AI makes legal services more accessible and compassionate for pro bono domestic violence victims

The need for pro bono services far exceeds capacity but now AI, in a best-of-both-worlds twist, is helping to narrow that gap while strengthening the human experience for clients and attorneys alike, according to the organizers of a recent pro bono event.

Cuban American Bar Association Pro Bono Legal Services collaborated May 8 with Baker McKenzie and Mondelēz International to present a one-day legal clinic that, with the use of AI, helped 25 victims of domestic violence prepare pro se divorce and child-custody court documents. Usually, five to six clients are seen during a clinic, according to Lesley Mendoza, executive director of CABA Pro Bono Legal Services.

The clients – domestic violence victims referred to the non-profit by the Miami-Dade County Coordinated Victims Assistance Center – were the focus of the project, with emphasis on making sure they felt heard, seen, and supported throughout the experience, said Mendoza.

Keeping that objective front and center, AI was applied to streamline and optimize processes, according to Angela Vigil, executive director of Pro Bono Practice at Baker McKenzie. Once a client made contact, a dedicated staffer reviewed the client’s file, contacted the person to make sure he/she had all the necessary documents to participate in the clinic, called the client to verify the appointment, and made sure the person knew where to go.

Vigil said AI was used in two specific ways that markedly enhanced the human experience.

Leading up to the clinic, as the team explored how to help volunteers to prepare, AI was tasked with drafting an outline for best practices in trauma-informed interviewing, which the team refined. Then they directed AI to use the final outline to create a short training video for the volunteers.

The training was a key step because of those being served, “people who have been dealing with violence that causes them to make a decision to end their marriages,” said Vigil. For attorneys whose usual practice area doesn’t normally bring them into contact with victims of violence, it oriented them to the sensitivities of the clinic’s clients, she said.

During the clinic, Baker McKenzie’s closed-circuit AI system recorded and analyzed client interviews, immediately producing the first draft of the petition, “the central part of applying for a divorce for pro se filing” – a process improvement that reduced the client visit by hours, said Vigil.

Using AI this way lessened the need for victims of domestic violence to repeatedly recount painful or traumatizing experiences, she said.

It also freed the volunteer attorneys from Mondelēz International, Baker-McKenzie, CABA Pro Bono Legal Services, and other local firms from splitting their attention between conducting the client interviews and typing answers into forms they typically don’t use, allowing them to focus entirely on the people sitting in front of them, she added.

More than 40 volunteers and staffers contributed to the clinic, which from start to finish lasted from around 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the non-clients, says Sofia Henshaw of CABA Pro Bono Legal Services.

The facility that houses Baker McKenzie’s offices donated parking to participants. This was important because parking in the upscale Brickell area can easily cost $60 – an obstacle for many pro bono clients. Volunteers also helped direct clients to the high-rise offices and Baker McKenzie set aside a supervised area for children. The point was to remove as many obstacles as possible that might discourage clients from seeking help, said Henshaw.

The clinic was organized into three roles with distinct objectives. The first and traditionally the most time-consuming part was capturing client data. The second was reviewing the draft forms line by line with the clients, refining and correcting the data drafted by AI. The third role was CABA Pro Bono Legal Services acting as quality assurance, walking the halls and offering expert guidance to make sure the forms were ready to submit to the court.

CABA Pro Bono Legal Services, Mondelēz International, and Baker McKenzie said they intend to leverage and tweak the AI-optimized workflows that were piloted in the clinic as they build future pro bono events and continue their longstanding collaboration to present future pro bono projects.

Mondelēz’s Eduardo Sampaio da Silveira Gil added that the firms are already discussing a second phase to the project. Another clinic could happen as soon as the end of the year, if schedules align, he said.

Sampaio da Silveira Gil also noted that pro bono work is not as common in Latin American countries as it is in the U.S., particularly with law school students. Mondelēz International, a U.S.-based firm, is working on building that culture of pro bono “specifically in Latin America,” he said.

“Because the pilot was so successful, all we can think about is all the different ways that we can apply the technology in other areas of access-to-justice and pro bono work and public interest work,” said Mendoza.

“Everybody should be experimenting with how to provide legal services to the most vulnerable populations,” said Mendoza, who notes that she has been sharing the results of the AI-enhanced clinic with as many organizations and people as she can. “I've learned since the clinic … that there's not as much experimentation going on as we thought, so we're really happy to talk about it and encourage other organizations.”

For more information, visit CABA Pro Bono Legal Services online at https://cabaprobono.com.

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