HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Some of the world's largest companies are chipping in to help provide free legal help to poor people across Connecticut.

Connecticut-based General Electric, United Technologies and Xerox are among the companies working with legal aid organizations and the state Judicial Branch to form LawyerCorps Connecticut.

The program will pay the salaries and benefits of three young lawyers who are expected to begin working by September with legal aid groups and handle several hundred clients a year in civil and family courts.

Officials say it's the first collaboration of its kind in the country. They say it's needed to help close what they call a ``justice gap'' involving low-income people who can't afford lawyers for important cases involving child custody, eviction, domestic violence and other issues.