The existence of this site - where non-lawyers regularly help others study law and become more informed about how to work with the law, including "as a first step in informing another person of their possible legal options.... such that a person is more knowledgeable in case they do decide to contact or retain a lawyer" - indicates that yes, at least the main thrust of this question is allowed. People here are "compensated" by upvotes, reputation, and comments, and generally can't require payment in exchange for their time and efforts, nor make their work contingent on any sort of reward.
Trying to be someone's lawyer without a license is not allowed, but being a research assistant of "here are pointers to documents you might want to read" is something even a librarian might do, if the librarian cared enough to learn about what the person was trying to learn.