Category Archives: Court Management

Important — Now Out, The WH-LAIR Report Is Actually Not Bittersweet Reading — It Is Hopeful For The Future But You Have to Read It Carefully

Posted on November 30, 2016 by richardzorza

To be honest and direct, even though the first White HHouse-LAIR Annual Report (Legal Aid InterAgency Rountable) is “must reading,” it might feel at first like it might be hard to read, because it’s difficult not to think in terms … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, Access to Justice Generally, Court Management, Law Schools, Legal Aid, LSC, White House | 1 Comment

A Confession and a Manifesto for Client/Litigant Driven Outcome Measures in Access to Justice

Posted on November 27, 2016 by richardzorza

As a patient, I would be outraged by the idea that medical professionals alone (link to 2001 paper) should decide the outcome measures that would be used to decide the benefit and utility of medical innovations. But, without a squeak of … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, Court Management, LSC, Medical System Comparision, Metrics, Outcome Measures, Research and Evalation, Series: Outcome Measures | 2 Comments

Serving Self-Represented Litigants Remotely A Resource Guide Is a Must Read

Posted on September 23, 2016 by richardzorza

Serving Self-Represented Litigants Remotely A Resource Guide, prepared by a team led by John Greacen and including SRLN members from across the country, has just been published by SRLN.  It is a “Must Read,” to use a much over-used word.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Budget Issues, Court Management, Forms, Metrics, Remote Services, Research and Evalation, Self-Help Services, SRLN, Systematic Change, Technology, Triage | Comments Off on Serving Self-Represented Litigants Remotely A Resource Guide Is a Must Read

Integrating “Roles Beyond Lawyers” into Court Improvement Strategies

Posted on September 19, 2016 by richardzorza

A recent paper by Colleen F. Shanahan, Anna E. Carpenter and Alyx Mark makes a very important point that, as the abstract puts it: Access to justice interventions that provide a little representation, including nonlawyer representation and various forms of … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, Access to Counsel, Court Management, Non-Lawyer Practice, Referral Systems, Research and Evalation, Triage, Unbundling | 2 Comments

Getting ATJ Statistics Into Census Data Collection — The Eviction Example Highlighted on fivethirtyeight.com

Posted on September 15, 2016 by richardzorza

The wonderful fivethirtyeight.com, which many of us obsessively check multiple times a day for its magnificent (and frightening) election projection results, has just put up a very important article on the under-counting of the eviction problem.  The title tells it … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Census Bureau, Court Management, Evictions, Federal Agencies, Foreclosure, Housing, Outcome Measures, Poverty, Research and Evalation | 1 Comment

Table Comparing Three New Different ATJ Sets of Recommendations Should Help Move Collaboration Forward

Posted on September 3, 2016 by richardzorza

It is quite amazing that within a few weeks we have had three major sets of specific recommendations for national access to justice strategies come out.  They are, in order of appearance, the Guidance for NCSC Grants for Strategic Planning … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, ABA, Access to Justice Generally, Court Management, Rules Reform, Simplification, Systematic Change, Technology, Triage | Comments Off on Table Comparing Three New Different ATJ Sets of Recommendations Should Help Move Collaboration Forward

We Now Have Data To Help Prioritize ATJ Strategic Focuses

Posted on August 28, 2016 by richardzorza

Yesterday, when I blogged about the first good national sample data on numbers of self-represented cases, and particularly on those who face a lawyer alone, I promised additional more broken down data. These numbers, taken from the same NCSC Landscape of … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, Attorney-Client, Court Management, Housing, Legal Aid, Metrics, Non-Lawyer Practice, SRL Statistics | 4 Comments

Twenty First Century Strategic Planning and Innovation Deployment — Lessons From the 2016 Campaigns

Posted on August 21, 2016 by richardzorza

A fascinating article and followup chat in the Washington Post may well lead us to a wiser and more effective strategic planning and innovation process for access to justice.  The general approach applies to any such process, and to a … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Boards, Access to Justice Generally, Court Management, Systematic Change | Comments Off on Twenty First Century Strategic Planning and Innovation Deployment — Lessons From the 2016 Campaigns

A Dependencies Tool To Assist in ATJ Strategic Planning and Use of the JFA Guidance

Posted on August 19, 2016 by richardzorza

I am sharing, in the hope it may make the process of access to justice strategic planning both for the community at large and specifically those participating in the Justice for All RFP and associated processes, this document that is … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, Access to Justice Generally, Court Management | 4 Comments

Integrating the ABA Futures Report and the Justice For All Components

Posted on August 14, 2016 by richardzorza

Its finally here, the ABA Future of Legal Services Report. As expected, it covers a lot of ground, and is a lot to read. As an aid to speedy integration into other projects, I have prepared this table that compares … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, ABA, Access to Counsel, Access to Justice Generally, Alternative Business Structures, Attorney-Client, Bar Associations, Court Fees and Costs, Court Management, Document Assembly, E-filing, Incnetives, Law Schools, Legal Aid, Legal Ethics, LEP, Mediation, Middle Income, Mixed Model, Non-Lawyer Practice, Outcome Measures, Plain Language, Planning, Referral Systems, Research and Evalation, Rules Reform, Self-Help Services, Simplification, Systematic Change, Technology, Transparency, Triage, Unbundling | 2 Comments

Politico Report on Agency Planing for Next Administration Underlines Importance of Laying the Groundwork Now — But We Have to Ask

Posted on August 2, 2016 by richardzorza

An interesting story in Politico reports that Federal agencies are continuing to move forward with regulatory-type initiatives that could only be completed in the next administration, implicitly assuming a Democratic victory. The Obama administration is seemingly so confident of a … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, Court Management, Non-Lawyer Practice, White House | Comments Off on Politico Report on Agency Planing for Next Administration Underlines Importance of Laying the Groundwork Now — But We Have to Ask

Employee Orientation Is Where Access-Focused-Institutions Might Start

Posted on May 24, 2016 by richardzorza

How does a court or other legal institution refocus itself to ensure that its mission and day to day activities are turned towards serving the litigants, rather than towards maintaining the primary focus on the interests of the institution. Surely … Continue reading →

Posted in Court Management, Medical System Comparision, Self-Help Services | Comments Off on Employee Orientation Is Where Access-Focused-Institutions Might Start

Find and Join The Patient Council at Your Hospital — a Way to Learn About User-Centered Organizations

Posted on May 20, 2016 by richardzorza

Following up on Department of Justice Access to Justice Director Lisa Foster’s recent speech, and my video on “The Litigant Voice,” I had an idea about how we can all start to think about, in Lisa Foster’s words: What if … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Court Management, Litigant Voice, Medical System Comparision, Self-Help Services | Comments Off on Find and Join The Patient Council at Your Hospital — a Way to Learn About User-Centered Organizations

Maybe Flight Attendants Can Teach Courts Something about Overcoming Unconscious Bias

Posted on April 24, 2016 by richardzorza

I think there is pretty broad agreement that all of us who work in and with the court system that it could benefit to more mindfulness in dealing with unconscious bias. A recent article in the Washington Post by a … Continue reading →

Posted in Court Management, Discrimination, Judicial Ethics | Comments Off on Maybe Flight Attendants Can Teach Courts Something about Overcoming Unconscious Bias

Get a Webinar Preview of the Resource Guide on Remote Services for Self-Represented

Posted on April 6, 2016 by richardzorza

On April 27, 1-2pm EST, under the auspices of SRLN, John Greacen and others will be presenting a webinar on the new Guide to Remote Services for the Self-Represented. Given the new focus on strategic planning, for 100%, as called … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Court Management, Self-Help Services, Technology | Comments Off on Get a Webinar Preview of the Resource Guide on Remote Services for Self-Represented