State Support and Partners Receive LSC Grant For AI Model Development
On November 26, 2024, the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) announced 31 new Technology Initiative Grants (TIG) totaling $5.9 million. LSC’s TIG program supports civil legal aid organizations who seek to leverage technology for the delivery of high-quality legal assistance to low-income Americans. Organizations in 22 states are receiving TIG funding this year.
Established in 2000, the TIG program distributes grants annually to LSC-funded legal services providers. Grant recipients have used this funding to enhance online resources for self-represented litigants, make existing tools more mobile-friendly, deploy AI to streamline intake and client services, and more.
Legal Services State Support is excited to join a collaborative effort led by Legal Aid of West Virginia and the Stanford Legal Design Lab to create a “common legal help AI model.” Organizations from seven states will join the Stanford Legal Design Lab to research, train, evaluate, and pilot an AI model that can be used to power various future digital services, drawing from local, authoritative legal information. State Support, which runs LawHelpMN.org, will be joined by their counterparts in West Virginia, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, Oregon and Michigan to draw on the trusted legal information included in the legal information and referral websites in each of these states.
"We at Legal Services State Support are incredibly excited to be part of this groundbreaking initiative to harness the power of AI for the benefit of those in need of legal help,” said J. Singleton, program manager. “This project holds the potential to increase access to legal information by making that information more accessible and user-friendly. With guidance from experts at Stanford's Legal Design Lab, we can ensure that the AI model is rigorously evaluated and responsibly deployed to maximize the potential of AI, minimize associated risks, and advance our mission of access to justice for all."
Read more: Responsible Use Of AI Could Bridge The Justice Gap - Law360 and Legal Aid of WV receives grant to develop AI tools that help residents access legal info | News From The States.