Certain features of the American legal tradition are so fundamental as to be virtually sacrosanct: the adversarial system, attorney-client privilege, and pounding on the table to make a forceful point. Some basic assumptions underlie this model, including that lawyers provide litigants with beginning-to-end “full representation” in a case. To do otherwise has long been considered
innovation
Innovation in Collaboration: Call for Justice & United Way 2-1-1
A recent partnership in Minnesota crystalizes the power of collaboration and technology to increase access to justice and provide Americans with the legal advice they so desperately need.
The partnership began thanks to a lucky happenstance. One of the leading attorneys at the Hennepin Bar Association was also a board member at United Way ,…
Speaking with the Master Part V: Where to Now?
About the Series
Richard Zorza, one of the founders and leaders of the access to justice (ATJ) movement, recently received the American Bar Association’s 2014 Louis M. Brown Award for Legal Access’ Lifetime Achievement Honor for decades of work on behalf of self-represented litigants. Not to be outdone, the Conference of Chief Justices and the…
Speaking with the Master Part IV: Richard’s Reflections
About the Series
Richard Zorza, one of the founders and leaders of the access to justice (ATJ) movement, recently received the American Bar Association’s 2014 Louis M. Brown Award for Legal Access’ Lifetime Achievement Honor for decades of work on behalf of self-represented litigants. Not to be outdone, the Conference of Chief Justices and the…
Speaking with the Master Part Three: Standing up for the Self-Represented
About the Series
Richard Zorza, one of the founders and leaders of the access to justice (ATJ) movement, recently received the American Bar Association’s 2014 Louis M. Brown Award for Legal Access’ Lifetime Achievement Honor for decades of work on behalf of self-represented litigants. Not to be outdone, the Conference of Chief Justices and the…
Speaking with the Master Part Two: The SRLN Begins
About the Series
Richard Zorza, one of the founders and leaders of the access to justice (ATJ) movement, recently received the American Bar Association’s 2014 Louis M. Brown Award for Legal Access’ Lifetime Achievement Honor for decades of work on behalf of self-represented litigants. Not to be outdone, the Conference of Chief Justices and the…
Speaking with the Master: Part One of Our Interview with Richard Zorza
About the Series
Richard Zorza, one of the founders and leaders of the access to justice (ATJ) movement, recently received the American Bar Association’s 2014 Louis M. Brown Award for Legal Access’ Lifetime Achievement Honor for decades of work on behalf of self-represented litigants. Not to be outdone, the Conference of Chief Justices and the…
Measuring The Justice Index: An Important Impetus for Conversations on Access To Justice
My work on disaster legal services at Pro Bono Net has made me keenly aware of the barriers to access to justice that many Americans encounter. I’ve also become cognizant of the vast regional and jurisdictional differences in how courts accommodate participation by non-lawyers in the civil legal system. So when Mark O’Brien invited me…
Latin@s in Tech Conference: Even More Fun Than SXSW!

On March 6, the Kapor Center for Social Impact hosted the first Latin@s in Tech Conference as a pre-conference to the SXSW in Austin, Texas. I was excited to be invited to the inaugural conference that brought together some of the most accomplished Latino/a tech leaders…
Innovation in Online Triage: A Discussion with Gwen Daniels of ILAO on their Award-Winning System
Last month, Illinois Legal Aid Online (ILAO) won a 2013 Innovation Award in the Pro Bono category for their Statewide Online Access System. The awards were presented by Law Technology News (LTN).(For those not in the know, these are basically the Oscars of the legal tech community – except bigger.)
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