Author Archives: richardzorza

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About richardzorza

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

Elder Courts — The Next Frontier? Calfornia Model Wins Award

Posted on June 7, 2011 by richardzorza

Elder courts are surely a wave of the future –if only because of the demographics, and the need to focus social service and support resources in the courthouse when senior cases are to be there.  It can not hurt that … Continue reading →

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Americans with Disabilities Act, Internet Tools, and the DOJ Regulatory Process

Posted on June 6, 2011 by richardzorza

There may not have been enough attention to recent language in explanation of ADA regulations updated by DOJ and effective, after prior notice, last March 15, relating to nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in State and local government services.  … Continue reading →

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Lack of Civil Gideon and Unauthorized Practice of Law Rules — Are They Consistent?

Posted on June 5, 2011 by richardzorza

I have just posted a blog post on the above subject as a pre-post to our upcoming Symposium on Turner v. Rogers on ConcurringOpinions. Here is the post, very slightly modified:

Posted in Access to Counsel, Access to Justice Generally, Judicial Ethics, Legal Ethics, Supreme Court | Tagged | 1 Comment

Should We Allow Search Engines to Index This Blog? — A Reader Poll

Posted on June 4, 2011 by richardzorza

So far, out of an abundance of caution, I have refrained from allowing search engines to index this blog.  The main reason for my reluctance was the thought that doing so might make it easier for people to comment with … Continue reading →

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FLASH — Tribe Replacment Sworn In at DOJ — Mark Childress, Previously Acting General Counsel at HHS — Highly Experienced in DC and Knows How to Get Things Done

Posted on June 3, 2011 by richardzorza

Main Justice has broken the story of Larry Tribe’s replacement. He is Mark Childress, who has a long bio as an expert in the getting things done in the various parts of the DC system. Most recently, he has been … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Boards, Dept. of Justice | 1 Comment

Access to Justice Commissions Gathering Keynotes: CJ Lippman and Justice Zelon on Legal Aid Funding and Court Transformation

Posted on June 2, 2011 by richardzorza

Here are some of the highlights from the presentations of Chief Judge Lippman of New York, and Associate Justice Laurie Zelon of the California Court of Appeal to the gathering at the Equal Justice Conference of Access to Justice Commissions … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Boards, Access to Justice Generally, Funding, Systematic Change | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Is Language Access the Best Phrase? Should We Start Talking About Language Participation?

Posted on June 1, 2011 by richardzorza

There’s rightly lots of attention to language access these days.  Triggered in part, of course, by the DOJ letter to the state courts. A genuinely modest proposal:  Lets think about talking about language participation rather than language access. “Participation” is … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, LEP | 2 Comments

Using Court Documents to Get Data into Court CMS — An Important Integrating Step

Posted on May 31, 2011 by richardzorza

Jim McMillan of the National Center for State Courts has an interesting post on their Court Technology Blog about how data from documents generated by court staff might be loaded automatically into the Court CMS, using functionality built into word … Continue reading →

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Interesting Way of Promoting Unbundling

Posted on May 30, 2011 by richardzorza

This is an interesting way of promoting unbundling. The law office of Mathew Gary Evans in Passadena, California, urges: Being Unrepresented Doesn’t Have to Mean Being Unguided. As he explains, in part, on his website. If you cannot afford an … Continue reading →

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Transparency Research Conference Starts to Show Perhaps Lagging Legal System the Way

Posted on May 28, 2011 by richardzorza

I am a fan of transparency — a word sadly apparently only recently gaining currently in the legal community. Here is a chart generated on Google’s Ngram Viewer, showing the increase in the use of the words “openness” and “transparency” … Continue reading →

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NewsMaker Interview: Diane Braunstein Nominated for Federal Employee Award for SSA Compassionate Allowance program That Speeds Decisions For Certain “Seriously and Terminally Ill Individuals”

Posted on May 25, 2011 by richardzorza

Our next NewsMaker Interview is with Diane Braunstein, one of the finalists for the Federal Governments 2011 Citizen Services Award, whose work in the Social Security Administration will be of particular interest to those working in access to justice.  (Disclosure: … Continue reading →

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Symposium on Turner v. Rogers to be Hosted on ConcurringOpinions Blog — I’ll Moderate with David Udell

Posted on May 23, 2011 by richardzorza

I am excited to be scheduled to be moderating, with David Udell, a flash blog Symposium to be hosted on http://www.concurringopinions.com.  It will focus, when it come down, on the upcoming US Supreme Court decision in Turner v. Rogers, the … Continue reading →

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Taking Advdantage of the Moment of Opportunity — An Institutional Strategy for Access

Posted on May 23, 2011 by richardzorza

As I indicated in a recent prior post about the EJC, this is a moment of great opportunity for the access to justice community, but one that is occurring in a complex larger environment.  The complexity of the environment may … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Boards, Access to Justice Generally, Funding, LSC, Systematic Change | Tagged , | Comments Off on Taking Advdantage of the Moment of Opportunity — An Institutional Strategy for Access

Headline Observations From the 2011 EJC – We Must Grab This Moment of Opportunity

Posted on May 22, 2011 by richardzorza

Some thoughts and conclusions from the 2011 Equal Justice Conference (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas it was not!) Jim Sandman is a great speaker and a powerful voice for access to justice.  He tells a powerful personal story, carries … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, LSC, Meetings, Systematic Change | Tagged | 2 Comments

From the Access to Justice Blog: Justice on Wheels in the Phillippines

Posted on May 19, 2011 by richardzorza

This from the Access to Justice Blog: The Justice on Wheels is an access to justice programme which was commenced in 2004 by the country’s Supreme Court  following the example of the Guatemalan Mobile Court System. JOW aims to bring … Continue reading →

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