Category Archives: Legal Aid

UK Supreme Court Might Be Able to Teach US Court a Lesson on Urgency of Protecting Legal Aid

Posted on April 18, 2016 by richardzorza

Tomorrow, Tuesday the 19th, LSC and its friends will enjoy an invitation-only reception at the US Supreme Court following the LSC day at the White House, and to be addressed by Justice Kennedy, among others.  It is obviously a very … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Counsel, Discrimination, Immigration, International Models, Legal Aid, LSC, Supreme Court, White House | Comments Off on UK Supreme Court Might Be Able to Teach US Court a Lesson on Urgency of Protecting Legal Aid

Moving to 100% Access Strategic Plans – The LSC TIG Program as Opportunity and Harbinger

Posted on January 30, 2016 by richardzorza

The 2016 Legal Services Corporation Technology grant solicitation,due Feb 29, suggests one of the ways that the Chefs 100% Resolution can move towards true implementation. It creates as its first listed specific area of interest, “Achieving 100% Access,” which it … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, Access to Justice Boards, Access to Justice Generally, Funding, IOLTA, Legal Aid, LSC, Outcome Measures, Systematic Change, Technology | Comments Off on Moving to 100% Access Strategic Plans – The LSC TIG Program as Opportunity and Harbinger

Outcome Measures #2: LSC Outcomes Measures, Good News, Bad News, and A Challenge

Posted on January 14, 2016 by richardzorza

This is number 2 in an occasional series on outcome measures.  Number 1 reiterated how important it is to develop and apply such measures system wide. There is good news and bad news on LSC outcome measures. The good news: … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Boards, IOLTA, Legal Aid, LSC, Metrics, Outcome Measures, Research and Evalation, Series: Outcome Measures | Comments Off on Outcome Measures #2: LSC Outcomes Measures, Good News, Bad News, and A Challenge

Five Transformative Bar Reform Ideas To Get to 100% to Justice — Paper Abstract

Posted on January 5, 2016 by richardzorza

A few months ago, the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics invited me to submit a paper on the relationship between access to justice, commercialization of the legal practice, and judicial ethics.  The paper will be published in the summer of … Continue reading →

Posted in Attorney-Client, Bar Associations, Funding, Legal Aid, LSC, Middle Income, Mixed Model, Non-Lawyer Practice, Outcome Measures, Political Support, Systematic Change, Tax Policy, Technology, Triage, Unbundling | 2 Comments

CJ Lippman Announces Neighborhood Legal Information Centers — Implications and Possibilities

Posted on December 4, 2015 by richardzorza

This ground-breaking news, once again from the New York Courts.  As the press release puts it: [The] Network of Walk-in Storefronts Will Be First of Its Kind in New York and the Nation to Bring Basic Legal Information, Assistance and … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Chasm with Communities, Court Management, Legal Aid, Non-Lawyer Practice, Self-Help Services, Technology, Triage | 1 Comment

An Economic Analysis of the “One Hundred Percent Access to Justice” Phrase

Posted on November 30, 2015 by richardzorza

If we are to assess the viability of 100% access to justice solutions, we must at least begin to have an economic model for what 100% access means, and particularly for whether we can regard services as sufficient in any … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Counsel, Access to Justice Generally, Legal Aid, Self-Help Services, Triage | 6 Comments

Congressman Joseph Kennedy III Planning Access to Justice Caucus

Posted on November 14, 2015 by richardzorza

Congressman Joseph Kennedy III (D. Mass) told us in a speech at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences last week that he plans to launch an Access to Justice Caucus in the House of Representatives next year. This is … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, Congress, Defender Programs, Legal Aid | 2 Comments

Could We Get to 100% Access Without As Many New Resources As We Now Assume, a Very Rough Analysis?

Posted on November 13, 2015 by richardzorza

It’s a truism and an article of faith in the access to justice community that the only way to get to 100% access to justice is a massive infusion of money. It might well be true, but try this mental … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Counsel, Access to Justice Generally, Budget Issues, Court Management, Legal Aid, Research and Evalation, Rules Reform, Self-Help Services, Simplification, Systematic Change | 5 Comments

Deregulation of Nonprofit Legal Practice — An ATJ Breakthrough?

Posted on October 13, 2015 by richardzorza

Here is an idea that might be a breakthrough for access to justice, while enhancing the role and reputation of community based nonprofit legal aid programs. How about almost complete deregulation of nonprofit legal practice.  True nonprofits (defined not only … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Attorney-Client, Incubators, Legal Aid, Legal Ethics, Non-Lawyer Practice, Systematic Change, Technology | 3 Comments

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 richardzorza

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

The Risks of a Narrow Definition of Access to Justice

Posted on September 8, 2015 by richardzorza

There is up at the ABA.com “Rebel Lawyers” an article titled “Lawyers need to move beyond ‘access to justice’ to close the legal services gap.”  It is by Dan Lear, currently director of industry relations for Avvo. What it actually … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Document Assembly, Forms, Legal Aid, Middle Income, Mixed Model, Systematic Change, Technology, Unbundling | 1 Comment

LSC’s Jim Sandman Interview Shows Pace of Change in Access to Justice

Posted on September 7, 2015 by richardzorza

A recent interview that LSC’s Jim Sandman gave to Bloomberg/BDA underlines how fast things are changing in access to justice.  Among the nuggets: Among the reasons Jim gives for the access crisis is  “A regulatory system that stultifies innovation and … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Boards, Access to Justice Generally, Legal Aid, LSC, Non-Lawyer Practice, Simplification, Systematic Change, Technology | Comments Off on LSC’s Jim Sandman Interview Shows Pace of Change in Access to Justice

Towards a Definition of “One Hundred Percent Access to Civil Justice”

Posted on September 3, 2015 by richardzorza

With the setting by the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ), and the Conference of State Court Administrators  (COSCA) by Resolution of 100% access to justice as an “aspirational goal,” the question of just what that term means becomes more and … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Boards, Administative Proecdure, Bar Associations, Court Management, Judicial Ethics, Legal Aid, Planning, Research and Evalation, Systematic Change, Triage | 8 Comments

Legislative Funding Best Practices For Legal Aid Endorsed by CCJ and COSCA Apply to Broad Definition of Legal Aid

Posted on August 14, 2015 by richardzorza

As I recently blogged, the Conference of Chiefs and the Conference of State Court Administrators passed three important and inter-related Resolutions recently.  The first was about 100% access to justice, and the second about Best Practices for Supreme Court support … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Boards, Funding, Judicial Ethics, Legal Aid | 1 Comment

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

Posted on August 11, 2015 by richardzorza

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