JALA is ready to assist our community in the coming weeks and months as we respond to and recover from the current crisis. “Equal Justice Under Law” is more than a saying carved in stone – it is part of our promise to our community.
Over the last few years, we have been transitioning to online telephone, texting, emailing, faxing, case management, and court filing systems that allow us to continue to communicate and assist our clients from any location outside our offices in emergency situations, whether storm-related or due to the currently recommended social distancing precautions to stop the spread of COVID 19.
JALA, like all legal aid firms in Florida, utilizes a cloud-based LegalServer case management system which enables staff to access all client information, case notes, pleadings, etc., remotely. All of this information is secure and protected.
In addition, we use a VoIP telephone system that allows messages to be retrieved and returned remotely. We have tested this system to ensure that all JALA employees can receive calls – when you call an extension, it will ring to that employee’s cellular telephone or remote desktop application.
Although we will not have in-person intake or client meetings during the remainder of March 2020, assigned staff will respond to calls and follow-up with anyone applying online or by telephone. The assigned screening attorney will be notified of any new intakes, and will respond by telephone to the applicants.
The screening attorney will also be responsible for performing all necessary investigation and/or advocacy in exactly the same way as if our three offices were physically open. Signs will be posted at the offices advising of telephone, facsimile and website information.
Those wishing to access JALA services remotely but who are unable to use wi-fi at a neighborhood library are urged to review the services offered by many internet providers. Comcast, AT&T and other providers are making their wi-fi hotspots available for free (local Comcast hotspots can be found at https://wifi.xfinity.com, for example.)
Over the past few years, we have made the main JALA website at www.jaxlegalaid.org as robust as possible. Applicants can apply online, and the site has videos, pamphlets, fillable PDF forms, and links to other helpful sites, such as FloridaLawHelp.org. (A statewide legal aid site hosted by The Florida Bar Foundation, this site is also linked on the Florida Courts app.)
For example, if you are a tenant who needs to notify your landlord of a conditions issue (which you must do before withholding rent), these fillable forms can be found under the Housing (Landlord-Tenant) page of our Self Help Pamphlets & Information section.
In other states and communities that have instructed their community to “Shelter in Place,” firms such as JALA are defined as an “Essential Business” that is permitted to stay open even during a “Shelter in Place” order.
We will strive to measure up to this challenge.
Sincerely,
Jim Kowalski, President & CEO
Jacksonville Area Legal Aid
