SimpleJustice Q&A Platform
The Q/A feature on SimpleJustice is a question-and-answer service that clients can use to get information or ask a question via Online Intake, and attorneys can use to volunteer to answer questions.
Individuals Seeking Legal Help
When individuals apply to the Q&A Platform, they will be taken step-by-step through an Online Intake form which collects initial intake information.
If answers do not satisfy eligibility requirements, they may be directed to other resources that may help them.
If answers from the user satisfy eligibility requirements, they will be automatically routed to the Register page, with key registration requirements pre-filled from the intake information previously entered. They will also be asked to enter a password for their registration. Once submitted, they will be asked to verify their email address via a message sent to the email provided.
Once the user has verified their email address and logged-in, they will be able to access a user Dashboard where they can select a summary of their issue from the drop down, enter in their question, and submit to SimpleJustice for review.
Once submitted, users will then be able to see details about their submission via the User Dashboard. They will see the information submitted, date posted, and the status of their question. They will also have the ability to edit their question.
The user will then await a response from a legal expert. When action is taken on their response, this is communicated to the user in two ways. First, the user can view the response on the Homepage. Second, the user will receive a confirmation email to their registered email.
Pro Bono Volunteers
Pro bono volunteers will be able to view and submit responses to questions submitted through the Q&A platform.
If a volunteer has already registered and logged-in to SimpleJustice, they will be taken directly to their Volunteer Dashboard.
If they have not registered and logged-in, they will be prompted to register if they have identified themselves as a Volunteer on the Q/A Platform. After approval, they will then be able to access the Questions view. Here, existing and new questions can be viewed and responses posted and edited. They may also view their previous questions.
A user may then select “I’m Interested” to review additional information about the question, confirm that there are no conflicts of interest in connection with the question and agree to give advice.
Once a volunteer has agreed to take a question, they will be associated with a case on the backend and then given the ability to review additional details, enter advice, and update the problem code if needed. They will also be able to see the question under their Dashboard under My Questions > Assigned Questions.
Upon entering advice on a given case, a volunteer may:
- Select Cancel, not saving your changes
- Select Save Draft, which will save the changes locally but not assign them back to the case or notify the client that posted the question
- Post an answer, which will update the case information, status, and update the users dashboard with your response to their question. The user and system admin will both receive a notification email, regarding the case changes.
- Release Question, which will remove the attorney as an assignment on the question and make it accessible for other volunteers via the Questions Dashboard.
This question and answer can also be found on the Volunteer Dashboard under Answered Questions
