FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Texas Bar Foundation awarded the Harris County Law Library a $16,225 grant to improve access to legal aid resources for self-represented litigants through the Law Library’s Self-Represented Litigant Assistive Technology Initiative.
“We are excited to expand opportunities for access to legal information with the support of the Texas Bar Foundation,” Law Library Director Mariann Sears said. “Public access to legal information is necessary to ensure open and equal access to our civil justice system. With this grant, we can leverage technology to help connect more people who are unable to afford representation with community legal services, like those from our partners at Houston Volunteer Lawyers.”
The purpose of the Initiative is to deploy technological solutions at the Law Library and Houston Volunteer Lawyers (HVL) Information Booth located at the Law Library to streamline access to online intake for legal aid, self-help legal forms, and self-help video content. Creation of up-to-date video content for use in Harris County, which leads the state in the number of cases filed by self-represented litigants, is a major component of the project.
“Since the Law Library joined our Office in 2011, we have worked diligently to make it a resource for everyone,” Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan said. “Most of the people who visit are not lawyers, but people who need help finding legal information to access the courts. At the Law Library, they have access to one of our nation’s leading public collections of digital legal resources and professional law librarians to help them navigate it. It’s a tremendous asset to the people of Harris County.”
About the Texas Bar Foundation
Since its inception in 1965, the Texas Bar Foundation has awarded more than $20 million in grants to law-related programs. Supported by members of the State Bar of Texas, the Texas Bar Foundation is the nation’s largest charitably-funded bar foundation. For more information, visit www.txbf.org.
About the Harris County Law Library
The Harris County Law Library opened in 1915 and has continued to serve Harris County’s legal information needs for more than a century. After joining the Office of Vince Ryan, Harris County Attorney, in 2011, the Law Library greatly expanded its technology offerings and services to the public. Today, the Law Library receives more than 60,000 visitors each year, 90% of whom are not lawyers. Ryan’s support for the revitalization of the Law Library was recognized by the American Association of Law Libraries in 2016 when he was named the Law Library Advocate of the Year. The Law Library is open to the public Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Visit www.harriscountylawlibrary.org for more information.