This month the LIT Lab launched a new version of Court Forms Online, a free website for finding and completing forms via online guided interviews and, in some cases, e-filing completed forms directly with the court.
The new Court Forms Online website includes:
- Forms from the Massachusetts courts and Greater Boston Legal Services’s Massachusetts Defense for Eviction (MADE), with more forms from more jurisdictions coming soon
- A speedy, streamlined user interface built with accessibility as a priority, including a font designed for low-vision readers
- Responsive, phone-friendly design (just like the interviews)
- Spot, an AI-powered issue spotter that helps people find the right kind of form for their legal problem
- Expanded information about each form, including who can use the interview, what will be required to complete the interview, and links to original forms and additional help pages
- Improved search-engine optimization (SEO) fundamentals so interviews are easier to find with common search engines
Court Forms Online is part of the Document Assembly Line project, and it is officially approved by the Massachusetts Appeals Court. The original version of Court Forms Online was hastily built during the COVID-19 pandemic emergency. It got the job done, but we saw lots of opportunities for improvement.
The new Court Forms Online is built with modern web technologies like Next.js, Bootstrap, and continuous deployment with GitHub Actions that make it easy to update and expand. And we’re not done with it! Some of the updates on our roadmap include:
- Adding forms from Document Assembly Line partners like Illinois Legal Aid Online (ILAO), Michigan Legal Help, and others as they come online
- Supporting translations
- Many big and small improvements focused on improving the user experience
The new Court Forms Online was built by Kind Systems and the LIT Lab, with funding from the Hewlett Foundation.