FAYETTEVILLE -- The city's library has added a free service for people seeking basic legal documents to the growing list of expanded operations paid for through the millage increase voters approved in August.
LawDepot, an online legal form service, became available to library cardholders last week. The service is free. Users can go online at home or at the library, provide some basic information, and print or download an array of documents. The information plugs in automatically, making it so the user doesn't have to fill the same fields repeatedly.
How to access
• Fayetteville: bit.ly/faylawdepot
• Bentonville: bit.ly/bvillelawdepot
• Arkansas Legal Services: arlegalservices.org
State-specific documents include bills of sale, wills, power of attorney, leases, lease notices, promissory notes, prenuptial, sales and service agreements along with hundreds more, according to a library news release.
The service is offered to save residents money by making available a resource they might not otherwise afford, said Willow Fitzgibbon, director of library services. Library staff also will be on-hand to assist people with filling out the forms.
"We can help with using the database but we cannot provide legal answers," she said, adding users should know which legal document they need before heading to the library.
Rick Woods, lawyer with Taylor Law Partners in Fayetteville, cautioned residents to be mindful when using a service such as LawDepot. He recommended using Arkansas Legal Services, a nonprofit service that provides free civil legal assistance to low-income residents in the state.
"My guess is that these are forms that probably were developed by lawyers. I don't have much doubt about that," Woods said. "They are generic, and they probably work for most small issues. I mean, they're probably not for complicated issues. But if there are any tangential issues, these won't cover them, and there's nobody responsible for that."
In-house lawyers developed all of LawDepot's documents, which are regularly updated to ensure accuracy, according to the news release. A spokeswoman for the company said LawDepot has partnered with more than 100 libraries to provide the free service, which otherwise has prices ranging from $7.50 to $39 per document or $95.88 for yearlong service.
The purpose of LawDepot isn't to serve as a replacement for a legal service but to provide legal forms at a lower cost or free through libraries, said spokeswoman Narissa Ramji.
"When there is some complicated situations, we would recommend approaching a lawyer at that point for those questions you might have," she said.
Woods acknowledged there is a gap needing to be addressed.
"Some people can't afford to hire a lawyer, and this is their attempt to try and give them some sort of access to legal documents. We have Medicare, but we don't have Judicare," he said. "It's a sad commentary on life that there's no emphasis placed by anyone on access to legal services."
The Bentonville Public Library has offered LawDepot free since last fall, replacing another legal form program.
"Generally, the library has received positive responses to LawDepot because it's easy to use and has the types of legal forms that most people need," Director Hadi Dudley said.
The Rogers Public Library has Gale Legal Forms, which offers many of the same types of documents as LawDepot and a directory of lawyers in the state. A technical issue has caused the site to be inaccessible for residents at home, but people can access the service at the library, said Robert Finch, assistant director for the Rogers library.
"You get some kind of legal form question at least every week and sometimes several times a day," Finch said. "It can run in cycles, but it's a pretty consistent issue that comes up with us. It comes up often enough that we have to put up signage that says, 'We cannot give legal advice.'"
Administrators at the Springdale Public Library have looked into getting a service such as LawDepot or Gale Legal Forms but "haven't made the leap yet," said Director Marcia Ransom. The Springdale library's website also links to Arkansas Legal Services.
LawDepot is part of a bundled database subscription service the library pays for with its operating millage. In August, voters approved an additional 1.5 mills toward operation and maintenance costs and 1.2 mills for construction of its expansion. The construction bonds will be issued later this summer, while the library is currently using millage for operations to expand services, said Stephen Davis, the library's accounting director.
Other new services include digital music program Hoopla and business education service Lynda, a bolstered print, media and eBook collection, more wireless routers available for checkout, larger bandwidth at the library, new and updated computers, and more painting and landscaping upkeep.
"One of the promises made during the millage campaign was to provide additional resources to citizens for both library materials and access to additional database resources," Davis said. "This is a new addition made possible by the voter approval of the millage last August."
NW News on 06/12/2017