Legal Hotlines:
A How To Manual
2nd edition
2001
Publication of AARP Foundation
Technical Support for Legal Hotlines Project
Sponsored by the Administration on Aging
This project was supported in part, by a grant, number 90AM2467, from the Administration on Aging, Department of Heath and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official Administration on Aging Policy.
I. INTRODUCTION
B. OVERVIEW OF HOTLINE DELIVERY SYSTEMS *
II. HOTLINE MODELS
C. SINGLE OFFICE INTAKE HOTLINES *
D. MULTI-OFFICE INTAKE HOTLINES *
E. MULTI-PROGRAM INTAKE HOTLINES *
III. HOW A HOTLINE WORKS
1. Calls Answered by Hotline Advocate *
2. Calls Answered by Receptionist/Screener *
3. Calls Answered by an Automated Attendant *
4. Calls Picked up by Answering Machines *
5. Emergencies *
6. Walk-in Clients *
1. Screening for Eligibility *
2. Screening for Conflicts *
1. Telephone Receptionist/Intake Screener *
2. Hotline Advocate *
3. Supervising Attorney *
4. Staffing Patterns *
D. CONNECTING CLIENT TO HOTLINE ADVOCATE *
1. Advantages of a "Live" Hotline *
2. Advantages of a Callback System *
3. Recording Cases *
1. High Volume *
2. Low Volume *
1. Review of Casenotes *
2. Periodic Hotline Meetings *
3. Ongoing Training *
1. Internal Evaluation of the Program *
2. Evaluation of Hotline Services to Clients *
3. Measuring Outcomes *
IV. PRACTICING LAW ON THE HOTLINE
A. ATTORNEY/CLIENT RELATIONSHIP *
1. Confidentiality *
2. Conflict of Interest *
3. Third-Party Callers *
4. Identifying the Client *
5. Professional Competence *
6. Retainer Agreements *
B. CASE HANDLING/CORE HOTLINE SERVICES *
1. Advice *
2. Brief Services *
3. Examples of Cases That Can Be Resolved By the Hotline *
C. REFERRALS (beyond the hotline) *
1. In-House Referrals *
2. Referrals to a Private Attorney Involvement Panel *
3. Referrals to Other Programs *
V. PREPARING FOR A HOTLINE
1. Who Should Staff the Hotline? *
2. Handling Staff Changes *
3. Staff Integration *
4. Hotline Advocate Qualifications *
5. Orientation and Training *
6. Office Procedures *
1. Personnel Costs *
2. Telephones *
3. Computers *
4. Public Relations *
5. Malpractice Insurance *
6. Equipment/Office Space *
7. How the Legal Hotline System Reduces Costs *
1. Sources of Funding *
2. Applying for Grants *
3. Charging Fees For Hotline Services *
VI. EQUIPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY
B. COMPONENTS OF A GOOD HOTLINE SOFTWARE PROGRAM *
D. EQUIPPING THE HOTLINE STATION *
1. Furnishings *
2. Files *
3. Legal Materials *
4. Non-Legal Materials *
5. Publications *
VII. RESOURCES FOR LEGAL HOTLINE PLANNERS AND MANAGERS
A. TECHNICAL SUPPORT FOR LEGAL HOTLINES *
1. On-call Technical Assistance *
2. Site-visits *
3. Legal Hotline Quarterly *
4. Legal Hotline Bulletin *
5. Legal Hotline Technical Support Library *
B. RESOURCES ON THE INTERNET *
VIII. APPENDICES
B. "Provision of Legal Advice and Brief Services by Telephone" by W. Moore
C. "The Theory Behind the Hotline System" by W. Moore
D. "A More Productive, More Versatile Legal Hotline Methodology, A New Concept in Delivery - The Brief Services Unit" by W. Moore
E. "Stop the Insanity - Intake Made Intelligible" by J. Morrissey
F. Sample Attorney and Intake Worker Job Descriptions
H. Sample LCE Productivity Report
J. Sample Reduced Fee Panel Contract
L. "Elements of a High Quality Legal Hotline" by Shoshanna Ehrlich
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The second edition of this manual is based on the collective experience of Monica Kolasa, Jan May, Shoshanna Ehrlich, Alan Herman, Carol Matthews, myself and many others, including our hotline attorneys, in developing and refining the Legal Hotline concept. The writing of this manual is the continuation of a collaborative legal hotline effort that Monica, Jan and I have enjoyed for more than 15 years. In 1985 Monica Kolasa came to work for LCE to test what was then my rough outline of a new concept, the Legal Hotline. Monica gave the concept life and made it work by establishing the Legal Hotline for Older Americans in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She deftly persevered against all the challenges, frustrations, and skepticism that are inherent in developing a new method for delivering the services of an age-old profession founded on tradition and precedent. Over the past 15 years, she has further refined and developed many facets of the Hotline such as methods for better serving hard-to-reach populations, the use of the Hotline to produce legal documents such as wills and powers of attorney, techniques for generating income to off-set the Hotline’s costs such as testing a sliding fee scale for Hotline services, the use of volunteers on the Hotline, a host of new resource materials for use by the Hotline attorneys to improve quality, and self-help materials for our clients to supplement the legal advice provided by the Hotline. Over the years AARP Foundation’s Technical Support for Legal Hotlines has helped the 23 statewide senior legal hotlines establish its operations. I want to take this opportunity to again thank her for her tireless, superb, and largely unrecognized efforts to give birth to the Legal Hotline network.
In 1987 I asked Jan May to take on the difficult task of testing whether the free-standing legal Hotline concept, successfully implemented by Monica, could be used as the intake system for our full-service, legal services program in Washington, DC. Even though the concept had worked well in Pittsburgh, the LCE staff in our D.C. office were skeptical about whether the concept could work as the office’s intake mechanism. But Jan’s great talent as a manager and developer of new delivery systems, along with the skills of other dedicated LCE staff, made it work. Today LCE staff could not imagine operating our program any other way. He has also helped to expand and perfect the use of volunteers and increase the Hotline’s use of self-help and community education materials. I want to thank Jan for his willingness and expert ability to take my ideas for new delivery systems, along with many of his own, and make them work.
There are today at least 154 non-profit hotlines operating in the United States and new ones being started every year. Many of them are modeled on the original ones we pioneered and others are designed to address specific problems. They are all more alike than they are different and they all have as their primary goal the delivery of high quality legal services to ever-greater numbers of people who would otherwise be without affordable legal assistance.
Particular thanks go to Carol Matthews for rewriting and updating the original How-to Manual, to Shoshanna Ehrlich for her editing the updated manuscript, to Paul Davis for his ever-patient assistance, and to Marie L. Hubbard who brought order out of chaos.
Wayne Moore, Director
Legal Counsel for the Elderly
