Category Archives: Communications Strategy

A Broader Branding Perspective for Access to Justice — Service and Change

Posted on September 9, 2017 by

I think it may be time to think our way through to a new and broader way we think and talk about our movement.  These suggestions are based on assumptions that I list below, that are strongly supported by the … Continue reading →

Posted in ABA, Access to Justice Generally, Bar Associations, Chasm with Communities, Communications Strategy, Legal Aid, Non-Lawyer Practice, Political Support, Public Welfare Foundation, Systematic Change | 1 Comment

Justice Index Gets ABA Pro Bono Award

Posted on July 31, 2017 by

The ABA has announced that the Justice Index has been awarded an ABA Pro Bono Award. (Press coverage of the Index here.) This certainly helps cement the status of the Index as a major infrastructure component of the access to … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, ABA, Access to Justice Generally, Communications Strategy, Justice Index, Outcome Measures, Pro Bono

Professional-Client Partnering Lessons

Posted on July 22, 2017 by

Note: This is an access to just version of a recent post on my Patient Partnering Site. A recently published tool intended to be used by medical institutions to encourage their patients to think of themselves as members of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Attorney-Client, Bar Associations, Communications Strategy, Court Management, Defender Programs, Law Schools, Legal Aid, Legal Ethics, LSC, Medical System Comparision, Self-Help Services, Systematic Change, Usabilty | 1 Comment

Illinois Strategic Plan Combines Principles, Initiatives, and Success Measures

Posted on July 2, 2017 by

The superb new strategic plan from the Illinois Access to Justice Commission is a model in may ways.  I want, however, to emphasize one, its structure.  This approach gives them, and us, a strong and effective document that will serve … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, Access to Justice Boards, Access to Justice Generally, Communications Strategy, Court Management, Outcome Measures, Plain Language, Planning, Research and Evalation, Rules Reform, Self-Help Services, Simplification

Video of Mary McClymont on Importance of Justice For All Innovations For Every Substantive Issue

Posted on June 7, 2017 by

Recently, I blogged about Mary McClymont’s moving and wonderful speech when she got the Champion of Justice Award. Now, here is the video. Some of the key text: .  .  .  there is good news: the crisis has given rise … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, Access to Justice Boards, Access to Justice Generally, Bar Associations, Communications Strategy, Court Management, Funding, Law Schools, Legal Aid, Media, Political Support, Poverty, Public Education, Public Welfare Foundation, Self-Help Services, Social Workers, Systematic Change

Access to Justice: Why Focus On This Issue In an Era With So Many Existential Crises

Posted on May 12, 2017 by

Sometimes we advocates for access to justice quietly admit to each other that with so many other issues threatening our planet, the poor, and our democracy, that it is hard to argue for access to justice a a funding priority. … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, Access to Counsel, Communications Strategy

Mary McClymont’s Governing Magazine Op-Ed Moves the Chief’s Resolution and Justice For All Message to the Other Branches

Posted on March 30, 2017 by

I suspect that most in the non-judicial branches are still largely unaware of the the Chiefs’ 100% Resolution, making access to justice the office bi-partisan policy of the United States, let alone that they have thought about the implications for … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, Access to Justice Boards, Communications Strategy, Dept. of Justice, Funding, LAIR, Systematic Change | 1 Comment

A Challenge: How Do We Even Out The Rates of Media Outreach Capacity for Access to Justice at the National and States Level?

Posted on January 14, 2017 by

Voices for Civil Justice, funded by the Public Welfare Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, and others, and headed by Martha Bergmark, has done amazing work in terms of getting the access to justice messave out at the national level. They have … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Boards, Access to Justice Generally, Communications Strategy, Legal Aid | 1 Comment

Immigration Judges Learn to Recognze and Protect Against Implicit Bias

Posted on October 4, 2016 by

The NYT has an important piece today on judges and implicit bias. Now, as the country struggles with how these instinctive judgments shape our lives, the Justice Department is trying to minimize the role of bias in law enforcement and … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Communications Strategy, Immigration, Judicial Ethics, SRLN

Very Hopeful Poll on Views of Age 18-26 Cohort Has Major Justice Implications

Posted on February 23, 2016 by

Frank Luntz, a broadly respected Republican Pollster, has just issued a fascinating poll on attitudes of people aged 8 to 26, which he calls the “Snapchat generation,” for whatever reason. Bottom line, leaving the partisan stuff out, this generation are … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Communications Strategy, Funding

NCSC Study Finds Public Support for Technology and Self-Represented Accessibility, Implications for 100% Goal

Posted on December 16, 2015 by

The National Center for State Courts recently conducted a public opinion survey about the courts. Probably the most important findings: Public demand for more self-sufficiency highlights a path forward. Our last survey found a clear demand for greater use of … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Communications Strategy, Funding, Self-Help Services | 1 Comment

We Need a National Campaign for Access to Justice — Why the CCJ/COSCA Resolution Makes it So Much Easier and What Might It Start to Look Like?

Posted on September 18, 2015 by

There are lots of reasons why we really do not have in place anything like a national campaign for 100% access     (Although we have certainly become much better at talking about the need).  One of the reasons for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Boards, Access to Justice Generally, Bar Associations, Budget Issues, Communications Strategy, Legal Aid, LEP, LSC, Self-Help Services, Simplification, Triage, Unbundling | 1 Comment

New CCJ/COSCA Resolution on 100% Access, and How to Get There, Is a Tipping Point

Posted on August 11, 2015 by

The week before last, the Conference of (state) Chief Justices, and the Conference of State Court Administrators jointly passed two Resolutions that together predict a tipping pint forward in moving to justice.  One sets an aspirational goal of 100% access … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, Access to Counsel, Access to Justice Boards, Access to Justice Generally, Bar Associations, Communications Strategy, Court Management, Forms, Legal Aid, Mobile Technology, Outcome Measures, Political Support, Research and Evalation, Rules Reform, Self-Help Services, Simplification, Systematic Change, Technology, Triage, Unbundling | 3 Comments

ATJ Commissions Planning Survey Shows Energy, Common Directions and Interest in Multi-State Networking

Posted on July 29, 2015 by

After the Access to Justice Commissions meeting this spring in Austin, the Commissions were invited to respond to a brief survey as to their interest in following up on the areas for possible initiatives that had been the focus of … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Boards, Chasm with Communities, Communications Strategy, Court Fees and Costs, Funding, Legal Aid, Metrics, Planning, Self-Help Services, Simplification, Technology | 1 Comment

High Lifetime Chance of Being Poor Suggests a New Legal Aid/ATJ Funding Argument

Posted on July 26, 2015 by

For decades we have been struggling with the fact that we think that many, perhaps most, people are resultant to fund legal aid, and particularly means-tested community-based legal aid because they think that it will never help them. (Incidentally, every … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget Issues, Communications Strategy, Legal Aid, Political Support, Poverty | 7 Comments