Consumer Law

Minnlawpedia, a user-generated repository of Minnesota law and procedure for the non-lawyer

By Sam Glover

The legal system and Web 2.0 still seem largely unaware of one another, although that is starting to change as lawyers and consumers make inreasing use of sites like Avvo, Facebook, Wikipediaand mypractice to find lawyers, to network, and to get information about the law.

With that in mind, I created Minnlawpedia, a wiki where lawyers and non-lawyers can build a reference database for users of Minnesota courts. In particular, I want to create a place where legal consumers can get a “translation” of the impenetrable thicket of laws and procedures.

For example, what is an answer? Many people have no idea that an answer must be in writing, that it must be served on the opposing lawyer, and that one is due even if the lawsuit has not been filed with the court.

But as you can see, I need help building Minnlawpedia. It is far too large an undertaking for one person to handle.

Anyone can register, edit articles and create new articles. As an incentive to contribute, I will add a “featured link” to a website of your choice if you meaningfully contribute to 10% of the articles on Minnlawpedia. Right now, the site is very small, so a meaningful contribution to only one article will earn a featured link. Obviously, it will be harder to earn a featured link as the wiki grows.

Full post as published by Caveat Emptor on February 20, 2008 (boomark / email).