Individuals can come with their general legal questions and meet with a lawyer for a 10-minute consultation, free of charge. The "Ask-A-Lawyer" consultations are available on a "first come" basis and no reservations are accepted.

Court personnel will also be on hand to answer questions about how individuals can access court services. Paralegal volunteers will provide information on legal resources in the community and general information about legal procedures. Other printed information on legal concerns and legal resources will be handed out during the week.

The Hennepin County Bar Association (HCBA) and the Minnesota Paralegal Association sponsor "Ask-A-Lawyer" each year in celebration of Law Day (May 1), an annual observance, established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958 as a means of strengthening the American heritage of liberty, justice, and equality under the law. Bar associations and other civic groups make Law Day, and the week in which it falls, a focus for their community service and legal education programs.

Throughout the year the public can also access free legal information through the HCBA’s TEL-LAW service—a phone-bank of 70 recorded messages that provide answers to frequently asked legal questions. TEL-LAW is available without charge, 24 hours a day, locally at (612) 752-6699.

The Hennepin County Bar Association, the largest of Minnesota's 21 county bar associations and representing almost half of Minnesota's attorneys, is a private, non-profit organization which provides or supports many free or low-cost services to the public including: Volunteer Lawyers Network which provides free legal advice for low income people; TEL-LAW, a legal information message system available at no charge in local calling areas; Lawyer Referral and Information Services; public education programming; and financial grants through the Bar Foundation.

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