Office Of Civil Legal Aid -
Finding Help

I HAVE A CIVIL LEGAL PROBLEM.  WHERE DO I GET HELP?

The Office of Civil Legal Aid is not a provider of civil legal aid services.  Services are provided by non-profit legal aid organizations throughout the state. 

There are different ways of accessing legal help depending on where you live. 

If You Are Low-Income, and Do Not Live in King County

Call CLEAR (toll free) 1-888-201-1014 for legal assistance, advice, information and, if you need more extensive legal services, a referral to a local legal aid provider.  CLEAR operates from 9:15 to 3:15 Monday through Friday, and from 3:30 to 6:15 on Tuesdays.  CLEAR works with a language line to provide interpreters as needed at no cost to callers.

CLEAR is a high volume legal aid service.  Often there are more people trying to reach CLEAR than they have attorneys to help them.  Please be patient and keep trying. You will get through.

If You Are Low-income, and Live in King County

Legal intake and referral is coordinated through the King County 2-1-1 program.  Trained legal information and referral specialists will make direct referrals of your case to the King County-based legal aid provider most appropriate for the type of legal problem that you have.  To reach the King County legal information and referral system, dial 2-1-1 and tell the information and referral specialist that you need help with a civil legal problem.

The 2-1-1 system is available Monday through Friday from 7:30 am – 7:30 pm, and Saturdays from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm.  Service is not available on Sunday, and messages may not be left.  Their toll-free number, which may be useful when calling from a pay phone, is 1-877-211-WASH.  2-1-1 works with a language line to provide interpreters as needed at no cost to callers.  Deaf and hearing-impaired callers can call 711 to be connected to a relay operator at no cost, who will then connect them with 211. 

If You Are A Senior Over 60

Call CLEAR*Sr (toll free) at 1-888-387-7111 (available statewide regardless of income)

Self-Help Information, Court Forms and Brochures

If you are looking for basic information about the law, legal problems and self-help solutions on a variety of topics, go to www.WashingtonLawHelp.org.  At WashingtonLawHelp you can find hundreds of up to date pamphlets and materials on many issues that affect low income people.  These are arranged by category of legal problems: 

Many self-help resources are available in languages other than English, including Arabic, Cambodian, Chinese, Spanish, Hmong, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Laotian, Russian, Somali and Vietnamese.
 

Last edited:

1/28/08

jab
;