Law

• Have a Legal Question?
• Advice on Finding and Hiring a Lawyer
• Directories of Law Firms and Lawyers

Legal Assistance for...

• Gays and Lesbians
• Immigrants
• Lower Income Persons
• Prisoners
• Union Members
• Women

Have a Legal Question?

Ask a Legal Question and have it answered by a real attorney free of charge. You can also Search a Question and Answer Database of legal questions other people have asked. Search by state or country and legal practice area. (Service provided by LawGuru.com)

Ask a Lawyer (sponsored by Lawyers.com) is another online service where you can have your legal questions answered by real lawyers. Browse an Archive of previously answered questions, send in a question by e-mail, or participate in a live chat.

Ask an Attorney - FreeAdvice Answers (sponsored by FreeAdvice.com) lets you post legal questions anonymously and have them answered by real lawyers. An e-mail message will be sent to notify you when your question has been answered. You can also browse answers to questions that other people have posted.

The Attorneys Forum provides free legal advice and support from professional attorneys, lawyers, and law firms nationwide. Browse extensive legal forums covering just about every legal topic you can think of, or post your own questions and get free answers from qualified legal representatives in your area.

Advice on Finding and Hiring a Lawyer

Consumers’ Guide to Legal Help (American Bar Association)

This site will guide you to a list of resources in your state. Most legal issues are regulated by the law in the state where you live, or where the problem occurred. A selection of FAQs provides help on hiring a lawyer, finding free help, helping yourself, and other legal advice.

How to Select a Lawyer (State Bar of Texas)

Advice on how to locate, choose, and deal with a lawyer in Texas.

If You Can’t Afford a Lawyer (State Bar of Texas)

Information on obtaining a lawyer for middle- or low-income persons.

Mistakes to Avoid Before You Hire a Lawyer (The Consumer Law Page)

Tips on how to locate a lawyer who has the knowledge and experience to handle your case. Also includes advice on how to communicate your needs to your lawyer and how to negotiate fees.

Directories of Law Firms and Lawyers

General

Attorney Locate

Free search engine allows you to search for an attorney based on location and practice area. Many of the attorneys listed have provided full web sites or a detailed profile describing their education, experience, and other information. 

Find a Lawyer (FindLaw/West Legal Directory)

Profiles of more than 1,000,000 lawyers and law firms, in addition to profiles of international counsel, corporate counsel, and US government attorneys. Searchable by name, practice area, or location.

Find an Attorney (LawInfo.com)

Select a practice area and a ZIP Code or city in the United States. Also includes an international search.

Law Firms Yellow Book (Leadership Directories, Inc.)
Available to members of the UNT community
Select “Law Firms” from Yellow Book drop down menu

Contact information and brief profiles of law firms. Browse alphabetical list or search by keyword. Expanded search capabilities allow you to create targeted lists of individuals and organizations, and to export these lists to word processing, spreadsheet, and contact management programs.

Lawyer Referral Information Service (State Bar of Texas)

Helps find lawyers for persons in Texas counties where there is no local lawyer referral service. Participating lawyers have indicated in which area(s) of law they can help clients, and in which counties.

Law Firm (LexisNexis)

Lawyer locator, information on hiring a lawyer, and other information to help nonprofessionals find a lawyer, learn about the law, and understand their legal options.

Lawyer (LexisNexis)

Worldwide database searchable by name, law school, law firm, or location.

Texas State Bar Member Search (State Bar of Texas)

Locate an attorney in Texas. You can search by Barcard, first or last name, firm name, or former name.

By Practice Area

Child Custody (LexisNexis)

General explanation of legal issues and your options and rights, with links to child custody specialists in your state who are familiar with state laws.

Criminal Defense (LexisNexis)

General explanation of legal issues and your options and rights, with links to criminal defense specialists in your state who are familiar with state laws.

Divorce (LexisNexis)

General explanation of legal issues and your options and rights, with links to child custody specialists in your state who are familiar with state laws.

Personal Injury (LexisNexis)

General explanation of legal issues and your options and rights, with links to child custody specialists in your state who are familiar with state laws.

Risk Solutions (LexisNexis)

Fraud solutions, which offer guidance and information regarding identity fraud, OFAC, and red flags rule information. These resources serve a wide range of industries from financial services, health care and insurance to retail and government.

Legal Assistance for Gays and Lesbians

Housing & Mortgages for Gay & Lesbian Couples (Mortgageloan.com)

This guide will help to explain the different approaches that same-sex couples can take to getting a mortgage, establishing ownership of a home, and creating legal documents that anticipate any legal or property-ownership issues that might occur if the couple breaks up or one partner dies.

Immigration Equality

National organization fighting for equality under U.S. immigration law for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and HIV-positive individuals. Provides information on the complex U.S. immigration laws, and can provide on request a list of names of LGBT- and HIV-friendly private immigration attorneys, and evaluate your case for possible pro bono representation.

Lambda Legal

National organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work. Lambda Legal’s Help Desk staff provide legal information and assistance to members of the community who are facing discrimination related to sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and HIV status. To the extent that their resources and priorities allow, Lambda Legal takes on legal representation of callers whose situations present impact litigation issues; for many others, Lambda Legal provides leads to other organizations and practical information that might help them address their problems. Web site provides a list of suggested questions to ask a prospective attorney.

Lesbian and Gay Rights Project (ACLU)

The American Civil Liberties Union is the nation’s foremost advocate of individual rights—litigating, legislating, and educating the public on a broad array of issues affecting individual freedom in the United States. The Lesbian and Gay Rights Project fights discrimination and moves public opinion on LGBT rights through the courts, legislatures and public education.

National Center for Lesbian Rights

National legal resource center committed to advancing the rights and safety of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. Provides many useful publications online, and can provide answers by e-mail or phone to legal questions pertaining to sexual orientation or gender identity.

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDI)

National, non-profit legal services, watchdog, and policy organization dedicated to ending discrimination against and harassment of military personnel affected by “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and related forms of intolerance. Web site includes a Survival Guide, an online law library, a blog, and other information. 

Transgender Law and Policy Institute (TLPI)

Non-profit organization dedicated to engaging in effective advocacy for transgender people in our society. The TLPI brings experts and advocates together to work on law and policy initiatives designed to advance transgender equality. Web site provides informational publications, case summaries, briefs, and news stories on transgender legal issues.

Transgender Law Center (TLC)

Civil rights organization advocating for transgender communities. TLC utilizes direct legal services, public policy advocacy, and educational opportunities to advance the rights and safety of diverse transgender communities.

Legal Assistance for Immigrants

Immigration Basics—Legal Help (American Immigration Law Foundation)

If you or a family member is interested in living in the United States, you may need someone who can help you understand U.S. immigration laws and who can help you apply for legal status. This page will help you decide if you need an immigration lawyer and what you need to know to choose a qualified lawyer or authorized representative. Lawyers will tell you what to expect up front. They will warn you of the risks and possibilities that can reasonably be expected.

Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC)

National resource center that provides training, materials, and advocacy to advance immigrant rights. As a legal services organization, the ILRC trains lawyers and paralegals on ever-changing and complex immigration law; encourages immigrants to play leading roles in confronting and reshaping the laws and policies that perpetuate racial, economic and social injustice; and educates and empowers those in the immigrant community so that they may organize and advocate for the rights and privileges that best define our democratic traditions.

Immigrant and Refugee Appellate Center (IRAC)

IRAC is a law practice devoted to appellate work on behalf of aliens, primarily before the Board of Immigration Appeals, Executive Office for Immigration Review, United States Department of Justice (BIA). It occasionally represents aliens before federal circuit courts of appeal.

The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project

Nonprofit legal service organization that provides free legal services to men, women and children detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), formerly known as the INS. Although the government assists indigent criminal defendants and civil litigants through public defenders and legal aid attorneys, it does not provide attorneys for people facing deportation charges. As a result, 90 percent of the detained people go unrepresented due to poverty. The Florence Project strives to address this inequity both locally and nationally.

AsylumLaw.org

Free Web site run by an international consortium of agencies to help asylum seekers in Australia, Canada, the United States, and several countries in Europe. Includes information on how to find a lawyer or agency to help you; legal documents to support asylum claims; and information about the law and process of asylum in several countries.

Legal Assistance for Lower Income Persons

If You Can't Afford a Lawyer (State Bar of Texas)

Information on obtaining a lawyer for middle- or low-income persons.

TexasLawHelp.org (Pro Bono Net)

One-stop, online resource for free and low-cost civil legal assistance in Texas. TexasLawHelp is a project of the Texas Access to Justice Commission and the Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation, in partnership with participating legal aid organizations. Major funding is provided by the Legal Services Corporation.

Project for the Future of Equal Justice (NLADA)

The Project for the Future of Equal Justice is a joint effort of the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) and the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP). Funded by the Open Society Institute (OSI), the Project’s mission is to advance the cause of justice for all in America. New directions for the civil legal aid community—new partners, new messages, new models—provides a shorthand way of capturing the Project’s goals, its strategies, and its record of accomplishments over its five-year history.

American Bar Association Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service (CLASP)

Agency that supports programs that deliver pro bono legal assistance. Includes state-by-state listing of pro bono programs and pro bono Web links.

Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)

National non-profit that works to improve the lives of low-income people. CLASP’s mission is to improve the economic security, educational and workforce prospects, and family stability of low-income parents, children, and youth and to secure equal justice for all.

Legal Services Corporation (LSC)

Private, non-profit corporation established by Congress to seek to ensure equal access to justice under the law for all Americans by providing civil legal assistance to those who otherwise would be unable to afford it. 

National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA)

Advocate for front-line attorneys and other equal justice professionals who make a difference in the lives of low-income clients and their families and communities. Representing legal aid and defender programs, as well as individual advocates, NLADA is the oldest and largest national, nonprofit membership association devoting 100 percent of its resources to serving the broad equal justice community.

Texas Access to Justice Commission (TAJC)

The mission of the Texas Access to Justice Commission is to develop and implement policy initiatives designed to expand access to, and enhance the quality of, justice in civil legal matters for low-income Texans, also known as Legal Aid. The Supreme Court of Texas created the Texas Access to Justice Commission to coordinate services for people who need legal help but may not be able to afford it or find it. The Commission’s goals include reducing barriers to the justice system and increasing resources and funding for Legal Aid.

Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation (TEAJF)

Nonprofit corporation created by the Supreme Court of Texas in 1984 to administer funds to create community capacity to provide civil legal services for low-income Texans, also known as Legal Aid. The organization is committed to the vision that all Texans will have equal access to justice, regardless of their income.

Legal Assistance for Prisoners

A Jailhouse Lawyer's Manual (Columbia University)

If you have been convicted of a crime and sentenced to prison, A Jailhouse Lawyer’s Manual (the “JLM”) is for you. This manual, written and updated by members of the Columbia Human Rights Law Review, contains information about challenging your conviction or your sentence, your rights while you are in prison, and different ways to obtain an early release from prison.

Legal Services (Prison Policy Initiative)

Listings by state of organizations that provide legal assistance or inexpensive self-help materials for incarcerated persons.

State Counsel for Offenders (Texas Department of Criminal Justice)

An annotated list of specific resources that may provide direct assistance to prisoners.

Texas Defender Service

Free legal assistance for inmates with death penalty cases.

Texas Prisoner Resource Directory (Texas Criminal Justice Coalition)

An annotated list of specific resources that may provide direct assistance to prisoners.

Legal Assistance for Union Members

Union Plus: Lawyers and Legal Services for Union Members (AFL-CIO)

Helps union members find lawyers to answer their personal legal questions. All union members are entitled to free consultation and review for each legal matter.

National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Inc. (NRTW)

Non-profit organization providing free legal aid to thousands of employees nationwide whose human and civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses.

Legal Assistance for Women

Legal Momentum

Founded in 1970 as NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, Legal Momentum has employed cutting edge legal, legislative and educational strategies to secure equality and justice for women. Their work focuses on three broad initiatives: economic justice, freedom from gender-based violence and equality under the law. Legal Momentum takes on a select number of cases each year. If your case does not meet their criteria, they can provide you with a referral to other organizations in your area. Web site also includes publications and a national resource database providing legal information and referrals to local organizations.

Texas Advocacy Project

A statewide nonprofit legal organization that promotes access to justice for Texas women and children in need. Started in 1982 as a legal hotline, the agency has evolved as an expert on legal issues affecting survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, and now provides a range of services that promote the use of legal protections to end violence against women. 

WomensLaw.org

Easy-to-understand legal information for women living with or escaping domestic violence. The site includes state-specific legal information related to domestic violence. It also includes information on getting help in your community. The organization also provides help through email, directly to women and advocates, throughout the U.S.

Center for Gender and Refugee Studies (UC Hastings College of the Law)

Provides legal expertise and resources to attorneys representing women asylum-seekers fleeing gender-related harm.