Lexara and the Nebraska State Bar Association's Volunteer Lawyers Project Build AI Intake and Referral Tool to Help Bridge the Civil Legal Justice Gap

WAUKEE, Iowa, Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Lexara today announced Lexara Access™, an AI-powered intake and referral tool built in collaboration with the Nebraska State Bar Association's Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP). Developed in close connection with VLP Director Shannon Seim and her staff, the tool is designed for volunteer lawyer, modest-means, and legal aid programs, where a small staff fields far more requests for help than it can place with resources.

The project started with Nebraska State Bar Association Executive Director, Liz Neeley. Seeing a demonstration of Lexara Engage, the company's intake and conflicts-checking platform for law firms, she recognized how it could be adapted to help civil legal service providers in Nebraska use artificial intelligence to make better referrals to self-represented litigants. The American Bar Endowment and the Lozier Foundation provided grants to VLP that allowed their team to work with Lexara to help build Lexara Access.

The need is large. According to the Legal Services Corporation's 2022 Justice Gap report, low-income Americans did not receive any or enough legal help for 92% of their civil legal problems, and more than half (53%) doubt they could find a lawyer they could afford. For programs that serve them, intake is often the bottleneck: staff time spent screening eligibility and gathering facts is time not spent connecting people with help. Seim estimates the tool saves VLP staff about 40 minutes per intake.

HOW THE TOOL WORKS

Applicants complete a modifiable structured intake that screens for program eligibility, including income and asset guidelines. An AI interviewer then asks follow-up questions based on each applicant's answers. It gives no legal advice. Program staff receive an organized summary of the facts, a timestamped transcript, and a proposed email to send to the applicant with resources. They can also route the intake to a volunteer attorney or refer the applicant to another provider in one click.

The Programs control the tool themselves. Staff can change intake questions and update the resources available to applicants without waiting on a software engineer, so the tool keeps pace as eligibility rules, volunteer availability, and community resources change. The Programdecides which resources are most appropriate and beneficial for each person seeking help; the AI's job is to gather the facts that decision depends on.

The Nebraska State Bar Association featured the tool in a statewide CLE program on AI-assisted client intake provided to other Civil Legal Service organization team members and the Nebraska Supreme Court's Access to Justice Commission

"Lexara Access is helping save hours of our staff time each week, helping legal nonprofits work together better, and connecting individuals with resources for their civil legal issues," said Shannon Seim.

"Volunteer lawyer programs run on scarce staff time, and too much of it goes to intake," said Amy Swaner, founder and Chief AI Officer of Lexara. "Shannon and her team showed us what that work actually involves, and we built the tool around it. I went to law school as a singlemom, and I know what it is like to need help you can't afford. This is some of the most important work Lexara does."

AVAILABILITY

Lexara offers the tool at no cost to approved volunteer lawyer programs and legal aid organizations through its Access to Justice Initiative. Programs can apply here or on Lexara's website. For law firms, Lexara Engage provides AI-powered client intake and conflicts checking, with a free 30-day trial at lexara.app

ABOUT LEXARA

Lexara (Lexara Consulting LLC) is an Iowa company that builds AI tools for law practice and advises law firms on AI governance, data governance, AI evaluation, and training. Founder Amy Swaner is an attorney licensed in Iowa and Arizona with over 20 years of legal experience and a Certified AI Governance Professional (AIGP) credential.

Media Contact

Natalie Maughan, Lexara Consulting, LLC, 1 5158507226, natalie@lexara.com, lexara.com

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SOURCE Lexara Consulting, LLC