This should inspire us all.  As you know, the NY courts have had a brutal budget year.  Yet they have just issued their 2011 Access Report, showing some great new innovations:

• The creation of a trilingual DIY (document assembly) form module using the pop-up feature of A2J.  This is surely very creative and new to the A2J development community.
• The use of Twitter to disseminate information to self-represented litigants.  Not something many court systems are doing yet.
• Creation of a FaceBook page for all court-based volunteer attorney programs.
• Extensive DIY outreach and training is very important.  There is a direct relationship to the success of their A2J programs and the training of court personnel.  Here is the chart showing increase of usage in the NYC Civil Court.

This is only some of the highlights of the report, that I would urge all to read — and indeed share in your states, showing what can be done.  Thanks to CJ Jonathan Lippman, Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Fern Fisher, and Access to Justice Program Chief Counsel Rochelle Klempner

Here is the full Table of Contents:

PARTI: COURT PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES ………………… 5
Volunteer Lawyer for the Day Program-Consumer Debt ………….. 5

Volunteer Lawyers Program -Consumer Debt ………………….. 6

Volunteer Lawyer for the Day Program-Housing ……………….. 7

Volunteer Lawyers Program-Housing ……………………….. 9

Uncontested Divorce Program …………………………….. 11

Volunteer Attorney Program-FamilyCourt …………………… 12

Attorney Emeritus Program ………………………………. 12

Law Student and Law Graduate Volunteer Initiative …………….. 13

Resolution Assistance Program ……………………………. 14

Bridge the Gap Training Initiative…………………………… 15

National Pro Bono Celebration Week………………………… 16

Intra-Program Collaboration ………………………………. 17

Court Help Centers …………………………………….. 18
PART II: TECHNOLOGY, SOCIAL MEDIA AND PUBLICATIONS . . . . . 21
DIY Form Usage ……………………………………….. 21

DIY Form Development ………………………………….. 27

DIY Form Training and Outreach …………………………… 33

Advocate Document Assembly Programs …………………….. 37

Electronic Filing ……………………………………….. 38

Expansion of  NYS Courts Access to Justice Program Website …….. 39

CourtHelp ……………………………………………. 40

Facebook ……………………………………………. 41

YouTube …………………………………………….. 42

Twitter………………………………………………. 42

Publications ………………………………………….. 43
PART III: ADDRESSING THE ACCESS TO JUSTICE NEEDSOFADIVERSEPOPULATION …………………… 45
Guardian Ad Litem Program ……………………………….45

Assigned Counsel Project………………………………… 47

Integrated Part ………………………………………… 48

The Poverty Simulation ………………………………….. 49
PART IV: COMMUNITY OUTREACH …………………………. 53
Community Seminar Series ………………………………. 53

Public Librarians’ Program ……………………………….. 54

Community Law Day ……………………………………. 55

Court Tours and Visits ………………………………….. 56

Community Leaders Roundtable …………………………… 56

Mobile Legal Help Center ………………………………… 57

Speakers Bureau ………………………………………. 58

Community Events……………………………………… 58