Author Archives: richardzorza

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About richardzorza

I am deeply involved in access to justice and the patient voice movement.

A Fascinating Opinion by Judge Jack Weinstein (EDNY) Raises New Questions and Opportunities About the Relationship between Civil Gideon and Judicial Engagement

Posted on January 31, 2015 by richardzorza

Senior Judge Jack Weinstein of the Eastern District of NY recently recused himself sua sponte after engaging in a colloquy with a self-represented litigant about evidnce relating to the possibility that his claim in an employment discrimination complaint was time-bared. … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Counsel, Access to Justice Generally, Judicial Ethics, Triage | Comments Off on A Fascinating Opinion by Judge Jack Weinstein (EDNY) Raises New Questions and Opportunities About the Relationship between Civil Gideon and Judicial Engagement

Sue Talia and Practicing Law Institute Partner for Free Jan 30 Program on Unbundling –It Will be Available Online Then and Afterwards

Posted on January 22, 2015 by richardzorza

On Jan 30, 9 AM Pacific, Sue Talia will be presenting a three hour online program through PLI on unbundling. The  program is free, and will also be available online afterwards. Here is the link to the information.  You can … Continue reading →

Posted in Unbundling | 1 Comment

Guest Post From Elizabeth Arledge: #LegalAid Voices “Storm” the Twitterverse

Posted on January 20, 2015 by richardzorza

Elizabeth writes as follows: Well, THAT was fun. Something amazing happened last week on the way to tonight’s State of the Union address. When Voices for Civil Justice invited members of our JusticeVoices network to participate in a “Twitter storm” … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Communications Strategy, Funding, White House | Comments Off on Guest Post From Elizabeth Arledge: #LegalAid Voices “Storm” the Twitterverse

The Power of the Pen and Phone — Exploring Opportunities for Access to Justice in the Next Two Years

Posted on January 16, 2015 by richardzorza

Recent executive actions in immigration, and now asset forfeiture underline just how great is the President’s “power of the pen and phone.” — his ability by regulation or other executive action to make very significant changes in the way government … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Administative Proecdure, Budget Issues, Dept. of Justice, Document Assembly, E-filing, Funding, Law Schools, Non-Lawyer Practice, Veterans, White House | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Power of the Pen and Phone — Exploring Opportunities for Access to Justice in the Next Two Years

The Expanding Role of ATJ Commissions — Florida and California

Posted on January 13, 2015 by richardzorza

As we build out state level access to justice leadership that does beyond information sharing to project leadership and the building of an integrated system, it is great to see two new state level initiatives that are building the needed … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Boards, Communications Strategy, Incubators | 1 Comment

Analysis of Proposed Regs on HHS IV-D Child Support Money — Comments Due Jan 16 — Opportunity to Help Finance Self-Help Infrastructure

Posted on January 7, 2015 by richardzorza

I have long been urging states to take advantage of the IV-D program, which through uncapped matching, triples state investment in child support activities, to help finance self-help services.  Several states such as California do so, and California has used … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Child Support, Court Management, Funding, Self-Help Services | Comments Off on Analysis of Proposed Regs on HHS IV-D Child Support Money — Comments Due Jan 16 — Opportunity to Help Finance Self-Help Infrastructure

Updated Post with Recent Stats: Will NYC Cops Prove that Most Arrests — and Indeed Most Cops — are unnecessary? Taking Advantage of a Natural Experiment

Posted on December 31, 2014 by richardzorza

More careful reading of the NYT leads me to update the post of a few minutes ago to include recent bolded police stats that would appear to support the contrarian hypothesis below. The news that arrests in NYC have fallen … Continue reading →

Posted in Criminal Law, Policing | 1 Comment

Will NYC Cops Prove that Most Arrests — and Indeed Most Cops — are unnecessary? Taking Advantage of a Natural Experiment

Posted on December 31, 2014 by richardzorza

An updated version of this post is here.  

Posted in Criminal Law, Policing | Comments Off on Will NYC Cops Prove that Most Arrests — and Indeed Most Cops — are unnecessary? Taking Advantage of a Natural Experiment

Wayne Moore’s Comments to the ABA on the Future of Legal Services for Moderate Income People

Posted on December 29, 2014 by richardzorza

As you know, the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Services recently requested comments to use in its work.  While there are many worthwhile comments posted, I thought it useful to share this one in both longer (attached-linked) and shorter … Continue reading →

Posted in Middle Income, Systematic Change, Technology, Unbundling | 2 Comments

Important Step Forward and Model Approach for ATJ Commission with Best Practices In Administrative Area Issued Jointly with the Governor

Posted on December 28, 2014 by richardzorza

The Massachusetts ATJ Commission has scored another important first with the issuance together with the Governor of Best Practices for State Agencies to Enhance State Administrative Justice. The full text is reproduced below: Recognizing that administrative justice is a vital … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Boards, Administative Proecdure | Comments Off on Important Step Forward and Model Approach for ATJ Commission with Best Practices In Administrative Area Issued Jointly with the Governor

Press Clips Section of Voices Website Helps Create Momentum About Communications and More

Posted on December 21, 2014 by richardzorza

The Voices for Civil Justice website now includes a “Press Clips” section. This tool lets you see all the significant press coverage about legal aid (broadly defined).  It also lets you filter and sort based on a number of criteria … Continue reading →

Posted in Communications Strategy | Comments Off on Press Clips Section of Voices Website Helps Create Momentum About Communications and More

Sony Could Make “The Interview” Available For Free and Turn Its Story From a Disaster Into a Triumph for Freedom of Expresion and Access

Posted on December 20, 2014 by richardzorza

Supposing Sony, instead of giving in to intimidation and exercising self-censorship, announced it would now make the film available for free to any streaming or distribution system that would make it available to the public without any cost (perhaps acknowledging … Continue reading →

Posted in Freedom of Expression | 2 Comments

Illinois LegalAidOnline Shows Gives Wonderful Example of Online Fundraising

Posted on December 18, 2014 by richardzorza

Like all of us, I get many online fundraising pitches.  And I get occasional requests to use this blog for fundraising.  I almost never do.  But this graphic, from Illinois LegalAidOnline is so wonderful as a model that I can … Continue reading →

Posted in Funding, Self-Help Services, Technology | 1 Comment

A Fabulous Job Opportunity at Voices for Civil Justice

Posted on December 16, 2014 by richardzorza

As most folks know, Voices for Civil Justice has been remaking the way we think about civil legal aid and access to justice.  While on one level it has merely been seeking the best way to talk to policy makers, … Continue reading →

Posted in Communications Strategy, Systematic Change | Comments Off on A Fabulous Job Opportunity at Voices for Civil Justice

A Fascinating Access to Justice Day in Pre-Op for Cataract Surgery

Posted on December 15, 2014 by richardzorza

Recently, I went through the pre-operative procedure for very minor surgery (cataract removal) at Johns Hopkins.  Two fascinating things happened. First,, the person told me to expect on the day of the procedure that the nurse would ask me just … Continue reading →

Posted in Court Management, Judicial Ethics, Medical System Comparision | 2 Comments