Category Archives: Self-Help Services

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

Thinking About Designing Courthouses for Access to Justice

Posted on January 17, 2016 by richardzorza

Some of us have long urged courthouses be designed physically with a view to access to justice.  We might find some inspiration from a recent video feature on Politico, on the “Post-Ferguson Police Station,”   I would suggest watching the video … Continue reading →

Posted in Court Management, Security, Self-Help Services | 5 Comments

Guest Blogger Jim Burdick Blogs on Nieghborhood Legal Centers, Medical Partnering and Beyond

Posted on December 21, 2015 by richardzorza

The recently described Neighborhood Legal Information Centers in New York (Posted on December 4, 2015 by Richard Zorza) represent a major step forward in helping the disadvantaged. Proximity of help from advocates for common legal problems offers a big advantage. … Continue reading →

Posted in Chasm with Communities, Medical System Comparision, Self-Help Services, Technology | Comments Off on Guest Blogger Jim Burdick Blogs on Nieghborhood Legal Centers, Medical Partnering and Beyond

Important Case on Failure to Recognize Existence of Discretion to Provide Information to Self-Represented Litigant

Posted on December 16, 2015 by richardzorza

The California Court of Appeals has just entered a procedurally complex, but very important case on how a judge should deal with an uninformed self-represented litigant. The bottom line is that an incarcerated self-represented landlord repeatedly tried to win a … Continue reading →

Posted in Judicial Ethics, Self-Help Services | 2 Comments

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

Posted on December 16, 2015 by richardzorza

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

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

Richard Granat Proposes Safe Harbor for Law Firms Serving Low and Moderate Income Clients With Technology

Posted on December 4, 2015 by richardzorza

Richard Granat has recently made an interesting proposal to facilitate the use of technology to improve access to justice by loosening the law firm ownership rules for groups using automated solutions to serve low and middle income clients.  Specicially, he … Continue reading →

Posted in Forms, Middle Income, Self-Help Services, Technology | Comments Off on Richard Granat Proposes Safe Harbor for Law Firms Serving Low and Moderate Income Clients With Technology

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

Answering a Law Professor’s Worry that Free Online Access to Caselaw Will not Help Access to Justice

Posted on November 14, 2015 by richardzorza

Brian Sheppard, who teaches at Seton Hall Law School, in an interesting blog post on Bloomberg, raises the question whether the Harvard Law School digitization project I blogged about recently, might not really help access to justice. His worry is … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Assembly, E-filing, Libraries, Self-Help Services, Technology | 8 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

Moving to Open Access For All Decisions — Implications for SRLs and For Access Organizations

Posted on October 29, 2015 by richardzorza

Today’s New York Times reports on what has the potential to be a revolutionary development in access to legal materials for access to justice. Now, in a digital-age sacrifice intended to serve grand intentions, the Harvard librarians are slicing off … Continue reading →

Posted in Libraries, Self-Help Services, Technology | 2 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

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

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

Posted on July 29, 2015 by richardzorza

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

Love’s Promises — Wonderful Book on Shaping Marriage and Family To Reflect Choice

Posted on July 11, 2015 by richardzorza

Everyone in the access to justice community knows Karen Lash as a dedicated and brilliant deputy director of the DOJ ATJ Office. Now she may be about to be even better known as the loving and loved family member portrayed … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Law, LGBT, Love, Self-Help Services | 3 Comments