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    2020 Virtual IOLTA Summer Workshops

    On Demand

    Thursday, August 6th

    10:00 AM - 11:00 AM

    Oops, They Did it Again: How IOLTA Programs Can Thrive When the Fed Cuts Interest Rates. Advice from Those Who’ve Been There.

    This program will address the common repercussions of an economic downturn on IOLTA Programs.  In both 2001 and 2008, the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates during financial crises to aid consumers and businesses. Now, in 2020, the Federal Reserve once again cut interest rates to stay ahead of a looming economic slowdown. But how do these emergency interest rate cuts impact IOLTA organizations, their staff, and the programs they fund? This program will highlight staff and their programs who survived previous financial crises, and provide information for your IOLTA program to tackle the unknown and persevere to 2021 and beyond.

    Moderator:
    Amy Johnson, Executive Director Arkansas Access to Justice

    Speaker:
    Judith Baker, Executive Director, Oregon Law Foundation
    Stephen Casey, Chief Financial Officer, Massachusetts IOLTA

    Materials

    11:15 AM - 12:15 PM

    Partnering with State Government Funders to Increase Resources for Civil Legal Aid

    Understanding the wide variety of federal funding sources that are administered by the states can feel overwhelming.  Our grantees may not know about the availability of all of these funds or may not have been successful in making the case that civil legal aid is a good fit for the funding.  For years, Karen Lash has shared information with governmental agencies to show that increasing opportunities for education, employment, housing, health care, and improving public safety and family stability are more effective, efficient, and fair when they include legal aid.  This panel will provide an overview of her work and examples of success from three states where IOLTA programs and other partners have worked to increase federal pass through funds.

    Moderator:
    Bridget Gernander

    Panelists:
    Karen Lash, Practitioner in Residence, American University
    Jennifer Bentley, Executive Director, Michigan State Bar Foundation
    Christine Groninger, Chief Strategy Officer, Arizona Bar Foundation
    Susan Finegan, Member,
    Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. Co-chair, Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission

    Materials

    12:30 PM - 1:30 PM

    Let's Keep Talking Lunch

    An opportunity to break out into groups to discuss the issues and challenges share ideas with programs of similar size and structure.

    Moderators:
    Christine Fecko, General Counsel, IOLA Fund of New York
    Mary Irvine, Executive Director, North Carolina IOLTA
    Marilyn Smith, Director of Civil Justice Programs, Indiana Bar Foundation

    No need to register! All attendees registered for a session will recieve access to this event.

    1:45 PM - 2:45 PM

    Proceeding Forward with the Certainty of Uncertainty

    As we continue to navigate the process of moving forward in this "new normal" brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, what challenges can we expect to face, what new developments have emerged to help us deal with them and what more needs to be done? Join us for an update with the leaders/members of the ABA Task Force on Legal Issues Arising Out of the 2020 Pandemic on emerging issues, changing benefits, and available resources.

    Moderator:
    Dominic Mackenzie, Executive Director, The Florida Bar Foundation

    Panelists:
    Jennifer Moeller Lechner, Executive Director, North Carolina Equal Access to Justice Commission
    James Sandman, Distinguished Lecturer and Senior Consultant to the Future of the Profession Initiative at University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School; President Emeritus of the Legal Services Counsel and Chair of the ABA Task Force on Legal Issue Arising from the Pandemic
    Kirra Jarratt, Chief Executive Officer, D.C. Bar Foundation
    Susan Finegan, Member,
    Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. &
    Co-chair, Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission

    Materials

    3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

    Checking for Biases Remotely: Best Practices for IOLTA Program Decision Making in a Time of Social Distancing

    Decision making and professional judgments, whether about staffing, leadership, trustee/board member selection, board operations, long- and short-term program strategy, or grants, are the foundation of successful IOLTA programs. Each of these decisions can be influenced by both explicit and implicit biases. Further, these decisions are interrelated - biases that affect staffing and trustee/board members selection, for example, can lead to biases that affect decisions about grant-making. Join us as we welcome back Destiny Peery, a lawyer and social psychologist whose expertise includes how cognitive biases impact organizational decision making and outcomes, as she engages attendees about these issues in this interactive virtual session. She will help attendees identify potential biases and call attention to the unique ways that biases may manifest during a time when we’re all relying more heavily on virtual rather than in-person interactions, both for work with colleagues as well as with external partners including grantees and grant applicants.

    Speaker:
    Destiny Peery, JD/PhD Law, Social Science, and Diversity Researcher & Consultant

    Materials