Law. Simplified.
Clerq is a self-help tool that helps you navigate the overwhelming processes of the law. From debt recovery to family law, Clerq is regularly updated with new features to assist you from your computer, tablet or mobile phone.
And it’s free.
Designed by lawyers
Clerq has been coded and designed by lawyers who work on the front line at a community legal centre. We see and hear first hand what legal issues are trending and cater an appropriate response to the legal demand with updates regularly provided on the Clerq system.
We’re not out to replace the legal profession with automated legal advice, but rather introduce a tool to supplement the provision of legal advice.
Simple to use questionnaire
Each legal area has it’s own interview style questionnaire that takes the guessing work out of your legal issue, so you can focus on your problem and not get caught up in the complexities of the legal world.
Helping you keep
the peace
We believe that a large number of legal issues can be resolved through clear and informal discussion without the necessity of often burdensome and complex court processes. When used appropriately, Alternative Dispute Resolution can save a lot of time by allowing resolution to occur in weeks or months, compared to court, which can take much longer (and is more complex and stressful).
Clerq has been designed to include alternative dispute resolution options (where possible) to ensure that the legal process can be kept as amicable as possible.
Help when you
need it
Clerq has a built in live chat function. If you are unsure with
what your next steps are, click the live chat button at the top
and we’ll get back to you (dependent on our availability).
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Clerq?
‘Clerq’ is a modern spin on the word ‘Clerk’. Law Clerks are often law students or graduates who provide support to Solicitors, Lawyers and Judges. They conduct research, compile case files, prepare legal documents and write reports. Clerq was designed to provide support to you, taking out the guessing work and mundane tasks of the law.
Who are the developers?
The team behind Clerq is based out of the Northern Community Legal Service Inc in Salisbury, South Australia. Stephen Chenoweth is Clerq’s lead developer and is also a lawyer who has a keen interest in automating the legal system. Daniel Wasiewicz is the Business Development and Innovation team leader of Clerq as well as a lawyer and is also extremely interested in automating how the legal system operates. Lachlan Robert is the Operations and Design Co-ordinator, showcasing a passion for operational processes and leveraging innovative design to enhance efficiency and effectiveness using modern web design practices resulting in an easy to use sleek interface.
Who is Clerq designed for?
Clerq initially started off as an in-house tool for the lawyers at the Northern Community Legal Service community legal centre. While the tool was great for efficiently navigating and cutting down on repetitive legal tasks, our vision at the Northern Community Legal Service is to empower the individual. We provide Clerq access to our clients alongside the provision of legal advice to ensure that a full compliment of legal advice and service is provided.
An individual may access Clerq without the provision of legal advice, however we would strongly recommend that you seek legal advice specific to your legal issue prior to relying on Clerq entirely as each individual legal issue has its own complexities.
How much does Clerq cost?
Working at a community legal centre, the developers are of the mind that legal advice and assistance should be a fundamental right. We have chosen to keep Clerq free in order to provide the assistance that you need.
Does Clerq store my information?
To preserve your privacy, any information you submit to Clerq is kept in a temporary encrypted database. Your device holds a encryption key as a cookie in the event you want to go back and edit your questionnaire. Nobody but you can access this information (including the Clerq developers) as only your device holds the encryption key. After a 3 day period since you used the service, the information you’ve put on Clerq is permanently destroyed. Our servers are hosted in Sydney, Australia with no data being stored outside of Australia.
The only information we retain is purely for statistical purposes to give to our funding providers and for our own purposes for further Clerq development. This information includes what type of questionnaire was used, the date and time the questionnaire was started and whether the questionnaire was completed. An example of the data retained may be viewed here. Server logs such as IP addresses used to access the service may be retained on our server and by our hosting company, however the Clerq developers, nor our hosting company can see what data/information you have submitted on these logs.
If you choose to have your completed documents emailed to you at the completion of a form, be aware this information will pass through third party email servers and the privacy policies of those third party services will apply.
Please take steps to ensure that your device is fully up to date, has a good anti-virus (if applicable), you’ve taken the usual steps taken to ensure your accounts and login details are secure and are not compromised and you have an appropriate firewall installed/configured (if applicable).
At the end of your completed questionnaire, you will have an opportunity to complete a short anonymised survey. This is purely optional and is on an ‘opt in’ basis. The information gathered from these surveys provide further analytics to our funding providers and to the Clerq developers. An example of the survey may be viewed here.
Are there other areas of the law that will be added to Clerq?
We are constantly updating and adding new features to Clerq. If you have a suggestion for an area of the law that you would like to see or any other comments or queries, please don’t hesitate to send us an email at support@clerq.au.
What devices are supported?
Any modern laptop, tablet or mobile phone is supported by Clerq.
Is Clerq available on the Android Play Store or Apple App Store?
No, Clerq is purely a web based application. If you would like quick access on your mobile phone, you can add the Clerq home page to your mobile phone as a shortcut.