Frequently Asked Questions from Site Users:

What is Illinois Free Legal Answers and How Does it Work?

Free Legal Answers, a national initiative of the American Bar Association, operates as a virtual legal advice clinic for civil legal issues. Self-represented litigants (those not represented by a lawyer) can submit a question about their civil case and have it answered by a pro bono lawyer. 

Users post their question by providing facts in a message. The user can attach files or images to their post – if possible, the user should attach a copy of the final order or judgment and should note if they have an upcoming deadline for their case. A lawyer will answer questions through the website–no phone calls or in-person consultations. The lawyer may also respond by posing a question or asking for clarification from the user. If that occurs, the user will have 10 days to reply before the question permanently closes. It is important for users to check their email during this time period and respond within 10 days to any replies from the lawyer. If a lawyer cannot answer the question, an administrator will notify the user.

Can I ask a lawyer to represent me in my case?

No, the lawyer will only write about the problem you put on the website. The lawyer will not help you after that or do anything else for you. The lawyer will not:

• make calls or file papers for you;
• go to meetings for you
• go to court for you.

Other Resources to Review

To learn more about your legal problem and other resources, visit IllinoisLegalAid.org for free legal articles, guides, court forms, videos and more. For information about Civil Appeals visit Resources for Self-Represented Litigants in Civil Appeals.

My question says it is marked as closed. Why?

Questions can be marked as closed for multiple reasons:

1. The attorney who responded marked the question as closed when they finished responding;
2. The site administrator had to close the question and listed why it was closed;
3. You never answered the attorney's response, so the question automatically closed.

Please remember, you cannot ask a more than 1 question per legal area, so if a question is closed, please do not re-post it to the general queue or it will be closed by the site administrator.

I have asked all 5 questions, what do I do now? 

As you agreed in the use agreement, each user may only ask five (5) total questions per year and each one must be on a different legal issue. You can look at our page for other places to find help to see if there are other resources that might be able to help you.

I need site technical help - who do I ask?

You may email the site administrator with questions about using the site. The site administrator will not respond to requests for legal help.