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    May 01, 2025

    Equal Justice Conference unites civil legal aid community in San Francisco

    CHICAGO, May 1, 2025 — The American Bar Association Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service and the National Legal Aid & Defender Association will convene the 2025 Equal Justice Conference May 14-17, with several dozen programs focusing on a wide range of topics on substantive law, resource development and the enhancement of legal access for the 2SLGBTQIA+ population and other underserved groups.

    What:
    Equal Justice Conference 

    When:     
    May 14-17 (all times PDT)

    Where: 
    Hilton San Francisco Union Square
    333 O'Farrell St.
    San Francisco, California

    The Equal Justice Conference is one of the most important annual gatherings of civil legal aid and pro bono advocates representing people who are unable to afford legal services. Its focus is strengthening partnerships among the key players in the civil justice system and will include a host of top officials and practitioners in the legal services field.

    A special opening plenary on Thursday, May 15, will feature Tracy Rosenthal, co-founder of the L.A. Tenants Union and the author, with Leonardo Vilchis, of “Abolish Rent: How Tenants Can End the Housing Crisis,” who will discuss her involvement in the growing tenant-empowered movement for collective action to ensure fair and affordable housing.

    ABA President William R. Bay and NLADA President and CEO April Frazier Camara will provide luncheon remarks on Friday, May 16, on the current landscape of U.S. civil legal services.

    Additionally on Saturday, May 17, the conference will host a special salon featuring Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, highlighting current events through the perspective of constitutional law.

    With access to justice a pressing issue in San Francisco and throughout California, several programs will focus on eliminating barriers to legal services, including the conference’s closing session on economic empowerment:

    • “Bridging the Justice Gap: Economic Empowerment and Access to Civil Legal Aid” — Experts will delve into the intricate relationship between economic empowerment and access to justice, and how the racial wealth gap limits legal assistance for millions in America, which ranks last among 46 high-income countries in terms of accessibility and affordability of civil justice.
    • “Overcoming the Access to Justice Gap for Asylum-seekers and New Arrivals” — Experts will explore the dynamic intersection of technology, pro bono management and client empowerment, examining how this innovative approach can build capacity for discrete immigration legal services, bridge systemic gaps in the immigration process and create pathways to justice for asylum-seekers and low-income immigrants who lack full representation.

    The entire conference program, with speakers, can be found here. All sessions are open to the media, but reporters are required to register in advance by 5 p.m. CDT, Friday, May 9, by contacting Jason Fujioka at [email protected].

    The ABA is one of the largest voluntary association of lawyers in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law. View our privacy statement online. Follow the latest ABA news at www.americanbar.org/news and on X (formerlyTwitter) @ABANews.