Our mission
In any given year, roughly three out of every four people in American civil courts have no lawyer. They face landlords with attorneys on retainer. They face collection agencies that file thousands of cases a month. They face judges and procedures designed for people who already understand both. Most lose — not because they don't have a case, but because they don't know how to write an answer, what a motion is, or that the deadline to respond is ticking.
Forms exist. Self-help desks exist. Legal aid exists. But the pieces are scattered across fifty state judicial websites, a dozen nonprofits, and a patchwork of PDFs that assume you already know the language. Our contribution is modest: put the pieces together, write documents that are clean and properly formatted, and tell people exactly what to do with them.
We believe three things. That self-representation is a right, not a consolation prize. That technology should lower the barrier to justice, not raise it. And that the best tool is the one that works at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday when the response is due Friday and there's no one left to call.
How the system works
You pick your state. You pick what kind of document you need. You tell us what happened — typing, dictating, or attaching the papers you were served. We take your state's answer deadlines, filing rules, and court structure and produce a document formatted to local conventions: proper caption, numbered paragraphs, signature block, certificate of service. Then we walk you through filing it: where to go, what to bring, what to expect, and what comes next.
Everything runs in your browser. We don't have a server that stores your answers. We don't have an account system. We don't have analytics tracking what you type. When you close the tab, your case goes with you.
Privacy
Your situation is nobody's business but yours. That's a value, but it's also an architectural choice. This site is pure HTML and JavaScript. Every word you type, every file you upload, every document we generate for you — all of it stays on your device. Nothing is transmitted anywhere. Nothing is saved anywhere except in your browser while you're using it.
We don't use third-party analytics. We don't use advertising cookies. We don't fingerprint your browser. We don't share, sell, or log the contents of your case. If the tab is closed, the session is gone.
The only outside connection the page makes is to a font service (Google Fonts) to render the typefaces, and to whatever court or legal-aid websites you choose to click through to. If you're in a particularly sensitive situation — for example, stalking or domestic violence — consider using a private browsing window on a device your abuser doesn't have access to.
Legal disclaimer
Let's Help People is not a law firm. Using this site does not create an attorney–client relationship. Nothing we provide is legal advice. Our documents are drafted from public court rules and common self-help templates. They are a starting point, not a substitute for a lawyer's judgment about your specific facts.
If your case is complex, high-stakes, or involves any of the following, you should talk to a lawyer before filing anything: criminal charges, contested child custody, serious personal injury, business disputes over significant amounts, immigration matters, or anything involving the federal government. For these, see the free legal aid directory — many people qualify for help and don't realize it.
Filing deadlines are unforgiving. Procedural rules vary by county, not just by state. Judges have discretion. What we produce is a properly formatted document based on the general rules; it is your responsibility to confirm local requirements before you file. When in doubt, call the court clerk — they can't give legal advice, but they can tell you whether a form is accepted, what the filing fee is, and when it's due.
Where we're useful — and where we aren't
The tool is a good fit for routine civil matters: answering a debt collection lawsuit, responding to an eviction, filing for an uncontested divorce, asking for a restraining order, making a small-claims claim, requesting a fee waiver, filing a simple motion, or sending a cease-and-desist letter. These are the cases where a clean, on-time, well-formatted document does most of the work.
It is not a good fit for criminal defense, for contested high-conflict custody, for complex contract disputes, for anything already on appeal past the initial notice, or for any matter where the opposing party is represented by skilled counsel and the stakes are large. For those, get help — and get it early.
Contact & contributing
This is a volunteer-built project, released free as a public service. If you're a lawyer, paralegal, law student, or civic technologist who wants to contribute — by improving a template, flagging a bug, or adding state-specific rules — we'd be glad to hear from you. If you're a user who found an error in a document or a broken link, please tell us so we can fix it for the next person.
Reach us at hello@letshelppeople.org. Feedback is read by a human. Bug reports are prioritized. Requests for new document types are welcome — tell us what you needed and what you couldn't find.
With thanks
This project stands on the work of legal aid organizations, court self-help centers, law school clinics, and the growing access-to-justice movement inside the American legal profession. It is inspired by projects like Upsolve (bankruptcy), JustFix (housing), and the Legal Services Corporation's portals — all of which have proven that good software, thoughtfully applied, can open courthouse doors that have been functionally closed for far too long.