Workshops Archive 2019

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Workshop Sessions A-E

50 New Tech Tips

David Bonebrake, Legal Services Corporation, dc, DC 
Liz Keith, Pro Bono Net, San Francisco, CA 
Glenn Rawdon, Legal Services Corporation, Washington, DC 
Jane Ribadeneyra , Legal Services Corporation, Portland, OR 

Members of the legal aid technology community present 50 new technology tips! This fast-paced session will provide tips about free and low-cost tools, apps and software covering a broad range of topics that everyone can use.

Available Materials

A Multi-Tiered Approach to Providing Access to the Courts by People in Prison

Greg Belzley, Belzley, Bathurst & Bentley, Prospect, KY 
Nicole Godfrey, University of Denver Sturm College of Law, Denver, CO 
Greg McConnell, Winston & Strawn, Chicago, IL 
Alan Mills , Uptown People's Law Center, Chicago, IL 

Prisoners have a large unmet need for legal services, and extraordinary difficulty in connecting with counsel willing to represent them. This panel will explore a multi-tiered approach to addressing this unmet need, including court appointment of and support for lawyers, pro bono representation, not-for-profit advice and mentoring, and private lawyers either working on a contingent fee basis or charging modest fees. Participants will leave with a broader understanding of the legal needs of those in prison and concrete steps to design a more robust system to meet those legal needs.

Available Materials

ABA Free Legal Answers Live!

Tali Albukerk, American Bar Association, Chicago, IL 

Pro Bono Service and Camaraderie -- what could be more fun! Grab your laptop or tablet, bring a cup of coffee and join your colleagues in the excitement of providing online pro bono service answering civil legal questions for low income residents of your state. Learn how easy it is to use ABA Free Legal Answers and make a difference at the same time. It’s easy to sign up and provide pro bono remotely. If you have not already done so, please visit ABAFreeLegalAnswers.org and click on "Volunteer Attorney Registration" to register your attorney account in advance.

Advancing Equity from the Inside Out

Janet Chung , Columbia Legal Services , Seattle, WA 
Kimberly Merchant, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, Chicago, IL 
Jennifer Werdell , JustLead Washington, Seattle, WA 

While our organizations increasingly emphasize strategies to address racial inequities and center community priorities, how do we make sure we are walking our talk and not perpetuating inequities internally across dimensions like hiring and priority-setting? This interactive workshop will introduce tools to help participants kickstart an equity assessment and plan

.Available Materials

All Rise for Civil Justice - The New Digital Storytelling Campaign

Elizabeth Arledge, Voices for Civil Justice, Washington, DC 
Sam Scarrow, Voices for Civil Justice, Washington, DC 

Perceptions of the civil legal system and the kinds of cases it handles are commonly outdated or just plain wrong. Well-told stories (e.g. sans the legal gobbledygook) are arguably our most powerful tools for helping people understand the role of civil justice in solving many of the biggest problems communities face. All Rise for Civil Justice, Voices for Civil Justice’s new storytelling campaign, aims to help us all use stories effectively in this digital age we live in. Come learn about the All Rise campaign to see how its tools and resources can help you tell powerful stories. 

Ambiguous Results, Political Fallout, and Other Fears: Working with Academics to Research the Impact of Legal Services

Joanna George Allison , Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association, Boston, MA 
April Faith-Slaker , Harvard Access to Justice Lab, Cambridge, MA 
John Pollock , National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel, Baltimore, MD 
Dr. Rebecca L. Sandefur, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 

Partnerships between legal services organizations and researchers can be challenging. Such collaborations involve working towards a shared goal, while at the same time, achieving goals that are unique to each partner and that may conflict. The panelists will facilitate a candid discussion about how to handle ambiguous results, address the different ways researchers and legal services organizations may describe the results, manage the political fallout from results that may appear negative, decide who has the right to publish the results and when, and other fears, as well as some best practices that have emerged.

Available Materials

Better Together: How Successful Collaborations Make Us Stronger and More Effective

Annie Pineda, Bronx Defenders, Bronx, NY 
Laren Spirer, Columbia Law School, New York, NY 
Ben Weinberg, Dentons, Chicago, IL 

This session will discuss how formal and informal cross-organization and institutional collaborations can be used in various ways to create community, leverage connections, and combine resources to achieve short or long term goals and increase access to justice. In using several successful public interest and private sector examples of established and new coalitions as case studies, we will look at how groups can multiply their impact by working with others towards a common goal. We will talk about the stories behind why these groups were established, their goals, how they accomplish the change they envision, and how these collaborations are sustained over time.

Available Materials

Beyond #MeToo : Empowering Survivors and Their Allies with the Law

Sophie Gagnon, Juripop, Saint-Constant, QC 
Diana Toffa, Éducaloi, Montréal, QC 

The #MeToo movement revealed how survivors struggle to obtain justice through the legal system. This session explores ways in which legal professionals can become trusted intermediaries between survivors and courts. It is aimed at community lawyers, frontline workers and allies hoping to play their part in the post-#MeToo era.

Available Materials

Beyond Band Aids: How to Manage Pro Bono Catastrophes

Brenna K. DeVaney, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Chicago, IL 
Jennifer L. Kroman, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP , New York, NY 
Annie Pineda , The Bronx Defenders, Bronx, NY 

While minor issues and challenges occur regularly in pro bono collaborations, major breakdowns are less frequent but can have devastating effects for clients, organizations, and pro bono partners. This session will explore what happens when such a breakdown occurs and how to recover when disaster strikes. Through a facilitated discussion and case studies, participants will leave with concrete strategies for managing pro bono crises when they happen. 

Building Real Estate Pro Bono Projects That Protect Vulnerable Communities

Kurt M. Denk, City Bar Justice Center, New York , NY 
K. Scott Kohanowski, City Bar Justice Center, New York, NY 
Jamie Ann Porco, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP , New York, NY 

This presentation will profile an equal justice framework and provide practical tips for developing real estate and finance pro bono projects. Learn how to leverage private bar resources to serve low and moderate income and other vulnerable homeowners, with a goal of keeping individuals in their homes and their communities intact. Participants will learn how to identify threats to vulnerable communities, develop attorney skill sets needed to secure homeowner stability, and develop pro bono programs focused on keeping vulnerable individuals in their homes.

Available Materials

Building Your LGBT Practice

Xander Karsten, LegalServer, San Francisco, CA 
Lillian Moy, Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Albany, NY 
Milo Primeaux, Just Roots Consulting, Dansville, NY 

Now is an excellent time to build a legal practice focused on serving the unique needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) individuals and communities. Whether you're in private practice or working at a legal services organization, in the beginning stages of hatching an idea or already have a full-fledged LGBTQ Law Unit up and running, we will offer invaluable tips and strategies to help you avoid common challenges and pitfalls, and to build a practice that is both successful and sustainable. In this session we will cover: community needs assessments, advisory committees, and priority setting; securing the right staff trainings and professional development resources; developing specific legal and cultural expertise; nurturing relationships with and remaining accountable to multiple intersecting client communities; building LGBTQ+ attorney leadership pipelines; responsibly winding down a project or practice when it's time; and developing a supportive internal infrastructure of client engagement and data collection that will endure long after your dedicated funding streams and/or personal enthusiasm for the project comes to its natural end.

Available Materials

Centralizing and Specializing Legal Services: TurboTax for Bankruptcy

Rohan Pavuluri, Upsolve , New York, NY 
Kimberly Sanchez , Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida , Orlando, FL 

Upsolve is the first national technology-enabled direct legal services nonprofit. We hope to share our story and learning from getting off the ground over the last three years. Combining the power of attorneys and technology, we allow anyone in the country to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy for free.

Available Materials

Children’s Law Center, Inc.: Using Partnerships and Collaborations to Provide Access to Justice to Children and Youth.

Amanda Bear, Children's Law Center, Covington, KY 
Acena Beck, Children's Law Center, Covington, KY 
Jean A. Deters, Psy.D., Select Psychological Services, Lakeside Park, KY 
Amy E. Halbrook, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, KY 
Serene Holthe, National Juvenile Defender Center, Washington, DC 
Howard Tankersley, Children's Law Center, Covington, KY 

This session will explore how CLC, a non-profit legal services organization, provides access to justice for children and youth by leveraging partnerships with juvenile public defenders, civil legal aid organizations, community service organizations, law schools, and private sector practitioners.

Available Materials

Civil Gideon: Defending Procedural Justice in Civil Protection Order Cases

Keeshea Turner Roberts, DC Law Students In Court, Washington, DC 
Abigail Scott, DC Law Students In Court, Washington, DC 

Exploration of the Civil Protection Order Project (CPOP), a unique program providing same-day representation to indigent respondents in Civil Protection Order matters. This will tie into interactive simulations regarding challenges to client representation including, recognizing and confronting implicit and explicit biases, and link between cultural competency and effective advocacy.

Available Materials

Clinic Is Not a Four Letter Word, Part 2: Lessons Learned One Year Later

Chelsea Sahai, Legal Services NYC, New York, NY 
Stephanie Turner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, New York, NY 

At the 2018 EJC, our colleagues put forth a convincing case for the utility of legal clinics. But what does hosting a legal clinic actually entail? In this session, we will delve into what we have learned about preparing for, managing, and providing ongoing support structures for different kinds of clinics. Participants will brainstorm potential solutions to challenges that may arise in the clinic setting.

Available Materials

Closing Plenary: Social Justice 2.0

Ted Howard, Moderator, ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants, Washington, DC 
Amanda Kool, Commonwealth Commercialization Center (C3), Lexington, KY 
Melissa Lilly, Legal Aid of West Virginia, Charleston, WV 
Jesse McCoy, Duke Law Civil Justice Center, Durham, NC 

Join us for our closing panel of three social justice advocates who bring a new perspective and approach to advocacy. Our panelists will share the inspiration behind their respective projects, their goals, and how they aim to achieve them through creative solutions. 

Co-Developing Access to Justice Tech: Collaborative Design Thinking

Adam Meisel, Paladin, New York, NY 
Katherine Shank, LAF, Chicago, IL 
Kristen Sonday, Paladin, New York, NY 
Ben Weinberg, Dentons US LLP, Chicago, IL 

From Google to Twitter to Uber, all great digital product teams have learned how to apply design thinking to solve problems efficiently. But what about pro bono teams? In this session, panelists will outline the co-development process leveraged by Paladin and Dentons to collaboratively design and develop a tech-driven pro bono platform, focusing on intelligent case intake and distribution. Panelists will also share lessons learned from over a dozen research sessions with pro bono coordinators, legal aid organizations, attorneys, and others in the ecosystem. Finally, panelists will brainstorm with the audience on how to use some of these tools effectively in their own organizations.

Available Materials

Communicating with Low Income and Vulnerable Clients: Ethical Considerations and Best Practices (Ethics Session)

Ellyn Rosen, American Bar Association, Chicago, IL 

Communicating with low-income and vulnerable clients presents unique practical issues in addition to the ethical ramifications for civil legal services lawyers. Using various scenarios, this Workshop will first engage participants in a discussion about the nature of communications in this context, including the provision of unbundled and limited legal services and the use of technology tools to communicate with these clients. In terms of civil legal aid lawyers’ ethical obligations in these and other scenarios, panelists will discuss the application of Model Rules of Professional Conduct 1.1 (Competence), 1.2 (Scope of Representation), 1.4 (Communication), 1.6 (Confidentiality), and 1.18 (Prospective Clients). Attendees will discuss how to communicate with clients ethically and effectively, and in a way that is trauma-informed and builds trust.

Available Materials

Core Online Tools Your Program and Courts Need to Know to Increase Access to Justice

Vanessa Batters-Thompson, D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center , Washington, DC 
Marilyn Harp, Kansas Legal Services, Topeka, KS 
Claudia Johnson, LawHelp Interactive Pro Bono Net, Richland/Kennewick/Pasco, WA 
Margaret Hamlett Shinn, Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, Inc., Tulsa, OK 

This workshop will present core online tools that are well understood and how they are being used in variety of contexts to remove barriers to Justice. We will show how well designed websites and online forms, supported with web chat tools in strong partnerships, can create new ways to serve areas of high demand, and deepen existing services and relationships. We will hear from rural programs and an urban Court on why and how they are using websites and forms to better serve those in need. One of the examples includes using online tools and case management integration in a Family Justice Center serving DV victims. 

Creating an Easy-to-Implement Development Plan

Mary Asbury, Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 
Charmaine Torma, Charmaine Torma Consulting LLC, South Bend, IN 

The ideal development plan is a well articulated strategic plan that includes messaging, a fundraising strategies timeline, and goals. Panelists will share their expertise and practical experience applying this knowledge to create a development plan for a legal aid organization. Attendees will break down each stage of the planning process and will leave being able to create an easy-to-implement development plan for organizations of all sizes and budgets.

Available Materials

Creating and Managing Successful Eviction Diversion Programs

Peter Gilbert, Legal Aid of North Carolina, Inc., Durham, NC 
Elizabeth (Liza) Rios, Michigan Advocacy Program, LSSCM , Lansing, MI 
Donald Roberts , Legal Aid of Western Michigan, Kalamazoo, MI 

Legal Service Managers and Law School Clinic partners from Michigan and North Carolina will describe working models of Eviction Diversion programs and offer a road map to designing and managing programs that will function well in any type of legal and community environment.

Available Materials

Creating Inclusive Justice Ecosystems in Alaska and Hawaii: Insights from the Legal Navigator Initiative (ATJ/EJC Overlap Session)

Sergio Alcubilla, Legal Aid Society of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI
Amber Ivey, Pew Charitable Trusts, Washington, DC
Liz Keith, Pro Bono Net, San Francisco, CA
Glenn Rawdon, Legal Services Corporation, Washington

Legal Navigator is a pilot project that brings together technology, content and community to help people with civil legal needs more easily access legal information and referrals specific to their issues and find a path forward. This workshop will highlight developments in this project’s novel collaborations between court, legal aid and social services partners, its innovative technology strategy using artificial intelligence and natural language processing, and initial testing results. Presenters will discuss next steps in Alaska and Hawaii, work to advance this vision on a national level, and opportunities for replication in other states.

Legal Navigator is a pilot project that brings together technology, content and community to help people with civil legal needs more easily access legal information and referrals specific to their issues and find a path forward. This workshop will highlight developments in this project’s novel collaborations between court, legal aid and social services partners, its innovative technology strategy using artificial intelligence and natural language processing, and initial testing results. Presenters will discuss next steps in Alaska and Hawaii, work to advance this vision on a national level, and opportunities for replication in other states.

Available Materials

Did You Get That? Effective Strategies in Training and Technical Assistance

Ronké Hughes, Legal Services Corporation, Washington, DC 
Dina Shafey Scott, Legal Services Corporation, Washington, DC 

This session will provide the Legal Aid participants with a Training and Technical Assistance model that supports new or returning volunteers, board members, attorneys, and clients. Strategies introduced will engage attendees in Adult Learning Principles, Training Planning Models, Creating Assessment Models and incorporating Differentiated Instruction in delivery across multiple modalities.

Available Materials

Disaster Legal Tech: How Remote Services Technology and Other Online Resources Can Help Disaster Survivors

Claudia Johnson, Pro Bono Net, New York, NY 
Jess Penkoff, Pro Bono Net, New York, NY 
Laren Spirer, Columbia Law School, New York, NY 

Disaster survivors face an urgent need for legal assistance. The majority of federal aid applications are denied, and most applicants cannot access a lawyer to appeal. This session will highlight remote services technology and other online resources to mobilize volunteers and scale pro bono assistance after a disaster.

Available Materials

Economic Justice through Scam Prevention for Older Adults

Bill Campbell, U.S. Attorney's Office, WDKY, Louisville, KY 
Lisa Weintraub Schifferle, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC 
Neva-Marie Scott, Legal Aid Society, Louisville, KY 

Scams can devastate older adults, especially those who are economically disadvantaged. Learn from the FTC about trends, tips and tools to avoid scams. Then, hear from the Western Kentucky Elder Justice Coordinator and a Kentucky Legal Aid Executive Director about how to prevent scams against older adults in your community.

Available Materials

Educating Legislators about Legal Aid 2.0

Carol Bergman, Legal Services Corporation, Washington, DC 
Colleen Cotter, The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH 
Nikole Nelson, Alaska Legal Services Corporation, Anchorage, AK 
Jim Sandman, Legal Services Corporation, Washington, DC 
Betty Balli Torres, Texas Access to Justice Foundation, Austin, TX 

This session is designed to build on the workshops we have done for the past few years on how to explain legal aid as constituent services to legislators and their staff. Now that many LSC grantees and other legal aid programs have begun to develop relationships with federal and state legislators and staff, we want to identify ways to build on and expand those connections, e.g., provide training for district caseworkers; involve legislative staff in community outreach efforts. The panel will include LSC grantee Executive Directors and civil legal practitioners with experience meeting with and educating federal and state legislators and their staff. The panel will also address compliance with lobbying restrictions applicable to LSC grantees in communicating with legislators.

Available Materials

Effective Online Communications with Clients

Tali K. Albukerk, American Bar Association, Chicago, IL 
Katherine Alteneder, Self-Represented Litigation Network, Washington, DC 
Nicole Capretta, Prairie State Legal Services, Waukegan, IL 
Anna Steele, Just-Tech , Boston, MA 

As attorney-client communications go online via platforms such as ABA Free Legal Answers, LiveChat, text and email, attorneys may find it challenging to provide effective legal advice while satisfying clients’ need for instant access. This session will present best practices in providing timely, brief, thoughtful and professional online legal advice that includes plain language, effective hyperlinks, and other online tools. Panelists will discuss best practices in the context of various options for online pro bono legal service and examine the advantages and disadvantages of this type of client communication.

Available Materials

Effective Strategic Advocacy in a Time of Challenge and Change

Catherine Carr, Catherine Carr Consulting, Philadelphia, PA 
Kimberly Merchant, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, Chicago, IL 
Adam Mueller, Indiana Legal Services, Indianapolis, IN 

This session will look at concrete ideas to move legal aid work from a focus on the handling of individual cases to creative and powerful activity for changing the systems that cause client legal problems. As movements push forward - e.g. for racial justice, civil right to counsel, criminal record relief, immigration reform, adequate education, and rights to income and shelter, how can lawyers assist the clients and communities who seek justice? The presenters will discuss with the participants how legal aid lawyers and their pro bono partners can use a wide range of legal tools, including litigation, education, coalition building, data analysis, policy advocacy and media savvy, to take on strategic work that will have an impact on thousands in their client communities. This session will address management issues and roles, focusing attention on race, gender and minority issues, and innovative delivery models. The session will seek interactive conversation on how barriers to systemic work faced by both legal aid staff and their pro bono partners have been overcome, with panelists guiding participants in thinking differently about the structure, substance and outcomes of their work. 

Eighteen Ways Courts Should Use Technology to Better Serve Their Customers

John M. Greacen, Greacen Associates, LLC and Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, Regina, NM 
Angela Tripp, Michigan Legal Help Program, Ypsilanti, MI 
Dan Wallis, 22nd Judicial Circuit, Woodstock, IL 

Courts and other A2J entities traditionally use technology to address their own internal needs. A new publication from IAALS changes the conversation to focus on technologies that meet the needs of their customers. Eighteen topics, with examples, including an introduction to the new Joint Technology Committee component model software standard.

Available Materials

Empowering Tenants: Technology Interventions in Housing Justice Systems

Toby Grytafey, N/A, Toledo, OH 
Ken Johnson, Eviction Fighter, Cincinnati, OH 
Dan Kass, JustFix.nyc, New York, NY 
Quinten Steenhuis, Greater Boston Legal Services, Boston, MA 

Technology can make strong tenant protections meaningful by democratizing the legal process and empowering non-experts and lay advocates. This session will discuss open source technology and community-centered design approaches to the law and present housing technology projects with the authors from Massachusetts, Ohio, Kentucky, and New York City.

Available Materials

Engaging Corporate Law Departments in Bite-Sized Projects and Smaller Communities

Adrian Barr, Prairie State Legal Services, Bloomington, IL 
MaCharri Vorndran-Jones, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN 
Sharon W. Ware, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company , Bloomington, IL 

Learn how to increase the capacity and support for legal aid programs by engaging corporate law departments in bite-size pro bono opportunities. Participants will learn about establishing effective partnerships between corporate law departments and legal aid programs to increase the support for practical pro bono projects in smaller communities. Hear real world examples from programs which have developed working partnerships.

Available Materials

Ensuring Access to Justice in Rural Areas

Christopher Chavis , Alliance for Lawyers and Rural America, Alexandria, VA 
Amanda Kool, Commonwealth Commercialization Center, Frankfort, KY 
Heather Scheiwe Kulp, New Hampshire Judicial Branch, Concord, NH 

What is "rural America"? And how can we ensure access to equal justice in these spaces? Recent scholarship and data on the rural access to justice crisis have drawn out lessons for the legal community, and increased national attention to the plights of rural communities drives momentum for initiatives that aim to address those plights. The panelists—all dedicated public interest attorneys and educators working on behalf of rural communities—will share the latest research on rural access to justice, discuss some challenges to providing for legal needs in rural areas, and highlight many innovations in rural practice—from criminal law to housing law—being tailored and implemented to address the legal needs of rural populations. We will focus particularly on the use of technology and legal education as catalysts for change.  

Available Materials

Expanding Our Reach: The Future of Rural Service Delivery

Sarah Carver, Alaska Legal Services Corporation, Anchorage, AK 
Liz Keith, Pro Bono Net, San Francisco, CA 
Nikole Nelson, Alaska Legal Services Corporation, Anchorage, AK 

Partnering for Native Health is a multi-state collaborative project serving members of over 100 tribal nations in some of the most isolated and rural communities in the country. Panelists will discuss their project and their vision for the future that integrates post-secondary education, health care, legal aid and technology to build a community-based, culturally-appropriate legal extender network that empowers communities and provides access to justice to people living in places as far flung as Tuba City, Navajo Nation to the native Village of Selawick, Alaska.

Available Materials

Workshop Sessions F - J

Faith & Justice Alliance Pro Bono Clinics: From Inception to Action

J. William Coley, Hodges, Doughty & Carson, Knoxville, TN 
Kathryn Ellis, Legal Aid of East Tennessee , Knoxville, TN 
Rev. Lee Fox, Ball Camp Baptist Church, Knoxville, TN 

This session will show how a Faith & Justice Alliance Pro Bono Program can serve the needs of a broader range of clients by holding clinics at houses of faith from different religions and denominations, as well as different geographic areas. Many citizens who may not have the ability or the confidence to seek legal help elsewhere will attend a clinic at their church or a church in their community. This crosses economic, racial, and ethnic lines. Many Pro Bono volunteers at these clinics are drawn to the opportunity to volunteer their legal services in a way that is connected to the faith community. This alliance has now held clinics at over twelve houses of faith in and around Knoxville, providing clients who attend the clinics with advice and more extended services. Come learn how to start the conversation among interested parties, how to spread the word, and how to take action!

Available Materials

For the People: How Lawyers Must Support Community and Client-led Social Change Initiatives

Jamila Martin, 482Forward, Detroit, MI 
Jayesh Patel, Street Democracy, Detroit, MI 
Jill Williams, Homeless Persons Representation Project, Baltimore, MD 
Swapna Yeluri, Homeless Persons Representation Project , Baltimore, MD 

Lawyers and community members with lived experience will highlight strategies for pro bono or public interest lawyers to support client and community-led social justice efforts. They will identify models where lawyers worked “shoulder to shoulder” with community members to dismantle oppressive systems and policies that contribute to poverty and homelessness.

Available Materials

Gender-Based Violence Federal Legislative Update

Rebecca Henry, American Bar Association, Washington, DC 

We will review the current status and important (proposed) changes to the Violence Against Women Act, the Victims of Crime Act (assuming it is taken up before the session), and the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act. We will also review the newly passed POWER Act (Pro bono Work to Empower and Represent Act of 2018) and discuss implementation opportunities. Interactive

Available Materials

Getting to Meaningful Access to Justice for All: Lessons Learned from New York’s Justice for All Pilot

Quisquella Addison, Moderator, LawHelpNY, New York, NY 
Helaine Barnett, New York State Permanent Commission on Access to Justice , New York, NY 
Maria Dosso, Nassau Suffolk Law Services Committee , Islandia, NY 
Tina Foster, Volunteer Legal Services Project of Monroe County, Monroe County, NY 
Ken Perri, Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc, Geneva, NY 

The Justice for All project provided funding to New York to create strategic action plan to provide effective assistance to 100% of those in need. This workshop will highlight the work of two pilot regions Suffolk and Monroe Counties to implement a strategy, the challenges faced and the lessons learned.

Available Materials

Hot Topics in Civil Legal Aid

Ted Howard, ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants, Chicago, IL 
Jim Sandman, Legal Services Corporation, Washington, DC 
Don Saunders, National Legal Aid and Defender Association, Washington, DC 

This session will cover developments on a wide array of issues relevant to the delivery of civil legal aid, including: 1) LSC funding in the 116th Congress; 2) other developments at the Legal Services Corporation; 3) Access to Justice Commission highlights; 4) the future of the ABA data collection process; 4) other ABA issues; 5) The Supreme Court cy pres challenge; 6) federal developments affecting Public Service Loan Forgiveness; 7) non-LSC federal funding update; 8) developments in delivery, including the Microsoft portal project and the Justice for All initiative; and 9) other matters of interest. 

Housing, Not Handcuffs: Criminalization of Homelessness & Constructive Alternatives

Lili Graham, Community Legal Aid SoCal, Santa Ana, CA
Shayla R. Myers , Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles , Los Angeles, CA
Carol Sobel, Law Office of Carol A Sobel, Santa Monica, CA
Eric Tars, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, Washington, DC

Across the nation, persons experiencing homelessness are criminalized for their basic human needs to rest, to ask for help, to shelter themselves, and even to eat. But recent wins by attorneys using First, Fourth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment theories are forcing communities to reshape how they approach homelessness.

Available Materials

How Artificial Intelligence Can Improve LegalTech

IV Ashton, LegalServer/Houston.ai, Chicago, IL 
Abhijeet Chavan, Tyler Technologies, Los Angeles, CA 
Angela Tripp, Michigan Legal Help Program, Ann Arbor, MI 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already transforming many service professions and law is no different. While AI-related techniques and tools continue to improve at a rapid pace and become more accessible, the challenge remains in identifying how AI can be put to practical use. In this session we will present a framework for evaluating where and how AI could be implemented in legal services and present examples and case studies. We will go beyond the current hype to look at what AI can do today, what it cannot, and when it makes sense to use it. AI is very powerful technology -- too powerful to leave it to only to the technologists. The legal services community needs to engage and embrace this new technology and play a part in envisioning how it can be used to take on some of challenges of improving access to justice.

Available Materials

How We Eliminated a Cash Bail System: Lessons Learned from New Jersey

Elie Honig, Lowenstein Sandler LLP, New York, NY 
Joseph Krakora, New Jersey Public Defender, Newark, NJ 
Natalie J. Kraner, Lowenstein Sandler LLP, New York, NY 
Alexander Shalom, ACLU-NJ, Newark, NJ 

This session will provide an overview of New Jersey's successful transformation of an antiquated money bail system into a modern, risk-based system that relies on empirical evidence to better identify the risk a defendant poses. We will discuss the challenges faced in passing and implementing the law, and how it can be a model for other states.

Available Materials

I Get Diversity, But What is Inclusion? Recognizing Bias in Legal Aid

Dina Shafey Scott , Legal Services Corporation, Washington, DC 
Rhodia Thomas, MidPenn Legal Services, Harrisburg, PA 
Miguel Willis , Law School Admission Council, Newtown, PA 

This interactive workshop will examine the impact of implicit bias and explore how implicit bias manifests in our daily interactions. Strategies will address how implicit bias can manifest itself in the civil legal aid community and provide a framework for fostering and building inclusive and difficult dialogue.

Available Materials

Innovation, Data, and Promising Practices: Strengthening Capacity to Serve Older Adults

Sarah Galvan, Justice in Aging, Washington, DC 
Eva LaManna, Office of Elder Justice and Adult Protective Services , Washington, DC 
Karen Nicolson, Center for Elder Law and Justice, Buffalo, NY 

More than seven million seniors are living in poverty, and more than half of senior households experience at least one legal problem in a year. Across the country, advocates are employing innovative practices to more effectively serve and reach seniors living in poverty. This session will highlight innovative outreach methods, strategies to strengthen partnerships in the community, and explore new data collection systems to better understand the older adult population.

Available Materials

Is a "Least Restrictive Placement" the Best We Can Do for Our Children?

Hasan Davis, H.D. Solutions, Berea, KY 
Brent Pattison, Drake University Law School, Middleton Center for Children’s Rights,, Des Moines, IA 
Rita Ward, Institute for Compassion in Justice, Greater Jefferson County Education Advocacy Program, Lexington, KY 

Though the law requires that children are placed in the least restrictive setting in special education, juvenile justice and dependency cases, this does not happen for far too many children. Attendees will discuss practical resources and current research to instead reframe our advocacy to advocate for the “most connected” placement for our child clients. 

Justice and a Bus? Urban to Rural Delivery Strategies.

Jayme Cassidy, Legal Services of Greater Miami, Miami, FL 
Joshua B. Crabtree, Legal Aid of the Bluegrass, Lexington, KY 
Julia Wilson, OneJustice, San Francisco, CA 

This session will bring together perspectives from organizations that are bridging rural legal needs and urban pro bono resources - primarily through transportation but also testing other tactics. We will present lessons learned and best practices, followed by a group-wide conversation about effective implementation of these strategies and the concept of a national network to connect professionals working on these projects.

Available Materials

Workshop Sessions L - O

Leading for Fundraising Success: What Every Executive Director Should Know

Ana Cruz, Greater Boston Legal Services, Boston, MA 
Jon Laramore, Indiana Legal Services, Indianapolis, IN 
Adrienne Worthy, Legal Aid of West Virginia, Charleston, WV 

As the executive director, you are not expected to be the expert on fundraising. However, you are expected to be your organization’s leader on fundraising, and to be successful in that role there are things that you need to know and understand about how successful fundraising is accomplished. Come to this session to gain key fundraising knowledge and skills, including understanding your responsibilities, how to increase board member involvement, and how to hire and effectively support a development director. Two executive directors – one with decades of experience and one relatively new to the job – will share their insights. 

Legal Aid Collaboration in Juvenile and Criminal Records Relief

Richard Cozzola , Legal Assistance Foundation, Chicago, IL 
Sue Pak , Cabrini Green Legal Aid , Chicago, IL 
Sarah Sallen , Legal Assistance Foundation, Chicago, IL 

Innovative approaches to overcoming challenges in juvenile and adult records relief. Two legal aid agencies collaborating with law students, pro bono attorneys, and other partners to provide individual assistance and systemic improvement to overcome barriers to jobs, housing, and education through records relief and community engagement.

Available Materials

Legal Navigator: Creating Inclusive Justice Ecosystems in Alaska & Hawaii

Sergio Alcubilla, Legal Aid Society of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI
Liz Keith, Pro Bono Net, San Francisco, CA
Glenn Rawdon, Moderator,, Legal Services Corporation, Washington, DC
Erika Rickard, Esq, Pew Charitable Trusts, Washington, DC

Legal Navigator is a pilot project that brings together technology, content and community to help all people with civil legal needs more easily find a path forward. This workshop will highlight developments in this project’s novel collaborations with social services and community partners, innovative technology strategy, and initial testing results.

Legal Services for Trafficking Survivors: Best Practices in Pro Bono Partnerships

Nagwa Ibrahim , Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking , Los Angeles, CA 
Carolyn M. Kim, Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking, Los Angeles, CA 
Jessica L. Kitson, Volunteer Lawyers for Justice , Newark, NJ 
Jennifer L. Kroman, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, New York, NY 

This program will explore successful pro bono partnerships in the delivery of legal services to trafficking survivors. Panelists will offer suggestions on creating and maintain trafficking-related pro bono programs as well as tips and best practices for both the legal services providers as well as their law firm pro bono partners.

Available Materials

Legal Threats to State Bars: Potential Impact on Access to Justice Initiatives and Funding for Civil Legal Aid

Chris Buerger, National Legal Aid & Defender Association, Washington, DC
Jeff Brown, State Bar of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Don Saunders, National Legal Aid & Defender Association, Washington, DC
Maria Thomas-Jones, Legal Aid of Northwest Texas, Fort Worth, TX

The recent decision of the United States Supreme Court in Janus v. AFSCME, 585 U.S. 16 (2018), has created new challenges for mandatory bar associations and providers of civil legal aid, affecting the earlier ruling in Keller v. State Bar of California, 496 U.S. 1 (1990), which supported many of the programs of fully integrated state bars. The Supreme Court’s recent remand in the 8th Circuit case of Fleck v. Wetch, 868 F.3d 652 (2017), on Janus grounds, and a Texas federal court challenge to the state bar’s access to justice initiatives and funding of civil legal aid have left a cloud of uncertainty among bar leaders, access to justice advocates, and civil legal aid programs. This session will explain these cases’ potential impact and engage participants in a discussion of next steps in preparing a community response.

Linking Victims and Civil Legal Services: Serving Underserved Populations through Partnership

Sarah Capps Hayes, Kentucky Legal Aid, Bowling Green, KY 
Tori Hardin Henninger, Barren River Area Safe Space, Inc. , Bowling Green, KY 
Kristy Vick-Stratton, Kentucky Legal Aid, Bowling Green, KY 

Forging lasting partnerships among victim advocacy organizations is essential to linking victims and civil legal services. Learn how a civil legal aid program collaborated with area domestic violence and rape crisis shelters to craft an outreach program to link rurally isolated and impoverished victims of crime and interpersonal violence with services.

Available Materials

Major Immigration Updates: Asylum and Other Hot Topics

Robyn Barnard, Human Rights First, Los Angeles, CA 
Nareeneh Sohbatian, Winston & Strawn LLP, Los Angeles, CA 

The session will focus on recent changes and developments in substantive immigration law. It will provide attendees an in-depth look at recent policy and legal developments pertaining to asylum claims and other immigration issues. Specifically, it will address recent changes in the adjudications of affirmative and defensive asylum claims. 

Available Materials

Making Effective Use of "Nonlawyer" Navigators in State Courts: an Emerging Consensus (ATJ/EJC Overlap Session)

Mary E. McClymont, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC 
Dr. Rebecca L. Sandefur, The American Bar Foundation; University of Illinois, Chicago, IL 

With the increasing number of self-represented litigants in the state courts, many people without legal help continue to face the danger of losing their families, their homes, and their livelihoods. Yet an array of solutions along a continuum of services are on the rise to help serve more litigants who lack representation so we can achieve 100% access to justice for all. One such innovation will be highlighted in this session. Panelists will share findings from a study of the Justice Lab at Georgetown University Law Center which undertook a national landscape survey of programs in the state courts that use “non-lawyer” navigator personnel who come from outside the court to help self-represented litigants with their civil legal problems. These programs are being encouraged/developed by judges and court staff, legal aid lawyers, other non-profit leaders and access to justice commissions. The panelists will share key program models they identified and offer practical considerations for the design of programs. Panelists will also solicit experiences from others who are attending the session who have run/created such navigator programs. 

MIE Roundtable for Legal Services Executive Directors and Managers

Jennifer Bentley, Michigan State Bar Foundation , Lansing, MI 
Catherine Carr, Management Information Exchange, Philadelphia, PA 

This forum provides legal services executive directors and managers with an opportunity to share management concerns and receive peer support and assistance in an informal and confidential setting. The roundtable will be facilitated by members of the Management Information Exchange Board of Directors. 

New Age of Immigration: Impact on Communities of Color

Tanya Douglas, Manhattan Legal Services, New York, NY 

The landscape of immigration is influx. Experts will provide an overview on ways people enter and remain in United States and how they can stay here or change their status once here as the backdrop to this panel discussion. The bulk of the discussion will center on what's currently going on in the country in terms of enforcement, DACA, ICE in the courthouses and during ICE check-ins, the travel ban, and TPS, and how advocates who do not practice in this area can flag and prepare for immigration issues and the impact of the current policies and consequences for immigrants of color they may represent. 

Nonlawyer Navigators in State Courts: An Emerging Consensus

Mary E. McClymont, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC 
Dr. Rebecca L. Sandefur, The American Bar Foundation; University of Illinois, Chicago, IL 

With the increasing number of self-represented litigants in the state courts, many people without legal help continue to face the danger of losing their families, their homes, and their livelihoods. Yet an array of solutions along a continuum of services are on the rise to help serve more litigants who lack representation so we can achieve 100% access to justice for all. One such innovation will be highlighted in this session. Panelists will share findings from a study of the Justice Lab at Georgetown University Law Center which undertook a national landscape survey of programs in the state courts that use “non-lawyer” navigator personnel who come from outside the court to help self-represented litigants with their civil legal problems. These programs are being encouraged/developed by judges and court staff, legal aid lawyers, other non-profit leaders and access to justice commissions. The panelists will share key dimensions of programs they identified and offer practical considerations for the design of programs. Panelists will welcome experiences from others who are attending the session who have run/created such navigator programs. 

Oh the Places That You'll Go! Strategic Pro Bono Planning Roadmap

Ericka Garcia , Collaborative Justice Partners, Orlando, FL 
Julia Wilson, OneJustice, San Francisco, CA 

How can you get to Great Places without a road map? Participants, with the help of Dr. Seuss’ library & facilitators, will start outlining the road map, including pitfalls, to creating a strategic pro bono plan that’s intentional, collaborative & transformative for the local pro bono ecosystem.

Available Materials

Outcomes-Based Financing for Civil Legal Aid: If Not Now, When?

Navjeet K. Bal, Social Finance (US), Boston, MA 
Matthew Burnett, Open Society Foundations, New York, NY 
Lillian Moy, Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Albany, NY 
Holly Stevens, Children's Law Center, Washington, DC 

A conversation exploring the use of outcomes as a base for funding civil legal services. The panel will present Social Finance’s research on the feasibility of Pay for Success (PFS) models to expand civil access to justice using outcomes or performance-based financing structures that direct public and private dollars to what works. Will committing to outcomes force us to focus? Will it invite creaming? Is there even an evidence-base for our work? The use of outcomes data for funders and for focusing our mission, vision and staff will also be explored.

Available Materials

Workshop Sessions P - S

Powering Elder Justice through Legal Health Check-Up Partnerships

Sarah Carver, Alaska Legal Services Corporation, Anchorage, AK 
Sarah Galvan, Justice in Aging, Washington, DC 
Shah’ada Shaban, Legal Services of Northern California - Shasta Regional Office, Redding, CA 
Molly M.K. White, Center for Elder Law & Justice, Buffalo, NY 

This session will highlight how technology can enable innovative partnerships and service delivery models that further elder justice, and combat financial exploitation and elder abuse. This interactive lecture will include a discussion of these tools and the technology powering them, and how they are being utilized across the U.S.

Available Materials

Practical Implications & Best Practices: Balancing Affirmative Litigation

Victoria Esposito, Legal Aid Society of Northeastern NY, Albany, NY 
Elisha Gomez, Lakeshore Legal Aid, Detroit, MI 
Erica Ludwick, Legal Aid Society of Northeastern NY, Amsterdam, NY 

This session will examine best practices and practical implications of balancing affirmative litigation with an already demanding caseload in an effort to discuss the importance of affirmative litigation as a tool to further advance client rights and improve outcomes. Panel includes perspectives from an advocacy coordinator, managing attorney, and staff attorney. This includes practical skills in time management, caseload handling, and work-life balance necessary to take on affirmative litigation while handling a regular caseload.

Available Materials

Preparing Legal Aid for the Law Students of Tomorrow

Sara Agate , Kent Law School, Chicago, IL 
Stacy Butler , University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, Tuscon, AZ
Anna Steele , Just-Tech, Boston, MA 
Miguel Willis , Law School Admissions Council, Seattle, WA 

Through classes, clinics, and labs, law students around the country are learning how to use technology to develop tools that help increase access to justice. The legal aid community should be well prepared to fully utilize these unique skill sets as law students enter the legal aid community. 

Pro Bono Data Analytics for Improving Your Program and Expanding Funding

Karl A. Doss, Legal Services Corporation of Virginia, Richmond, VA 
Ericka Garcia, Collaborative Justice Partners, Orlando, FL 
Ken Smith, Ph.D., The Resource Center for Great Programs, Inc., Grants Pass, OR 
John E. Whitfield, Blue Ridge Legal Services, Harrisonburg, VA 

Many pro bono programs struggle with data collection and grant reporting. This session will explore cutting-edge data analytic techniques being applied in Florida and Virginia for evaluating and improving pro bono case output, volunteer lawyer recruitment, retention, and utilization, donated pro bono hours, and law firm fundraising. Participants will hear directly from developers of innovative new data analytic methods and learn how to apply these methods to their own program. 

Reach Diverse Populations through Adaptation of the MLP Model

Rose Carmen Goldberg , Swords to Plowshares, San Francisco, CA 
Ann C. Mangiameli, Health, Education & Law Project at Legal Aid of Nebraska, Omaha, NE 
Krista Selnau , Equal Justice Works, Washington, DC 
Kelly Shaw-Sutherland , Legal Aid of Nebraska , Omaha, NE 

Reaching diverse populations requires innovation. The Medical Legal Partnership (MLP) model is a proven community lawyering initiative. While designed for the healthcare system, elements are transferable to other systems and populations typically served by Legal Aid. Learn the models’ core elements, how it promotes client-focused services and outcomes, and strategies for adaptation more broadly in a Legal Aid organization.

Available Materials

Recognizing & Responding to Microaggressions in the Legal Services Workplace

Tanya Douglas, Manhattan Legal Services, New York, NY 
Michelle Kraus, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, Inc. , New York, NY 
Lillian Moy, Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New YorkLegal , Albany, NY 
Milo Primeaux, Just Roots Consulting LLC, Dansville, NY 

Microaggressions: micro-insults, micro-invalidations and micro-assaults can be based on race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age or disability. How do we recognize and respond to microaggressions amongst the staff, private attorneys, clients and the court? How do we want to be told that we have committed a microaggression? Whether we are the recipient, observer or speaker, we will examine the pros and cons of each such response.

Available Materials

Resilient + Ready: Collaboration Strategies to Strengthen Disaster Response

Katherine Asaro, North Carolina Pro Bono Resource Center, Raleigh, NC 
Ariadna Godreau Aubert, Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 
Liz Keith, Pro Bono Net, San Francisco, CA 
Norah Rogers, Moderator,, Nelson Mullins, Columbia, SC 

This workshop will explore how hard hit disaster regions, especially rural and underserved areas, can benefit from innovative partnerships that mobilize pro bono volunteers and access resources that often go untapped. Learn how recovery efforts in North Carolina and Puerto Rico have joined forces with other programs within and outside of their jurisdictions to build collaborative response networks. We will also spotlight new and forthcoming resources available through DisasterLegalAid to help communities recover, rebuild and become resilient over the long term. 

Responding to the Opioid Crisis and Helping Crime Victims: Civil Legal Aid and Federal Funding

Michael Figgins, Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City`, OK 
Karen Lash, American University's School of Public Affairs Justice Programs Office, Washington D.C., DC 
Kathrina S. Peterson, Department of Justice, Washington D.C., DC 
Radhika Singh, National Legal Aid and Defender Association, Washington, DC 

What does civil legal aid have to do with responding to the opioid crisis and helping crime victims? A lot. Legal aid providers help victims of domestic violence, elder abuse, identity theft, wage theft, financial fraud, human trafficking, child abuse and neglect, and so much more. Legal aid also has a critical role to play helping children and their caregivers when a parent has a substance use disorder, and in helping people with a SUD in their recovery. This session will provide a general overview of federal funding opportunities with a focus on the opioid crisis and crime victims. Panelists will share information, the latest trends, and experiences tapping into funding opportunities from the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, as well as other federal funding streams to support this important work.

Available Materials

Securing Safe Housing in Detroit and Beyond

Marie DeFer, Lakeshore Legal Aid, Detroit, MI 
Linda Jordan, Lakeshore Legal Aid, Detroit, MI 
Stephanie Moes, Legal Aid Society of Southwest Ohio, Cincinnati, OH 
Steve Sharpe, Legal Aid Society of Southwest Ohio, Cincinnati, OH 

Presenters will guide an interactive discussion among advocates about inequity in rental housing in Detroit, tenants rights and recent city enforcement efforts. The information and ideas generated during the panel will encourage participants to think critically about strategies to address housing inequity in their cities and inspire collaborative problem solving.

Available Materials

Setting the Standard(s): Best Practices for Supervision of Domestic & Sexual Violence

Alicia Aiken, Confidentiality Institute, Evanston, IL 
Vivian Huelgo, ABA Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence, Washington, DC 
Jamie Perez, Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, Atlanta, GA 
Susheela Varky, Virginia Poverty Law Center, Richmond, VA 
Matt Wilkins, Alaska Native Justice Center, Anchorage, AK 

We will give EJC attendees a "sneak peek" at our brand new product, a DOJ-OVW funded best practices guide for supervision of DSV attorneys both staff and volunteer. Through an engaging discussion we will work through the intersectional themes and suggestions of the best practices guide. We will share common examples and strategies for success and transformative leadership for multigenerational staff and volunteer attorneys working with vulnerable and traumatized clients.

Available Materials

Shark Tank: Pro Bono Innovation Fund Edition

Jennifer Cuesta, Colorado Legal Services, Denver, CO 
Adam Heintz, Legal Services NYC, New York, NY 
Rachel Riemenschneider, The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH 
Kate White, Legal Aid of West Virginia , Charleston, WV 

The Pro Bono Innovation Fund Shark Tank will invigorate entrepreneurship and replication in legal aid pro bono. Four Pro Bono Innovation Fund grantee “Innovators” have been selected to inspire you to do pro bono more efficiently and effectively with meaningful client impact. Innovators will pitch a breakthrough product, concept, or service from their Pro Bono Innovation Fund projects for the chance to star in the next LSC Pro Bono Innovation Lab. Audience members will be the Sharks, whose job it is to identify the most promising replications that the Pro Bono Innovation Fund has to offer. Sharks will bring the perspective of diverse pro bono models and communities across the country, and will sink their teeth into Innovators’ ideas to test the strength and viability of replication. This session will use Poll Everywhere to capture live results to select the Shark Tank winner and allow the audience to provide feedback to each Innovator. 

Snaps and Posts and Tweets -- Oh My!

Diego Cartagena, Bet Tzedek Legal Services, Los Angeles, CA 
Angela Inzano, The Chicago Bar Foundation, Chicago, IL 
Vidhya Ragunathan, Inner City Law Center, Los Angeles, CA 

This session will highlight how legal services providers can and do use social media and online platforms to improve pro bono and volunteer programs. Panelists will discuss using such platforms to place time-sensitive cases, better understand volunteer interests, gauge availability, target larger and more diverse groups of volunteers, effectively disseminate information, and solve some of the most frequently-seen problems in volunteer engagement.

Available Materials

State Funding Roundtable

Jennifer Bentley, Michigan Bar Foundation, Lansing, MI
Shubi Deoras, American Bar Association, Chicago, IL
April Faith-Slaker, Harvard Access to Justice Lab, Cambridge, MA
Don Saunders, NLADA, Washington, DC

This session will focus on efforts to raise state legislative funding for civil legal aid. Roundtable participants will have an opportunity to share ideas and strategies being used for state funding efforts during 2019. They will also hear about the new ABA data collection process used to support state legislative efforts and hear about available technical assistance and training resources to bolster revenue enhancement efforts.

Strategic Advocacy against Automated System Bias

Anna Dorn-Gulotta, Komengé © LLC, Tempe, AZ 
Alex Gulotta, Komengé © LLC, Tempe, AZ 
à de Gulotta, Komengé © LLC, Tempe, AZ 
Kevin De Liban, Legal Aid of Arkansas, West Memphis, AR 
Julia Simon-Mishel, Philadelphia Legal Assistance, Philadephia, PA 
David Udell, National Center for Access to Justice at Fordham Law, New York, NY 

We will discuss the variety of automated systems that may affect your community and provide specific examples of how those systems are used to make civil and criminal justice decisions. We will focus on strategic advocacy to address the ways in which these systems succeed and fail.

Available Materials

Strategic, Scenario Planning: How to Move Your Civil Legal Aid Firm Forward

Lillian O. Johnson, Community Legal Services, Phoenix, AZ 
Aurora Martin, popUPjustice, Seattle, WA 
Lillian Moy, Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, Albany, NY 

This workshop will address current examples in strategic planning and scenario planning; what is the difference? How will either move your legal aid firm forward? What are new ways to engage and gain insights for an adaptive strategic or scenario plan? What is the right level of staff and board involvement? We will consider the planning processes used at a number of legal aid programs so that audience members will get a sampling of what is most current. Key priorities at programs include succession planning, race equity and increasing our impact.

Available Materials

Strategies and Tips for Maintaining/Restoring Legal Services and ATJ Funding in the Government Arena (ATJ/EJC Overlap Session)

Hon. Michelle Keller, Kentucky Supreme Court, Frankfort, KY 
Jason Nemes, Kentucky General Assembly, Louisville, KY 

The Legal Aid and ATJ funding was completely eliminated in Kentucky in 2018 by the Executive Branch. Key allies in the Legislative and Judicial Branches went to work to restore funding. They hope their story will be illustrative for other states facing similar hostile funding environments.

Available Materials

Workshop Sessions T-Z

Talking about Clients: Honoring Stories, Communicating Needs, and Disrupting Essentialist Narratives

Hamra Ahmad, Esq, Her Justice, New York, NY 
Piper Anderson, Create Forward, New York, NY 
Elizabeta (Liz) Markuci, Volunteers of Legal Service , New York, NY 

This session will explore the language we use when discussing our clients with various audiences, including funders, pro bono partners, the media, and ourselves. We will discuss examples that are disrupting “good”, “deserving”, or otherwise essentialist client narratives, and share strategies that embrace community informed story-telling.

Available Materials

Tapping into Tech: Strategies for Integrating Tech Tools into Pro Bono Recruitment and Retention

Nancy Anderson, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Washington, DC 
Mike Grunenwald, Pro Bono Net, New York, NY 
Jacek Pruski, We the Action, Wasington, DC 
Laurie Rashidi-Yazd, Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Atlanta, GA 

You already realize that technology needs to play a central role in mobilizing and supporting your pro bono volunteers. You’ve even selected some tech tools to support your program. But now you’re wondering, how do I use these tools most effectively? In this session, we will discuss strategies for effective use of tech tools for recruiting, organizing, managing, and retaining volunteers. Panelists will share how they are using tech to make it easier—and more enjoyable—for lawyers to take on pro bono work and mobilize volunteer lawyers towards pressing needs. Participants will be able to identify specific strategies they can employ in their own programs. 

The Intersection of Health Care and Immigration: Tackling the "Public Charge" Rule through Pro Bono Involvement

Scott Fishman, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, Los Angeles, CA 
Alvaro M. Huerta, National Immigrant Law Center, Los Angeles, CA 
Mara Youdelman, National Health Law Program, Washington, DC 

Health care and immigration have found themselves under attack in the Trump Administration. The new proposed "public charge" rule merges these two issues as it threatens health care for immigrant individuals and families. This session will highlight innovative ways nonprofits and law firms are working together to address these issues.

Available Materials

The Kids Are Alright: Strategies for Pro Bono Work with Immigrant Children

BJ Jensen, Paul Weiss, New York, NY 
Chelsea Sahai, LSNYC, New York, NY 
Kaavya Viswanathan, The Door, New York, NY 

Session will cover best practices for pro bono representation of immigrant children in removal proceedings, offering practical suggestions for law firms and LSPs to successfully collaborate.

Available Materials

The Marriage of Pro Bono and Fund Development: Challenges and Opportunities for Making It a Win-Win for All Concerned

Ana Cruz, Greater Boston Legal Services, Boston, MA 
Bob Glaves, The Chicago Bar Foundation, Chicago, IL 
Melissa Gonzalez, Greater Boston Legal Services, Boston, MA 
Kelly Tautges, Faegre Baker Daniels LLP, Minneapolis, MN 

Pro bono and fund development can work in hand in hand to increase engagement and support for a legal aid program when the two functions are strategically integrated. This panel will be an interactive discussion of challenges, opportunities, and best practices for identifying what works, what doesn’t, and what you can do to most effectively increase funding and pro bono assistance from the legal community. 

The Power of the Portal: Building Partnerships to Enhance Statewide Sites

Ryan Carter, Parachute Media , Nashville, TN 
Kirsten Jacobson, Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services , Nashville, TN 
Tom Martin, LawDroid Ltd, Vancouver, BC 

West Tennessee Legal Services and Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services built strategic partnerships to enhance user experience on their statewide portal, HELP4TN.org. Their team developed a document- automating chatbot and benchmarked internet marketing best practices and strategy. This session explores how they built their team of experts and demonstrates a consumer and data driven approach to site updates. 

The Use of Technology and Innovative Collaborations to Improve Victim Access to Legal Services

Tim Baran, LawHelp NY, New York, NY
Kazi Houston, Rocky Mountain Victim Law Center, Denver, CO
Remla Parthasarathy, Empire Justice Center, New York, NY

This session highlights innovative collaborations that use technology to improve crime victims’ access to legal information and resources. Panelists from New York and Colorado will share what they have learned developing and implementing victim legal assistance networks that address the various needs faced by individuals in the aftermath of victimization.

Available Materials

Top Ten Best Policies for State and Local Fines and Fees Regimes

Lisa Foster, Fines & Fees Justice Center, New York, NY 
David Udell, National Center for Access to Justice, New York, NY 

Across the country, legislators annually close gaps in their budgets by imposing fines and fees on individuals caught up in state and local justice systems. These hidden taxes have become a significant part of state and local government financing but they are harmful and regressive. They exacerbate racial disparities, penalize people for being poor, undercut the integrity of the justice system, and prevent people from escaping poverty. Reform efforts are accelerating. But what are the best governmental policies and practices? Join us in this conversation that can be helpful in your own work and that can also help to align strategic reform initiatives that advocates are pursuing across the country. Panelists and the full group will consider strengths and weaknesses of approaches that include eliminating driver’s license suspensions for failure to pay court debt, making "inability to pay" hearings real, capping municipal revenue from fines and fees, allowing community service, requiring impact statements before adoption of new fines and fees, and more.

Available Materials

Top Ten Best State Laws & Policies for Pro Bono

Jamie Gamble, Justice Index Project, New York, NY 
Alyssa Saunders, Pro Bono Institute, Washington, DC 
Cheryl Zalenski, ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service, Chicago, IL 

Join this panel discussion about how some states have been improving pro bono services and culture, and how yours can too, by adopting laws, rules and policies which promote pro bono participation, such as (i) requiring pro bono service as a condition to becoming licensed for law practice; (ii) permitting attorneys who take pro bono cases to earn credit toward mandatory CLE requirements; (iii) requiring attorneys to report on certain aspects of pro bono service to maintain their professional licenses to practice; and (iv) waiving professional license requirements for law professors, in-house counsel, retired and inactive attorneys and for out-of-state attorneys assisting individuals and families in a state impacted by a disaster. At the conclusion of the session, we will identify a suggested set of best laws, rules and policies for supporting pro bono, and the reasons for and against the inclusion of each.

Available Materials

Training Attorneys with Virtual Reality

Drew Amoroso, DueCourse, San Francisco, CA 
Gloria Chun, Justice & Diversity Center of The Bar Association of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 
Matthew Stubenberg, Access to Justice Lab at Harvard Law School, Cambrdiged, MA 

Virtual Reality (VR) is quickly being recognized as a great tool for training people in multiple fields. In San Francisco we are using VR to train pro bono attorneys in how to conduct landlord/tenant negotiations. We will explain what VR is and how your organization can join the VR revolution. 

Training the Equal Justice Warriors of the Future

Stacy Butler, University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, Tucson, AZ 
Kimball Dean Parker , Brigham Young University Law School, Provo, UT 

Is legal education doing enough to train the next generation of equal justice warriors? In the first part of this session, we'll share the lessons learned from the collaboration between University of Arizona College of Law's Innovation for Justice Program and BYU Law's LawX legal design lab. These two legal education innovation initiatives teamed up in a fall course that tackled the problem of eviction across two jurisdictions, with an eye toward training students to create A2J solutions that scale. In the second half of the session, we'll flip the classroom and ask attendees to teach us: what should we be teaching students, so that they graduate ready to join your ranks and continue the fight for equal justice? And to make sure we're busting silos - we're bringing I4J and LawX students to the session. 

Using Data to Identify and Improve Delivery of Rural Legal Services

Michael Forton , Legal Services Alabama, Huntsville, AL 
Farah Majid , Legal Services Alabama, Montgomery, AL 
Jaffe S. Pickett, Legal Services Alabama , Montgomery, AL 

Legal Services Alabama (LSA) undertook a project to map poverty and free legal services offered to Alabama citizens. The data revealed that rural areas were significantly under-served, and LSA developed a plan to begin a Rural Economic Improvement Project. Presenters will provide guidance on utilizing data to identify needs and develop creative solutions.

Available Materials

Using Online Courts to Modernize the Legal System

Paul Embley, National Center for State Courts, Williamburg, VA 
Justice Constandinos (Deno) Himonas, Utah Supreme Court, Salt Lake City, Utah 
Amber Ivey, Pew Charitable Trusts, Philadelphia, PA 

Americans can shop, socialize, and manage bills online 24 hours a day. However, disputing a lawsuit typically requires a trip to the courthouse during business hours. Those who live far from the courthouse, have limited mobility, and have inflexible work schedules are more likely to receive a negative judgment because they failed to appear in court. This can threaten homes, family stability, livelihood, and access to justice. To meet this challenge, state and county court systems across the country are experimenting with online dispute resolution (ODR) tools--which allow parties to attempt to resolve their dispute via the internet and provides outside personal intervention only where necessary. In 2018, Utah became the first state to build an ODR tool for small claims cases. This new technology will change the way Utah courts do business. The Pew Charitable Trusts and the National Center for State Courts are helping states like Utah pilot and evaluate the impacts of ODR. Leaders from Utah, NCSC, and Pew will discuss the challenges courts face using online courts to modernize the legal system, including technology, skeptics, and maintaining the rule of law. 

Using Rigorous Evaluation for Resource Allocation

Renee Danser, Harvard Law School Access to Justice Lab, Cambridge, MA 
Marilyn Harp, Kansas Legal Services, Inc., Topeka, KS 

Having a criminal record constitutes an impediment to stable housing and employment and is a barrier to the finalization of a successful reentry strategy. Does expungement stabilize housing and employment while reducing in recidivism? Should oversubscribed legal services providers dedicate their scarce resources to assistance in obtaining expungements?

Available Materials

What is Past is Prologue: The Indian Child Welfare Act

Sarah Carver, Alaska Legal Services Corporation, Anchorage, AK 
Yvonne Galey, Oklahoma Indian Legal Services, Oklahoma City, OK 
Steve Hager, Oklahoma Indian Legal Services, Oklahoma City, OK 
Stephanie Hudson, Oklahoma Indian Legal Services, Oklahoma City, OK 
Niki Lindsey, Oklahoma Indian Legal Services, Oklahoma City, OK 
Nikole Nelson, Alaska Legal Services Corporation, Anchorage, AK 
Greg Razo, Alaska Legal Services Corporation, Anchorage, AK 

Presenters will use the Fishbowl method to facilitate a discussion on recent ICWA cases, including cases that attempt to find the Act unconstitutional. The discussion should allow the audience to better understand arguments behind support and opposition of the Act. If time constraints limit the time of the session, we request to present a 1 hour and 30 minute session on the Indian Child Welfare Act.

Available Materials

When Tenants Are Sexually Harassed, What to Do and Who Can Help?

R. Tamar Hegler, Department Of Justice, Civil RIghts Division, Washington, DC 

In this interactive session, hear from those who investigate and litigate allegations that tenants have been sexually harassed by landlords, property managers, maintenance workers, or others with control over housing. What are your options if your client reports sexual harassment? What protections are available under the federal Fair Housing Act?

Available Materials

Working Together to Provide Immigration Legal Services in Times of Crisis

Jocelyn Dyer, American Immigration Lawyers Association, Washington , DC 
Monique Sherman, Cooley LLP, Palo Alto, CA 

Interactive workshop to identify best practices in communication, volunteer recruitment, and pro bono legal services delivery in a time when immigration practice is often upended by man-made crises.

Just for Fun

How to Read the Form (Race Track)
Thursday, May 9th
7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.
Filly Room

Louisville is the home of the famous Kentucky Derby and intrinsically tied to horse racing. Grab your breakfast at the buffet, get ready to experience a bit of horse racing culture and learn the basics of handicapping and how to pick winners from the program and racing forms at this fun and informative session. Your instructor will be Tom Law, an award-winning writer and editor of This Is Horse Racing and The Saratoga Special, former writer and editor at Thoroughbred Times in Lexington, Ky., and current president of the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters.

NAPBPro Book Club: Becoming 
Thursday, May 9th
7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.
Thoroughbred Room

NAPBPRO presents the second annual Equal Justice Conference Book Club - a low commitment, high reward book club! This year’s book is Becoming by Michelle Obama. Pick up breakfast at the buffet and join us for a discussion led by NAPBPro members/book lovers, Hannah Allison (Texas), Eli Mattern (Florida), and Krista Scully (Alaska). Reserve your space at here and get a special reader gift to be picked up at the NAPBPro table at the conference.

Want a chance to win a free copy of the book mailed to you in time for EJC? When you reserve your space, tell us if you could invite anyone in the world to dinner, who would it be and why? Submission deadline: April 1, 2019. Winner selected and book mailed that week! Sign up today – space is limited!

Archive workshop materials are available for 2018 and 2017.