Category Archives: Access to Justice Generally

California AOC Head Bill Vickrey to Retire — Major Facilitator of Access Transformation

Posted on March 23, 2011 by richardzorza

Bill Vickrey, head of the California AOC has announced his retirement.  This is a moment that can not go unnoticed in the national access to justice community. The impact of Bill’s quiet work for access, conducted in close partnership with … Continue reading →

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Wayne Moore’s Unbundling Test

Posted on March 21, 2011 by richardzorza

I was at a symposium at Georegtown last week, and heard, among other things, Wayne Moore’s simple test for whether unbundling was appropriate. The test (below) is to intrigue you with Wayne’s systematic analytic approach, which is much in evidence … Continue reading →

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Risks and Consequences — Implications for Access Advocacy

Posted on March 14, 2011 by richardzorza

With all eyes fixed on Japan, it seems like a good time to reflect on risks and consequences.  (Actually, its hard for me to think about anything else, and it is fascinating how much traffic to this blog has dropped … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Domestic Violence, Foreclosure, Research and Evalation, This Blog | Tagged | 1 Comment

Mass Charges Fee to Challenge Moving Violation — State Supreme Ct Challenge — Indigent Court Costs Statute

Posted on March 7, 2011 by richardzorza

That’s right.  In venerable Massachusetts, you have to pay a fee to challenge a traffic ticket (Boston Globe story). A challenge is now pending in the SJC (Supreme Judicial Court — Docket entries and briefs here).  The statistics appear to … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Court Fees and Costs, Legal Aid, Middle Income | Tagged | Comments Off on Mass Charges Fee to Challenge Moving Violation — State Supreme Ct Challenge — Indigent Court Costs Statute

Intellectual Property Case About Forms: Montana Supreme Court Commission on Self-Represented Litigants v. Legal Aid Administration, LLC et al

Posted on March 4, 2011 by richardzorza

The Montana Supreme Court Commission on Self-Represented Litigants has sued an organization called “Legal Aid Administration, LLC” (referred to in the extract of the Complaint below as “LAA”.  According to the Complaint, LAA is a limited liability company.)  The case … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally | 3 Comments

Pew Study on Relationship of Perception of Community Openness to Civic Satisfaction

Posted on March 3, 2011 by richardzorza

Pew has released a nice study on the relationship of perception of community openness to civic satisfaction.  Press release here.  Study here. Gov20,govfresh blog here. From the Introduction: Those who think local government does well in sharing information are also … Continue reading →

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Supreme Court Decision on Failure to Meet Administrative Agency Time Limits (VA)

Posted on March 2, 2011 by richardzorza

As many will recall, in 2007, in an opinion that may felt was harsh and unrealistic, the Supreme Court ruled that when a habeas petitioner failed to file within a statutorily required period, even though the court had granted a … Continue reading →

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New Article on National Consensus about Access to Justice

Posted on February 24, 2011 by richardzorza

I thought folks might be interested in my new Judicature article, Access to Justice: The Emerging Consensus and Some Questions and Implications. It will be in the forthcoming Jan-Feb 2011 issue.  Thanks to Judicature, one of my favorite publications, for … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Legal Aid, Self-Help Services, Systematic Change, Unbundling | Tagged | 2 Comments

Court Technology Bulletin Blog and Poposed URL:Lex unique Document Identifier

Posted on February 22, 2011 by richardzorza

This seems to be the week for me to blog about blogs.  I have now added to the Links Menu on the right of this blog the National Center for State Courts Court Technology Bulletin Blog.  Highly recommended. It is … Continue reading →

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E-Filing and Acess — We Need a National Campaign

Posted on February 18, 2011 by richardzorza

As more and more states explore e-filing, it is important to remember the critical relationship between e-filing and access to justice. Most state level e-filing initiatives seem to be moving more slowly than anticipated.  (NCSC very useful state links here.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Technology | Tagged | 1 Comment

Apple Tech Support Survey Asks “How satisfied were you with the Advisor’s empathy for your situation?”

Posted on February 15, 2011 by richardzorza

Getting an e-mail with that question made me think about our feedback mechanisms in access to justice institutions. How often do we ask that question? (We ask about general satisfaction, but this is different.) How often do we even do … Continue reading →

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Canada’s Chief Justice on Access, the Bar’s Role, and Ideas

Posted on February 14, 2011 by richardzorza

The Toronto Globe and Mail (a great paper), is running an article on a recent speech by Canada’s Chief Justice, Beverley McLachlin, on Access to Justice. The Chief Justice’s voice rose as she discussed a monopoly lawyers have on legal … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally | 2 Comments

Stabilizing IOLTA Funding — Long Term Strategy

Posted on February 9, 2011 by richardzorza

Bloomberg and others are reporting on administration proposals to reduce the burden on the states of the huge accumulated UI debt to the feds that many states are now carrying. This set me thinking about how one long term strategy … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Funding, IOLTA, Systematic Change | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Outreach Tool for Earned Income Tax Credit Program to Libraries. Why Not More Such Direct Service and Outreach?

Posted on February 8, 2011 by richardzorza

Everyone on this list should know about the Legal Aid Society of Orange County program to help people file for the Earned Income Tax Credit. Total refunds this year already over $72,000,000.  This must be the most cost-effective use of … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally | 1 Comment

Great Partnering — MassLegalHelp and Law Libraries — Ask a Law Librarian

Posted on February 7, 2011 by richardzorza

Thanks to great partnering with MassLegalHelp, Mass folks can get legal information answers from law libraries by online chat during library hours. There are lots of resources on library partnerships in the Public Library folder of selfhelpsupport.org.  This includes ethics … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally | 2 Comments