Legal Assist
Free legal help for churches and ministries
Legal Assist is a service that lets you ask a ministry legal question or send a document for a free review and hear back personally from Brotherhood Mutual's in-house attorneys. Open to all ministries at no cost.
What they review
The documents the Legal Assist team looks at
Bylaws
Your bylaws define how your ministry is governed. Upload your document to get a quick review, identify outdated provisions, and find answers to common ministry questions.
Upload for review
Employee handbooks
Your employee handbook outlines expectations for pay, time off, conduct, and employment practices. Legal Assist can help you review your church employee handbook, flag policies that have fallen behind current employment practice, and talk through the staffing questions that come up in ministry.
Upload for review
Child abuse prevention plans
Your screening, supervision, and reporting procedures for anyone who works with children. Having it reviewed is part of good stewardship, and part of protecting the children in your care.
Upload for review
Security plans
Your security plan documents how your ministry prepares for emergencies and security incidents. Legal Assist can help you understand the document and highlight areas that may need further review.
Upload for review
Ministry contracts
Facility use agreements, vendor and contractor terms, leases. Send one before you sign and Legal Assist can help you understand key terms and explain what your ministry may be agreeing to.
Upload for review
Other ministry documents
Any other policy, agreement, or form your ministry has adopted, inherited, or is about to sign. If it decides how something at your ministry gets handled and you are unsure, send it in for review.
Upload for review
Start from a sample
What if we do not have the document yet?
A common path is to start from one of the free samples below, adapt it to your ministry, then upload your version for review.
How it works
You upload. We handle the rest.
- Step one
You upload it
Answer a few questions and add your file, with your name and email.
- Step two
We send it in
We submit it to the Legal Assist attorneys through our Brotherhood Mutual partner channel.
- Step three
They reply to you
The Legal Assist attorneys come back to you directly with their feedback.
What to expect
What a free review is, and what it is not
A great first step for
- Common questions ministries run into
- Checking whether something is badly out of date
- Understanding what a document does and does not cover
- A first look at a document's overall structure
You will want a local attorney for
- Anything where you need advice written for your ministry, not ministries in general
- A decision you are about to make and cannot undo
- An active dispute, claim, or investigation
- Anything that turns on California specifics
Ask Legal Assist
Start your request. Get a personal response.
Answer a few questions and a legal professional reviews your submission and replies to you directly.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
Is the review really free?
Yes. Legal Assist is a complimentary service Brotherhood Mutual offers to ministries, and there is no charge from ChurchWest for submitting on your behalf. There are no attorney fees attached to a document review.
Do we have to be a ChurchWest client?
No. Brotherhood Mutual offers Legal Assist to ministries generally, and we are glad to submit for you either way.
Is this legal advice?
No, and this matters. Legal Assist provides general legal information to help you understand your documents. It does not create an attorney/client relationship, it is not tailored to your state, and it is not a substitute for advice from a licensed attorney in your area.
How many questions can we ask?
There is no limit. Ministries come back to Legal Assist as often as something comes up, and each question is handled on its own.
Still not answered?
Brotherhood Mutual's Legal Assist library holds hundreds more FAQs, articles, sample documents, and case reviews written for ministries, filterable by topic and by ministry type.
Browse Legal Assist FAQs and articlesImportant information
Brotherhood Mutual provides Legal Assist as a complimentary resource. It offers general legal information, not legal advice, and no attorney/client relationship is established through it. It is not a substitute for advice from a licensed attorney in your area, and we recommend regular consultation with a local attorney as part of your risk management program. ChurchWest is an insurance agency and does not provide legal services. When a question outgrows a free review, we will say so.
Legal Assist is a service mark of Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company. Read more at brotherhoodmutual.com.