The 25 part-time staff attorneys give legal advice, make referrals, and perform some brief services. Those are usually limited to making phone calls on the client's behalf, writing letters, reviewing documents which clients may fax in, and engaging in phone negotiations for the clients. It is difficult to conclude brief services with the part-time staff, so Lisa is usually the one to finish those and close the case. The large corps of hotline attorneys consists mainly of solo practitioners who are seeking to supplement their income while at the same time performing a public service. That process occurs in the following manner.
Clients call a particular legal aid office and are screened for eligibility.
The average number of calls coming in per day is 100 but the hotline presently has the capacity to answer only 45 calls per day. The phone system does not have the capability of reporting how many of the 55 lost calls were repeat callers who were eventually successful in connecting. The system allows waits of up to 30 minutes, but the average wait is about 20 minutes. Callers hear a greeting which prompts them to select whether they are English or Spanish-speaking. Callers with questions about bankruptcy, employment or non-emergency landlord tenants issues are also asked to leave a message so they can be saved for handling by volunteers.