Category Archives: Outcome Measures

Justice Index Gets ABA Pro Bono Award

Posted on July 31, 2017 by richardzorza

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 | Comments Off on Justice Index Gets ABA Pro Bono Award

Illinois Strategic Plan Combines Principles, Initiatives, and Success Measures

Posted on July 2, 2017 by richardzorza

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 | Comments Off on Illinois Strategic Plan Combines Principles, Initiatives, and Success Measures

Job Opportunity at Harvard Law Access to Justice Lab

Posted on May 28, 2017 by richardzorza

As many of you know, the Access to Justice Lab at Harvard Law School is an initiative to try to further evidence-based thinking within access to justice and court administration. It focuses on conducting randomized field experiments to find out … Continue reading →

Posted in Law Schools, Metrics, Outcome Measures, Research and Evalation, Self-Help Services | Comments Off on Job Opportunity at Harvard Law Access to Justice Lab

Algorithms and Checklists May Help Deal With Implicit Bias

Posted on January 12, 2017 by richardzorza

While I am an advocate of algorithm driven processes in law, I still have a slightly queasy feeling about the whole idea.  It comes from the fear that outcomes are not going to be “far,” but are going to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Court Management, Criminal Law, De-Regulation, Domestic Violence, Evictions, Legal Aid, Medical System Comparision, Non-Lawyer Practice, Outcome Measures, Science, Simplification, Systematic Change, Tools, Triage | Comments Off on Algorithms and Checklists May Help Deal With Implicit Bias

Dean Minnow’s Retirement From Harvard Law Deanship Reminds Us of Law Schools Importance to and Potential For Access to Justice

Posted on January 3, 2017 by richardzorza

In a time of many transitions, we must note the news, sad for access to justice, that Dean Martha Minnow will be retiring, after eight years of very significant achievement, from the deanship of Harvard Law School. I suspect that … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Counsel, Access to Justice Generally, Incubators, International Cooperation, International Models, Non-Lawyer Practice, Outcome Measures, Personal, Simplification, Systematic Change, Transitions | Comments Off on Dean Minnow’s Retirement From Harvard Law Deanship Reminds Us of Law Schools Importance to and Potential For Access to Justice

How to Compare the Appropriateness of Potential ATJ Indicators

Posted on December 4, 2016 by richardzorza

David Udell has challenged me to identify, from the recent indicators report, some of the “best indicators.”  Before I even think about doing that, I have tried to identify eleven criteria for a perfect indicator. The data is already being … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Funding, Justice Index, Outcome Measures, Research and Evalation, Series: Outcome Measures, SRL Statistics | Comments Off on How to Compare the Appropriateness of Potential ATJ Indicators

Report on Symposium on Indicators — A Process That Will Go On

Posted on December 3, 2016 by richardzorza

Back abut a thousand years ago, on September 15, 2016, an important Symposium on indicators was organized by Risa Kaufman and David Udell.  They jointly blogged about it yesterday: On September 15, 2016, access to justice experts from the academic … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Dept. of Justice, Federal Agencies, Justice Index, Metrics, Outcome Measures, Research and Evalation, SRL Statistics | Comments Off on Report on Symposium on Indicators — A Process That Will Go On

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

Important Research on Benefits of Plain Language Court Orders And Translation

Posted on November 4, 2016 by richardzorza

This research, funded under the LSC TIG program through a grant to TRLA, conducted in Austin, Texas, by NPC Research on the impact of plain language and translated court documents could be very helpful indeed. (Disclosure: I have been involved … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Forms, LEP, LSC, Outcome Measures, Plain Language, Self-Help Services, Technology | 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

Article on Incentives in Access to Justice

Posted on September 12, 2016 by richardzorza

My paper on incentives in access to justice has now been published in the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics.  Here it is. Here is the full text of the abstract: Most of the current deregulation discussion focuses on permitting both … Continue reading →

Posted in ABA, Access to Counsel, Alternative Business Structures, Anti-Trust, Bar Associations, Medical System Comparision, Middle Income, Mixed Model, Non-Lawyer Practice, Outcome Measures, Planning, Political Support, Poverty, Pro Bono, Referral Systems, Research and Evalation, Rules Reform, Self-Help Services, Simplification, Systematic Change, Tax Policy, Technology | Comments Off on Article on Incentives in Access to Justice

DOJ/NSF White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable Report on Access to Justice Research

Posted on September 7, 2016 by richardzorza

I have been much remiss in not blogging earlier about this important and very timely Report from the Department of Justice (NIJ and ATJ) and the National Science Foundation on Research in Access to Justice.  Formally titled White House Legal … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Consumer Rights, Dept. of Justice, expungement, Family Law, Foreclosure, LAIR, Legal Aid, Medical System Comparision, Non-Lawyer Practice, Outcome Measures, Reentry, Referral Systems, Research and Evalation, Self-Help Services | Comments Off on DOJ/NSF White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable Report on Access to Justice Research

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

More on the Proposed Single Measure for Access to Justice

Posted on August 9, 2016 by richardzorza

The more I think and talk with folks about the proposed single measure for access to justice, the more I think we might be on to something that could tell us what we want to know, would allow for comparison … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, Access to Justice Generally, Outcome Measures, Series: Outcome Measures | 6 Comments

With Nate Silver’s Election Prediction Launch a Couple of Days Ago, Its a Good Time to Think About Statistics, Predictions, Triage, and Education for Public Policy

Posted on July 5, 2016 by richardzorza

Nate’s 2016 polls-only prediction is that Clinton has an 77.6% chance of winning. For those of us who talk about how triage is critical, his methodology page is well worth some attention. It is highly sophisticated, and reminds us just … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget Issues, Funding, Medical System Comparision, Metrics, Outcome Measures, Public Education, Research and Evalation, Series: Outcome Measures, Systematic Change, Technology, Transparency, Triage | 1 Comment