. How can it be made accessible to someone who doesn’t have a clue about the law, in accessing information about the law, in even knowing they actually have what is a ‘legal’ problem when it seems pretty much (currently at least) to be written for lawyers by lawyers?
That isn’t to knock what’s being done and the idea behind it, I think it’s great. However, I just wondered whether FLW has been looking at the Public Legal Education stuff at all too? Sites like Plenet.org.uk? There’s a part of me that just thinks that FLW is coming very much from a legal professional perspective, whereas the PLE stuff is coming very much from a ‘how do I work out whether I can do something about all this hassle I’m having’ (public engagement) angle
I just wondered whether there was any middle-ground and, whether that’s actually what’s missing, from both?
I wonder whether Junechallenge above is in this middle-ground?
Patrick, Thanks very much for your comments. A key question has always been: Who is it for? As you say the lay person with a problem needs a quite different service to the adviser or lawyer who knows the jargon and can more easily navigate their way around the law.
There is no shortage of good, free legal materials and guidance on the web, but these materials are scattered all over the place. Our priority was to “join up” this free legal web. My personal efforts as to acquiring content have been primarily to encourage participation from law bloggers and other publishers mainly via syndication. That will help lawyers and advisers and if we help them we indirectly help those they advise. But anyone can contribute at any level – original articles or via syndication etc.
The guidance as was published on the Community Legal Advice site and that now on Plenet and sites like Shelter etc is obviously a better starting point for those who have “life problems”. What’s the most effective way to incorporate such materials/guidance onto FreeLegalWeb? Why not contribute something yourself? For example write a short summary of an area of law and review/point to the best resources – eg for Homelessness:
http://www.plenet.org.uk/ple-materials/homelessness,10093,FP.html
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/homelessness