Category Archives: Legal Aid

LSC Adds “Outside” VP for Grants Management With Extensive Public-Private Partnership Experience

Posted on September 21, 2012 by richardzorza

LSC’s appointment of  new VP for Grants Management has been reported before. But it is still probably worth underlining what a significant and welcome departure it is to bring in someone who has perspectives way beyond the legal aid world, … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal Aid, LSC | Comments Off on LSC Adds “Outside” VP for Grants Management With Extensive Public-Private Partnership Experience

Transformative Fact Sheet from Laura Abel, National Center for Access to Justice, in Economic Benefits of Legal Aid

Posted on September 17, 2012 by richardzorza

I almost never use the phrase “must see,” but here is the exception that proves the rule. Laura Abel has prepared a documented two-pager on Economic Benefits of Civil Legal Aid. Headlines (all documented): Civil legal aid saves public money … Continue reading →

Posted in Funding, Legal Aid | Comments Off on Transformative Fact Sheet from Laura Abel, National Center for Access to Justice, in Economic Benefits of Legal Aid

How to — and How Not to — Talk about Increasing Resources for Access Services

Posted on August 30, 2012 by richardzorza

In the last few days, I have been in three different conversations about how to talk about the need for resource for access advocacy. There has been a common theme in these discussions — the unfortunate tendency for this to … Continue reading →

Posted in Funding, Legal Aid | Comments Off on How to — and How Not to — Talk about Increasing Resources for Access Services

The Age/Innovation Conundrum and Implications for Access to Justice

Posted on August 18, 2012 by richardzorza

A fascinating post several months ago in the New York Times Economix blog, Getting More Liberal With Age, deals with the age-old conundrum as to whether people really become more conservative as they get older. In contrast to received wisdom: A … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Court Management, Legal Aid | Comments Off on The Age/Innovation Conundrum and Implications for Access to Justice

Guide to VISTA for Legal Aid Programs

Posted on July 21, 2012 by richardzorza

This is nice.  As posed on the DOJ Access Initiative website, DOJ in partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service has issued a Guide to Vista for Legal Aid Programs. From the Guide: Vistas Helping with Technology: Minnesota … Continue reading →

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Setting Public Goals for Access Commissions: The Massachusetts Model

Posted on May 7, 2012 by richardzorza

Kudos to the Massachusetts ATJ Commission for publicly setting itself objectives that are both concrete and ambitious — and for assigning groups and individuals to be responsible for moving them forward.  I am particularly impressed that goals for working with … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Boards, Funding, Judicial Ethics, Legal Aid, Legal Ethics, Self-Help Services, Technology, Transparency | Comments Off on Setting Public Goals for Access Commissions: The Massachusetts Model

LSC Intake Rules– LSC Asks for Comment on Proposed Program Letter

Posted on March 27, 2012 by richardzorza

LSC has posted for requested comment a proposed Program Letter on “Financial Eligibility Screening Guidelines.”  The whole draft is here.  Comments are due April 25. Here is the body of the proposed Program Letter (footnotes omitted):

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Legal Aid, LSC, Technology, Triage | 2 Comments

Exciting Triage Progress at TIG Conference

Posted on January 15, 2012 by richardzorza

I am pleased to report that our sessions at the TIG Conference on Intake, Triage, and Technology were very successful. One session reviewed where we are now, with a focus on how court self-help centers decide who gets what help, … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal Aid, Research and Evalation, Self-Help Services, Systematic Change, Technology, Triage | 5 Comments

NY Launches Mobile Office with Video for Remote Court Appearance

Posted on January 10, 2012 by richardzorza

This a great idea.  I am sure we will learn a lot from it.  I hope we get a good evaluation out of the project.  Here is the release: State-of-the-Art Vehicle Includes Private Meeting and Conference Rooms with Video Links … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal Aid, Technology | Tagged | Comments Off on NY Launches Mobile Office with Video for Remote Court Appearance

Claudia Johnson Blogs on Location of Services Where the Poor Now Are — in the Suburbs

Posted on January 5, 2012 by richardzorza

One question I always ask myself is, why are most legal non profits, and their services in urban areas when the poverty populations have been moving from the city to the suburbs en mass in the past 10 years?  Why … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal Aid, Poverty | Tagged | 4 Comments

One Year of Blogging — Some Reflections on the Year in Access to Justice

Posted on December 11, 2011 by richardzorza

Today is the first anniversary of this blog.  306 posts, over 16,000 web views (and maybe the same number of subscriber push views), and counting.  Please celebrate with me by passing the word, and by encouraging folks to use the … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Counsel, Budget Issues, Dept. of Justice, Funding, Legal Aid, LEP, LSC, Metrics, Research and Evalation, Supreme Court, Systematic Change, Technology, This Blog, Triage | 1 Comment

Good news on LSC Technology and Access to Justice Summit

Posted on December 6, 2011 by richardzorza

I have just heard that the LSC Technology and Access to Justice Summit is going forward.  LSC has contracted with John Greacen to manage it.  I understand that the hope is to be able to have the Summit in April … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal Aid, LSC, Technology | 1 Comment

A shift in Empahsis About Access Demonstrated by Retired Chief Justice Marshall of Massachusetts

Posted on December 5, 2011 by richardzorza

The retired Massachusetts Chief, in a Boston Globe op-ed, urging contributions to legal aid programs, shows an interesting shift in emphasis in terms of how we think about the access system.  It’s caught in these two paras: While judges and … Continue reading →

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Wayne Moore Makes Suggestions for Legal Aid on “How to Cut Costs Without Cutting Services”

Posted on December 2, 2011 by richardzorza

Wayne Moore has responded to the legal aid budget crisis with this insightful and intensely practical memo on how legal aid programs can protect service delivery in a tough time.  I urge all, including those who have been somewhat critical … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Budget Issues, Document Assembly, Legal Aid, LSC, Pro Bono, Self-Help Services, Systematic Change, Technology, Unbundling | Comments Off on Wayne Moore Makes Suggestions for Legal Aid on “How to Cut Costs Without Cutting Services”

Management Information Exchange Journal Publishes My Article on Implications for Legal Aid of the Emerging Access to Jusice Consensus

Posted on November 28, 2011 by richardzorza

I am happy to announce that Management Information Exchange Journal has now published an article by me aimed particularly at a legal aid audience on the implications for Legal Aid of the emerging consensus on access to justice.  It is … Continue reading →

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