The latest articles on DEV Community by Cong Ho (@lawasked). https://dev.to/lawasked https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4234616%2Fc015d891-a963-4786-8b2e-4511b149ac4d.png https://dev.to/lawasked en Cong Ho Wed, 11 Nov 2026 02:16:16 +0000 https://dev.to/lawasked/i-built-a-site-that-answers-everyday-legal-questions-with-the-actual-law-heres-why-47ob https://dev.to/lawasked/i-built-a-site-that-answers-everyday-legal-questions-with-the-actual-law-heres-why-47ob <p>Hi, I'm Cong Ho, an independent developer from Vietnam. I build web and mobile products with Next.js, React Native, and Cloudflare Workers. My latest project is <a href="https://lawasked.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">LawAsked</a>, and I wanted to tell the DEV community why I built it.</p> <h2> The problem: everyday legal questions, no straight answers </h2> <p>Most people don't think about the law until something goes wrong. A landlord won't return a deposit. A debt collector calls and sounds threatening. A boss changes your hours without asking. So you google it:</p> <blockquote> <p>"Can my landlord keep my deposit?"<br> "Can a debt collector threaten me with jail?"</p> </blockquote> <p>And what do you get? Ten contradictory answers, forum threads from years ago, and law firm pages that end with "call us for a consultation." The information is out there, but it's scattered, written for lawyers, and often impossible to connect to your actual situation — especially when you live in a different country from the person who wrote the answer.</p> <h2> What I built </h2> <p><a href="https://lawasked.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">LawAsked</a> is a free legal information site. It answers everyday legal questions in plain English, country by country. It currently covers 12 countries: the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Norway, and Japan. You can <a href="https://lawasked.com/countries" rel="noopener noreferrer">browse the answers by country</a>, or start with the <a href="https://lawasked.com/us/" rel="noopener noreferrer">US section</a> — and each answer cites the official law it's based on.</p> <p>The topics are the ones that actually come up in real life: employment, tenancy, consumer rights and debt, immigration, small claims, and family law.</p> <h2> Why cite the actual law? </h2> <p>Because "someone on the internet said so" isn't good enough when the question affects your home, your job, or your money. Every answer on LawAsked points to the official statute or regulation behind it, so you can check the source yourself and see exactly where the answer comes from. Plain English up front, the real law underneath — that was the idea from the start.</p> <h2> What LawAsked is not </h2> <p>This part matters, so let me be clear: LawAsked is general information, not legal advice. I'm not a lawyer, and LawAsked is not a law firm. The site can help you understand your situation and ask a professional better questions — but if your situation is high-stakes, please talk to a qualified lawyer in your country.</p> <h2> Why I'm sharing this here </h2> <p>I built LawAsked because I kept seeing the same gap: the law is public, but it doesn't feel public. I'd love to hear what other developers think — about the idea, about making legal information genuinely usable, and about what you'd want a site like this to cover. If you've built something in this space, or you've ever had a legal question you couldn't get a straight answer to, I'd really like to hear about it in the comments.</p> webdev showdev startup