Building a Family Law Network Providing legal information to - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Southern Alberta Library Conference March 21, 2015

Building a Family Law Network

Providing legal information to Albertans

Marsha Guthrie Manager, Implementation & Partnerships Carole Aippersbach Staff Lawyer Katy Moore Information Specialist Osas Eweka-Smith Program/Web Content Coordinator

Who we are

• Non-profit society founded in 2012
• Established to develop a website that will serve

as the first point of access to legal information and services in Alberta

• Funded by the Alberta Law Foundation

Our purpose

Create a website that brings together existing public legal information in Alberta under one virtual “roof”

Our purpose

Create a website that brings together existing public legal information in Alberta under one virtual “roof”

• Staff started tackling family law in July 2014
• Ensure information is reliable, current, and accessible
• Multiple points of entry: searching, browsing, and the “Guided

Pathway”

• Avoid duplication

Legal information challenges

Information overload

Legal information challenges

Jurisdiction confusion

Legal information challenges

Inaccessible “legalese”

Legal information challenges

Information Information Information

Putting the pieces together

Our goals

#1. Reach the right audiences #2. Identify the gaps #3. Find the content #4. Design for success

#1: Reach the right audiences

General public

• Average person does not think like a lawyer or a librarian—LegalAve has to

work for them

• Information in bite-sized pieces: topics, laws, court levels
• Remember the “stress factor” of dealing with family law issues
• Technical requirements (mobile-friendly)

#1: Reach the right audiences

• Need to connect users

with information & services

• Legal advice vs. Legal

information - Guided Pathway

Information & service providers

#2: Identify the gaps

Disconnect between substantive law and the legal process

• “The Family Law Act says I could get partner support, but what form do I

need?”

Regional variation in the legal process

• Different forms, different services, different requirements
• Urban vs. rural reality

#2: Identify the gaps

Myth-busting

#3: Find the content

• Gather family law resources and keep them organized

○ Spreadsheets! ○ Currently more than 2,200 family law resources identified ○ Resources from non-profit, government, and private sources ○ Information Specialist maintains resource list for URL updates and continued accessibility

• Lawyer-reviewed for accuracy, currency, and ease of use
• Focus on variety of formats: audio and video formats given

priority for inclusion

• Want variety, but not information overload: quality is key

#4: Design for success

• “Best practices” in web design vs. innovation for a new

tool vs. PLE

○ Heated discussions with our web developer!

• Different approaches to legal information

○ Multiple points of entry: searching, browsing, Guided Pathway

• DENSE information needs clean organization

○ All topics divided into four categories: Law, Process, Common Questions, and Myths

• Plain language content

Our collaborative approach

• 1. Locate the experts all across Alberta
• Public Legal Education & Information (PLEI) providers - librarians & non-

profit organizations

• Legal services frontline workers - Court staff, legal clinics, Native

Counselling Services

• Lawyers & judges
• 2. Admit we know nothing (or very little)
• Where are the gaps? What do you struggle with? What do you wish

people knew before they came to you?

• Make the connections: Law, Process, Common Questions, Myths
• 3. Back to the experts
• Every page of the website subject to expert review
• Usability testing on-site at Family Justice Services and law libraries -

general public and service providers

• Revise, revise, revise

Our social media approach

• 1. Brand awareness
• Name confusion with the Alberta Learning Information Service (ALIS)
• Who we are and what we do
• 2. Project awareness (LegalAve)
• Inform/educate :: engage :: build excitement
• 3. New opportunities/partnerships
• Promote work by partners and organizations with similar goals
• Encourage collaboration

@ABLegalInfo Alberta Legal Information Society

Our social media plan

• Goals and objectives
• Audiences - pre-launch vs. post-launch
• Content source
• Content by us
• Content by PLEI organizations, government departments, and social

services organizations in Alberta

• Out-of-province content - organizations with similar goals: #PLEI,

#FamilyLaw, #AccessToJustice

• Content map
• Challenges
• Evaluation
• Vision
• Social media platforms as connection hubs for three-way conversations
• Audiences - organizations vs. general public

Challenges with collaboration

Common funding sources

• Collaboration - but some feel we are competing
• We are showcasing their work (providing the frame for the painting)
• Critical to be clear about how this will help them: get buy-in

Incredibly busy experts

• Carefully plan out consultations
• Do not overload the most efficient (even though it’s tempting!)

Need for in-person communication

• Alberta is huge, and travel time cuts into our content creation time
• But significant differences in outcome (worth the investment)

Lessons learned

Involve stakeholders from the start

• Increase sense of ownership and pride in the project as it progresses
• - buy-in from the start is easier than after the fact.
• Be open to suggestion for more stakeholders.

Regularly update stakeholders

• Blog, newsletter, regular meetings -- showcase how their

collaboration is shaping the project

Lessons learned

Recognize knowledge experts

• Be careful about insinuating that their work is less important

than ours -- we recognize they’re busy, and we’re funded to help address some of these issues!

Meet face-to-face when possible

• The personal touch makes a huge difference in

quality of information and support

Where are we now?

• LegalAve content is currently being reviewed by experts

for an expected launch of family law website in October 2015

• Fall 2015: Begin research, consultation, and planning for

next area of law

• Continued usability testing pre- and post-launch

LegalAve demo

Collaborate with us!

Have any Common Questions or Myths you want us to include on the site? Want to do some usability testing for us,

• r host a usability session at your library?

info@AlbertaLegalInformationSociety.ca

Remember to connect with us to stay up-to-date on how we’re doing!

@ABLegalInfo Alberta Legal Information Society

LegalAve demo

LegalAve demo

LegalAve demo

LegalAve demo

LegalAve demo