Local attorney looks to bring legal education to those who need it most with ‘Justice Reach’ app

According to the American Bar Association, more than half of West Virginia’s 55 counties have been identified as “legal deserts,” meaning that there is fewer than one attorney per 1,000 residents. In an effort to combat this geographic and financial inequality, Charleston-based attorney Olubunmi “Bunmi” Kusimo-Frazier is leveraging her legal knowledge and experience against her love for technology, in the hopes of providing basic legal education to the Mountaineers who need it most. 

“People really don’t understand just the basic fundamentals, let alone, suddenly somebody has removed your child from your home,” Kusimo told BBG on Tuesday. “You’re trying to navigate a system that you don’t understand – your son has been arrested, or you’ve been arrested, or somebody you love has been incarcerated and they’re not getting out, and you can’t understand why.”

In an effort to tackle the knowledge gap head-on, Kusimo developed “Justice Reach,” a web-based application, which offers, “Plain-language answers about West Virginia criminal charges, your rights, and what happens next  – judgement free, any time.” Now in its research beta phase, Justice Reach is currently free to use through Sept. 30, 2026.

“People need the basics,” Kusimo said. “You need to know what bond is if your son is arrested so you can go bond him out. You need to know where to go to get him bonded out.”

“Creating a resource that allows for – not just people in an acute emergency – but the idea is for people to be able to find out information that can be difficult to find out,” Kusimo added. 

Unlike ChapGPT and similar AI (artificial intelligence) programs, Legal Reach will not attempt to provide legal interpretations for the user. Although an AI tool itself, Justice Reach will not provide legal counsel or advice, as this type of artificially generated information is often wrong or incomplete. And though the application is a project of the Kusimo-Frazier Law Firm, it is not, itself, an attorney, and its use does not constitute a confidential attorney-client relationship.

What Justice Reach does is walk the user, step-by-step, through the legal process, and educate the user as to all available options along the way. Justice Reach is accessible 24-hours a day, and provides an affordable alternative for those without the financial resources to retain an attorney. 

But for those still uncomfortable with the use of AI, Kusimo once again highlighted the differences between Legal Reach and ChatGPT, noting that, “The software should stop you if you start asking for legal advice.” 

“(If you ask) ‘Should my son take the plea?,’ it’s going to say, ‘No, you need to talk to a lawyer about that,” Kusimo added. “I’m really worried about people relying on non-legal AI. This program only pulls from engrossed state code, and doesn’t pull from anything that anybody said about the law.”

Prior to founding the Kusimo-Frazier Law Firm, Kusimo served as deputy counsel to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, before eventually taking on the role of director of Magistrate Court Services. In that capacity, Kusimo oversaw West Virginia’s largest court system, and was responsible for some 450 employees. 

Additionally, Kusimo previously served as assistant prosecuting attorney in both Kanawha and Jackson Counties, as well as on  the Criminal Justice Act Panel for the Southern District of West Virginia, where she represented indigent defendants as retained counsel in criminal matters in federal, state, and municipal courts, and in administrative hearings. 

Aside from her vast legal experience, Kusimo is an avid lover of what she describes as “tech stuff,” noting that she built her first fully-functional web site more than 10-years ago. 

“I’ve always been playing with technology as a hobby,” Kusimo explained. “When I started [Kusimo-Frazier Law Firm] two years ago, I knew that I wanted to have a technology arm. There is just a need. People die for lack of knowledge, and people are really struggling because things are very, very complicated. They move very fast, and people aren’t very well educated [on the legal system].”

For more information about Kusimo or the Kusimo-Frazier Law Firm (Kusimo-Frazier Law, PLLC), visit thekflawfirm.com. To learn more about the Justice Reach app, or to join the free research beta, visit justicereach.ai.