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ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conference

Request for Session Proposals

Share Your Knowledge, Make an Impact

Presenting a session at the ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conference is a wonderful way to share knowledge, experiences, and ideas with lifelong friends.

The conference's community-generated programs showcase future directions, best practices, successful collaborations, lessons learned, and solutions to community-wide issues.

Whether you are a first-time or veteran presenter, we welcome your submission! Please read this page  and the guidelines carefully before you begin work on your proposal, and submit your proposal by October 11, 2024.

Key Dates

Request for Proposals opens: September 4, 2024
Proposal Deadline: October 11, 2024
Registration is OpenClick here to register
Proposal notifications sent: early December
EdHarvester portal opens: January 2025
ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conference|San Francisco: May 15-17, 2025

Steps to Submit a Proposal

  1. Learn how to create and submit an excellent proposal by reading this page.
  2. Develop a proposal based on one of the focus areas (below). You may  download our  template for advance work and/or collaboration with co-presenters.
  3. Submit your proposal here between September 4 and October 11, 2024. Submitters will be notified about decisions in early December.
  4. If your proposal is accepted, attend and present at the 2025 ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conference at the xxx in San Francisco, CA, May 15 - 17, 2025.. Registration is required of all presenters. 

Focus Areas

Conference planners havve identified suggested areas of focus. Preference will be given to the proposals that sufficiently reflect what you have done or are planning to do in these areas.

Your proposal may fit under multiple track options. If so, we recommend that you choose the track that best represents your content and goals. 

Pro Bono: sessions that focus primarily on engaging and managing pro bono volunteers to provide legal services.
Fundraising and Development: identifying, tapping in to and sustaining sources of funding.
Management: issues relevant to management of a nonprofit engaged in the delivery of legal services, from HR issues to board management to everything in between.
Diversity: examining how to nurture an inclusive and diverse working environment and serving diverse populations.
Substantive Practice Area: these sessions will build expertise in specific areas of law.
Research and Data: best practices for collecting, analyzing and utilizing data and information.
Technology: how can legal services providers effectively utilize technology to create capacity and expand services?

Session Proposal Elements

Session Title
Create a short title that is creative yet descriptive. We ask that you do not use institution, company, or product names anywhere in the title.

Session Description
This is a short description of what your session is about. If your proposal is accepted, the description is what most attendees will use to make decisions about which sessions to attend. What can you say that will encourage your colleagues to attend your session? Great descriptions answer the following as succinctly as possible: What problems are you helping participants solve? What is the relevance of the content and value to attendees? 

Learning Objectives and Engagement Strategies
Clear session outcomes/takeaways and creative engagement strategies are essential components of every session. Proposal reviewers will closely examine and rate each proposed session's takeaways, which should clearly describe what participants will know or be able to do as a result of participating in the session. A successful proposal must also include the specific and creative ways in which the presenter(s) will engage with participants.

FAQs

Who attends the ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conference?

Our attendees come from all over North America and beyond and represent a wide range of justice advocates: legal services and pro bono program directors, staff, board members and volunteers; bar association directors and officers; IOLTA program staff and staff of other funders; law firm pro bono managers; judges and court personnel; law school public interest staff; technologists; librarians and more. Attendees are, for the most part, professionals working for and in the nonprofit sector. Proposals encompassing information of interest to the broadest appropriate range of attendees will receive stronger consideration.

Who should submit a proposal?

Submissions are open anyone with skill, background, knowledge and expertise of relevance to EJC attendees. Individuals who have not presented previously at an EJC and those from underrepresented communities and perspectives are particularly encouraged to share proposals.

If the ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conference accepts my submission, are there any speaker benefits?

We appreciate and want to acknowledge our presenters’ work—both prior to and during the conference—and the expertise they share with our community of access to justice advocates. As a presenter at the ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conference, you receive:

  • Visibility and recognition both for you and your organization as thought leaders
  • A chance to give back to the profession and help peers devise solutions to current and emerging challenges

What are the ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conference's expectations of presenters?

  • All accepted presenters must present onsite in San Francisco. We cannot guarantee appropriate internet connection to accommodate remote presenters .
  • Prepare and practice. Advance preparation is vital for the success of all presentations. This includes regular meetings with your colleagues on your panel.
  • Present fresh, original, unique, and current content aimed to solve current problems.
  • Meet all deadlines.
  • All selected presenters must agree to and complete speaker agreement forms.
  • Profile requirement: An EdHarvester profile is required in order to present for the event. A link will be provided to panel leads in early 2025.
  • Presenter registration: Presenters are responsible for registering in advance for the conference, paying the appropriate conference registration fee, and securing and paying for travel and lodging. (Exceptions include workshop presenters who request and are granted workshop-only, partial or full registration waivers.)
  • Session resources: Presenters will be required to upload their presentations and/or supporting materials and resources prior to the conference. These valuable resources will then be posted for attendees to access beyond the session.

How does the ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conference selection process work?

Proposals are selected to ensure the conference offers a comprehensive, non-promotional, not commercially biased, objective, and diverse program. Proposals that clearly describe innovative and creative work will receive the highest priority in the selection process. Attention will be given to diversity of institutions/organizations, presenters, and geographic location.

Proposals will be reviewed by the conference Working Groups comprised of peer reviewers. 

What are the criteria for the review and selection process?

  • Relevance of Topic: Is the topic of relevance, importance, value, and/or interest?
  • Session Outcomes Achievability: Is there alignment between the stated session outcomes and the proposal description?
  • Quality of Submission: Does the proposal demonstrate quality, as measured by accuracy, clarity, comprehensiveness, and depth of demonstrated understanding of the topic?
  • Engagement/Knowledge Transfer: Does the proposal provoke discussion, audience engagement, and/or facilitate knowledge transfer and development of new competency?

Have Questions?

If you have any questions about the call for proposals process, registration or other conference details, please email [email protected].

Submit Your Proposal

Submit your proposal here. Proposals are due Friday, October 11, 2025.