National Meeting of State Access to Justice Commission Chairs

    ABA National Meeting of State Access to Justice Commission Chairs: 2020 Webinar Series

    ON DEMAND WEBINARS (NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED):

    Opening Plenary: Where is the ATJ Commission Movement Headed in the 2020s and Beyond?

    Wednesday, September 30, 2020
    View Recording Now!

    • Including welcome remarks by ABA President Trish Refo, a report on the ABArray legal aid funding data collection project, and a panel discussion with audience Q&A
    • Resources:


    Speakers:

    Introductions by Theodore Howard, Chair, ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense

    Welcome Remarks by Trish Refo, President, American Bar Association

    ABArray Legal Aid Funding Report by Shubi Deoras, Counsel/Director, ABA Resource Center for Access to Justice Initiatives

    Panel Discussion: "Where is the ATJ Commission Movement Headed in the 2020s and Beyond?"

    • Moderator: Amy Dunn Johnson, Executive Director, Arkansas Access to Justice Commission & Arkansas Access to Justice Foundation
    • Panel Speakers: Hon. Mark Juhas, Judge, Los Angeles Superior Court (Dept. 64) & Chair, California Commission on Access to Justice; Hon. Maria Araujo Kahn, Justice, Supreme Court of Connecticut & Chair, Connecticut Access to Justice Commission; and Hon. Lawrence Winthrop, Judge, Arizona Court of Appeals (Div. One) & Chair, Arizona Commission on Access to Justice

    The Urgency of Now: The Role of ATJ Commissions in Confronting Racism to Advance Civil Justice

    Monday, October 26, 2020
    View Recording Now!

    • Panel discussion with audience Q&A

    Resources:


    Panel Speakers:

    • Francis Adewale, Incoming Chair, Washington State Access to Justice Board
    • Diana Singleton, Equity and Justice Manager, Washington State Bar Association
    • Amber Floyd, Member, Tennessee Access to Justice Commission
    • Anne-Louise Wirthlin, Director of Access to Justice and Strategic Collaboration, Tennessee Supreme Court/Administrative Office of the Courts

    Closing Plenary: How to Expand Access to Justice Through Local ATJ Committees

    Thursday, October 29, 2020
    View Recording Now!

    • Panel discussion with audience Q&A plus Closing Ignite Talks

    Resources:


    Moderator:

    Shubi Deoras, Counsel/Director, ABA Resource Center for Access to Justice Initiatives

    Panel Speakers:

    • Helaine M. Barnett, Chair, New York Permanent Commission on Access to Justice;
    • Hon. Craig J. Doran, Administrative Judge for the Seventh Judicial District in New York State;
    • Hon. Daniel Taubman, Judge, Colorado Court of Appeals;
    • Toni-Anne Nunez, Director, Metro Volunteer Lawyers/Denver Bar Association

    Closing Ignite Talk:

    Cathleen Cole, Legal Information & Access Director, Arizona Bar Foundation

    Civil Legal Aid Funding in the Time of COVID-19

    The civil justice community knows that civil legal aid providers are essential front-line responders during the COVID-19 pandemic. That's because in addition to health care needs, there is a surge of COVID-19 related civil legal problems flowing from lost jobs and housing, food insecurity, debt collectors, unemployment and other public benefits, bankruptcy, increased risk of domestic violence, and more. But not all state and local government policymakers know that legal aid providers must be there to mitigate the economic and related challenges that COVID-19 affected individuals and families experience as a consequence of unemployment, social distancing orders, and employment-related health/safety risks. When Congress passed the CARES Act and appropriated funds to help state and local governments address the fallout, they gave those government decisionmakers enormous discretion about how to spend billions of dollars. Join us on Friday, June 26th at 1:00 pm EST to hear how some legal aid leaders persuaded those government decisionmakers to fund help for the tsunami of legal issues that are already flowing from the crisis.

    Panel Speakers:

    • Shubi Deoras, Counsel/Director, ABA Resource Center for Access to Justice Initiatives
    • Karen A. Lash, Practitioner-in-Residence and Director, The Justice in Government Project at American University School of Public Affairs
    • Jim Bamberger, Director, Washington State Office of Civil Legal Aid
    • Patrick Cicero, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network
    • Stephanie Harris, Director of Development, Ohio State Legal Services Association

    Co-Hosted By:

    Resources:

    PAST WEBINARS: SPEAKERS AND RESOURCES

    Table Talks II

    Wednesday, October 28, 2020
    Zoom meeting

    • Facilitated breakout discussions; attendees may choose among 8 different Table Talk topics 

    Speakers & Resources:

    Table 1: Legal Tech: Bench and Bar Ethical Considerations (Facilitator: Zach Zarnow, Consultant, National Center for State Courts)

    Table 2: Advancing Access to Justice Through UPL Reform (Facilitator: David Udell, Executive Director, National Center for Access to Justice)

    Table 3: Lessons Learned from Collaborating with the Tech Industry (Facilitators: Nalani Fujimori Kaina, Executive Director, Legal Aid Society of Hawaii; Glenn Rawdon, Senior Program Counsel for Technology, Legal Services Corporation)

    Table 4: Mind the Gap: Who is Addressing Issues at the Intersection of Criminal and Civil Law? (Facilitators: Hon. Michelle M. Keller, Justice, Kentucky Supreme Court and Chair, Kentucky Access to Justice Commission; Monte Mollere, Access to Justice Director, Louisiana State Bar Association; Amy Duncan, Access to Justice Training & Projects Counsel, Louisiana State Bar Association)

    Table 5: Limited Scope Representation and Language Access: Challenges and Solutions (Facilitator: Hon. Maria Araujo Kahn, Justice, Connecticut Supreme Court and Chair, Connecticut Access to Justice Commission)

    Table 6: Engaging Private Bar and Philanthropy in Statewide Fundraising Efforts for Civil Legal Aid (Facilitators: Jennifer Bentley, Executive Director, Michigan State Bar Foundation; Patricia Pap, Executive Director, Management Information Exchange)

    Table 7: Justice For All Project Update and Governance Issues (Facilitator: Danielle Hirsch, Principal Court Management Consultant, National Center for State Courts)

    Table 8: Free Legal Answers: A Component of Your State’s Delivery System (Facilitator: Cheryl Zalenski, Counsel, ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service)

    Table Talks I

    Wednesday, October 14, 2020

    • Facilitated breakout discussions; attendees may choose among 6 different Table Talk topics

    Speakers and Resources:

    Table 1: A Bulwark Against the Tsunami: The Right to Counsel in Housing Court in the COVID-19 Era
    (Facilitator: John Pollock, Coordinator, National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel)

    Table 2: Implementing a Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable (LAIR) Program at the State Level: Organization, Strategy, Progress Report
    (Facilitators: Karen Lash, Practitioner-in-Residence, Justice Programs Office Director, The Justice in Government Project, Justice Programs Office, American University; Hon. Lawrence Winthrop, Judge, Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One, and Chair, Arizona ATJ Commission); Susan Finegan, Member, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C., and Co-Chair, Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission.

    Table 3: The Buzz from the Beltway
    (Facilitators: Ronald S. Flagg, President, Legal Services Corporation; Don Saunders, Senior Vice President, Policy, NLADA)

    Table 4: Transforming Services for SRLs Through Technology & Justice Community Partnership
    (Facilitators: David A. Colarusso , Practitioner in Residence & Director, Legal Innovation & Technology Lab, Suffolk University Law School; Nancy Drane, Executive Director, D.C. Access to Justice Commission; Carolyn Goodwin, Director, Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission; Mirenda Meghelli, Partnerships Manager, Pro Bono Net)

    Table 5: Using Data to Select ATJ Policies for ATJ Commissions to Pursue
    (Facilitator: Jamie Gamble, Senior Counsel and Director for Justice Index Project, National Center for Access to Justice)

    Table 6: Rural Outreach Initiatives and Mapping the Rural Attorney Shortage
    (    Facilitator: Amy Johnson, Executive Director, Arkansas Access to Justice Commission/Arkansas Access to Justice Foundation)

    Questions?

    Please contact Shubi Deoras, Counsel/Director, ABA Resource Center for Access to Justice Initiatives,  at shubi.deoras@americanbar.org.