Tennessee legal‑aid panel outlines low‑to‑high tech strategies to reach rural clients

Andy Cole, pro bono managing attorney at West Tennessee Legal Services, opened a training session where three legal‑aid leaders described how technology is being adapted to serve rural and disaster‑affected Tennesseans.

The panel — Matthew Flood, disaster project managing attorney at West Tennessee Legal Services; Morgan Morissette, HomeSafe coordinating attorney at Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio; and Laura Brown, executive director of Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services — pushed a simple organizing principle: match the tool to the client.

"Low tech is certainly not, foolproof," Flood said, describing handheld scanners and mobile printers that let staff scan documents on site and reduce the need for clients to travel long distances for routine document handling. Flood said clinics often pivot back to paper intake when QR codes or online systems fail for disaster survivors whose phones or reception are unreliable.

Morissette described hybrid and "Pro Se Plus" models that pair volunteers with clients virtually for document preparation followed by an in‑person meeting to sign and finalize papers. "I am not completely averse to AI," Morissette said, but she warned that AI products must be validated by community speakers: in a demonstration, an AI‑generated Somali translation produced subtitling and spoken output that her Somali‑speaking paralegal found unintelligible.

Brown outlined higher‑tech statewide options TALS runs or supports: a technology "wagon" that brings laptops and wireless printers to partner clinics; automated forms on the Gavel platform for wills, powers of attorney and an Administrative Office of the Courts order‑of‑protection packet; statewide chatbots that offer legal wellness checks and guided pro se forms; and a helpline that Brown said has handled roughly 60,000 calls since its 2013 launch. "We serve all 95 counties," Brown said, describing logistics for clinics, kiosks and a scheduled call model that she said achieves a roughly 95% appointment capture rate.

The panel repeatedly emphasized the human element: volunteers and staff must build trust, accommodate clients' language and technology fluency, and be prepared to travel or adapt workflows when digital options fail. They also said volunteer recruitment benefits from minimizing extra clicks and friction for signups.

On AI and multilingual outreach, Morissette recommended community review before distribution. "The words are all technically words, but it is spoken in a way that no one who actually speaks the language would understand it," she said after playing a short clip that mixed alphabets and produced inaccurate subtitles.

In audience questions, staff asked about using WhatsApp without personal phones and whether Tennessee Free Legal Answers' archive (about 35,000 answered questions) could be used to train attorney‑assist tools. Brown said any AI use should assist an attorney rather than replace lawyer review or provide direct legal advice.

The session closed with an invitation for attendees to continue the conversation; panelists said they would be available after the presentation to answer follow‑up questions and share resources.