Author Archives: richardzorza

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About richardzorza

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

Wallace Jefferson to Retire As Texas Chief

Posted on September 3, 2013 by richardzorza

As reported by the Dallas News – Business, Texas Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson plans to retire effective October 1. As the website puts it: But . . . legal insiders say Jefferson’s resignation is a significant blow to those who … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally | 1 Comment

NCSC Issues Call To Action on Language Access

Posted on September 3, 2013 by richardzorza

Following its Language Access Summit last year, NCSC has issued its Call to Action on the issue. The Action Steps identified are: Step 1: Identifying the Need for Language Assistance Step 2: Establishing and Maintaining Oversight Step 3: Implementing Monitoring … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally | 1 Comment

Roger Smith Analysis of Best Access Websites

Posted on August 26, 2013 by richardzorza

Roger Smith, a UK academic, presented at the recent ILAG on his review of websites as a potential alternative to human advice.  Here are his fascinating conclusions as to what is most important: Design is important.Too many websites are little … Continue reading →

Posted in Self-Help Services, Technology | 1 Comment

President’s Coming Out for Two Year Law School Underlines Need for New Access Head at DOJ

Posted on August 25, 2013 by richardzorza

It is great to see the President coming out in favor of cutting law school to two years. On Friday, he questioned the utility of a third year of classes and suggested that students use their final two semesters to … Continue reading →

Posted in Law Schools, Self-Help Services, Systematic Change | Comments Off on President’s Coming Out for Two Year Law School Underlines Need for New Access Head at DOJ

Guest Blog on Australian Tribunal that Use Administrative Agency Approach In Many Traditionally Judicial Areas

Posted on August 23, 2013 by richardzorza

After meeting Julie Grainger, a member of the Victorian (Australia) Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT), I asked her to describe for this blog how the Tribunal works.  Its uses more of an administrative agency type approach in many substantive areas … Continue reading →

Posted in Administative Proecdure, Simplification, Systematic Change | Tagged , | Comments Off on Guest Blog on Australian Tribunal that Use Administrative Agency Approach In Many Traditionally Judicial Areas

Illinois Access to Justice Bill Has Several Interesting Aspects

Posted on August 21, 2013 by richardzorza

The recently passed and signed Illinois Access to Justice Act has received attention mainly as the second civil Gideon pilot, but this is only one of the things the bill does that are worth paying attention to. The Bill does … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Counsel, Pro Bono, Research and Evalation | 1 Comment

Census issues Language Mapper

Posted on August 21, 2013 by richardzorza

That’s right, a tool that lets you plot languages by area. Here is the national Spanish language graph (with each dot representing about 100 people.) The overall message of course, is how fast Spanish and LEP folks are spreading throughout … Continue reading →

Posted in LEP | Comments Off on Census issues Language Mapper

First Modules Of Updated Judicial Curriculum Launched and Posted

Posted on August 14, 2013 by richardzorza

Yesterday at the meeting of the National Association of State Judicial Educators, we launched the first new modules of the updated Judicial Curriculum on Self-Represented Litigation.   These have been developed by the the NCSC Center on Court Access for All, … Continue reading →

Posted in Judicial Ethics | Comments Off on First Modules Of Updated Judicial Curriculum Launched and Posted

Law Student Pro Bono, The ABA, CCJ Resolution and the Moral Crisis of the Profession

Posted on August 7, 2013 by richardzorza

This is an important week for the issue of mandatory law student pro bono, and also for the moral status of the bar. As David Udell and Deborah Rhode explain in a National Law Journal article, The ABA body responsible … Continue reading →

Posted in Law Schools, Legal Ethics, Non-Lawyer Practice | 3 Comments

Another Mobile App to Get us Thinking About Potential

Posted on August 5, 2013 by richardzorza

The University of California at Irvine Center of Excellence on Elder Abuse and neglect has released an app that might get us thinking. As described: Based on input from multidisciplinary community partners, we’ve created these useful features for this mobile … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Assembly, Domestic Violence, Mobile Technology, Technology | Comments Off on Another Mobile App to Get us Thinking About Potential

Tools for SRL Courtroom Observation Project

Posted on August 4, 2013 by richardzorza

I am delighted to be able to post the excellent instruments used in the Brooklyn Family Court SRL observational study, which is part of the Justice Index Project of the National Center for Access to Justice. As you may know, … Continue reading →

Posted in Research and Evalation, Self-Help Services | 1 Comment

Follow-Up Guest Blog on Bronx Family Court Self-Help Center

Posted on August 1, 2013 by richardzorza

Bronx Family Court Help Center By Bronx County Family Court Clerk of Court Mike Williams As Richard blogged yesterday, the Bronx County Family opened its new Help Center Complex this week.  Our initial goal was to relocate an extremely busy … Continue reading →

Posted in Court Management, Self-Help Services | Comments Off on Follow-Up Guest Blog on Bronx Family Court Self-Help Center

Bronx Family Court Self-Help Center Pushes the Envelope

Posted on July 31, 2013 by richardzorza

The Bronx County Family Court Help Center has been re-opened with a state-of-the-art integration of services. The Help Center is conveniently located on the first floor of the courthouse, so unrepresented litigants can’t miss it and need not wait for … Continue reading →

Posted in Self-Help Services | 4 Comments

September Court Technology Conference to Feauture Self-Represented Track

Posted on July 30, 2013 by richardzorza

The 2013 Court Technology Conference, to be held in Baltimore September 17-19, will feature a full track on the use of technology to assist in court access for the self-represented. Session titles and descriptions are: What do Litigants Expect? Two … Continue reading →

Posted in Court Management, Meetings, Self-Help Services, Technology | 2 Comments

Startup Health Insurer Model for Legal Insurance

Posted on July 29, 2013 by richardzorza

I blogged recently about how research into randomized medicaid expansion might be making a case for broader use of the legal insurance concept.  How this interesting article in the Washington Post suggests how it might be done.  The article focuses on … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal Insurance, Medical System Comparision | Comments Off on Startup Health Insurer Model for Legal Insurance