Clear legal information for people in debt and those who support them: Utcajogász’s debt management handbook on a searchable, mobile-friendly website.
Challenge
Utcajogász has provided free legal assistance since 2010 to people who would otherwise have no access to it. At their street legal advice sessions, they find that people in debt rarely get into trouble because they have no options. More often, they simply do not know what those options are: they do not understand the procedures, miss a deadline or are unaware of the legal remedies available to them. Debt collection companies, meanwhile, have well-equipped legal teams.
The association’s authors therefore wrote a handbook, primarily for social workers who support people struggling with debt every day. Alongside the printed and PDF editions, they needed a web version that could be used anywhere, including on mobile devices, and would make dense legal content easy to follow.
Solution
We received the material from the authors and expert reviewers and built the website pro bono using AI tools. The authors and reviewers are responsible for the content; our role was to make it well structured and readable.
The website has three parts: six chapters covering the legal foundations, from limitation periods to enforcement, with the debtor’s options at each stage; 11 case studies drawn from legal advice sessions; and 10 document templates to complete, with information on deadlines, costs and required attachments. At its centre is a diagram called “The journey of a debt”, which highlights two critical thresholds: the start of legal proceedings and the start of enforcement. The central message is to stop the process before it reaches enforcement.
The full handbook and the diagram, designed to be cut out, are also available as PDFs, so they can be printed for use at legal advice sessions or family support centres. The content reflects the legislation in force on 1 August 2026.
Result
The organisation’s specialist knowledge is now freely available in a searchable format, without costly development. A social worker sitting beside a client, or someone searching in the evening for what to do about an order for payment, can immediately find the answer and the relevant document template. Nóra L. Ritók, who wrote the afterword, describes the publication behind the website as “a bridge between the legal and social sectors”.
We had already redesigned Utcajogász’s main website pro bono in 2022. Tartozz okosan! continues that collaboration by making practical knowledge accessible.
Street Lawyer Association
