A importância da assistência jurídica gratuita: um estudo de caso sobre os potenciais e desafios de uma lawtech social nos Núcleos de Prática Jurídica (NPJs)

Abstract

The present work sought to study the challenges and potentials of a social lawtech, by application, aiming to improve the legal assistance free of charge to those who lack sufficient resources, in the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) Legal Practice Centers (NPJs). It is known that tens of millions of Brazilians do not have access to legal services or legal advice, and the Public Defender`s Offices and NPJs are unable to meet all this robust and pressing demand from a large part of the population across the country. The study is justified by the importance and the embryonic stage of the lawtech and legaltech theme, which is still little studied in the country; by the emergence of technological innovations that require the traditional practices and models reformulation to keep up with the fast evolution of society and enterprises and by the current discussion about equal access to justice. For this work preparation, the exploratory qualitative research method was chosen. The research was structured in two parts. The first one consists of a conceptual bibliographic review about the importance of legal assistance free of charge to those who lack sufficient resources, and about aspects of social entrepreneurship and the emergence of digital lawtechs. The second one presents a proposal for the implantation and implementation of a social lawtech enterprise by an application. The data search was carried out by consulting governmental websites and academic papers platforms, in addition to books and specialized magazines. The business plan presented in the second part was prepared with the help of the “Business Model Canvas” tool, followed by the analysis of the lawtech key components. This second moment also included the Assiste Jurídica company marketing analysis, which was accomplished by established tools such as Brainstorming, the SWOT Matrix, and the Marketing Mix or “4 Ps”, that helped to identify the enterprise strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, as well as to define other essential elements for the lawtech success. The tools applied allowed the elaboration of strategies in advance to achieve the proposed objectives and proved the business potential in promoting the legal assistance free of charge in NPJs, since it made it possible to identify the challenges to the proposed lawtech, and, at the same time, it showed that it is possible to overcome challenges and minimize risks. It was noticed that the problem of inequality in the access to justice for those who lack sufficient resources is real, so there is an urgent need to provide legal assistance free of charge through digital technology, by lawtechs, contributing to the exercise of citizenship, mainly with the advent of Covid-19. It was concluded, therefore, that this technological solution, combined with the NPJs services, in the Law Schools, is fundamental to the incessant search for human rights in order to respect isonomy and human dignity, which are constitutional precepts, essential for the formation of peaceful societies foreseen by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations (UN).