MANY involved in disputes don’t trust the government agencies set up to handle grievances, and they cannot afford private legal advice.

Where to turn? In the Nanjing Road W. neighborhood of Shanghai’s downtown Jing’an District, help is just around the corner and it doesn’t cost anything.

The Fumin Legal Service Center, set up in 2013, is a nonprofit organization providing free legal and mediation services in Jing’an. No person is too lowly, no problem too trivial to warrant help.