June 1, 2009
Reactions to:
2009 ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conference
&
2009 National Meeting of State Access to Justice Chairs
In May, several members of Arkansas’s legal aid community attended the 2009 ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conference and the 2009 National Meeting of State Access to Justice Chairs. Both were held in Orlando at the Doubletree Universal Convention Center. Between sessions, attendees from almost every state and Canada mingled, sharing tips and email addresses.
We asked the attendees from Arkansas for their reactions to the conferences. Below are their responses.
- Prof. Chuck Goldner, Chair of the Arkansas Access to Justice Commission
- Vince Morris, Associate Director of Technology and Justice Projects for the Arkansas Legal Services Partnership
- Ron Lanoue, Director of the Arkansas Legal Services Partnership
- Lee Richardson, Executive Director of Legal Aid of Arkansas
- Chad Owens, Program Coordinator for the Arkansas Access to Justice Commission
Our Commission Leads!
 Prof. Chuck Goldner is Chair of the Arkansas Access to Justice Commission. He is Dean Emeritus and Professor of Law at UALR-Bowen School of Law.
Our Commission leads! One thing became very clear to me as I attended my first Equal Justice Conference and first Access to Justice Chairs’ meeting – although we have far to go in achieving our mission, we are one of the leaders in the country in our efforts. Our work was featured in at least two presentations during the Equal Justice Conference (one made by Vince Morris, one made by me), and our accomplishments were highlighted in the closing plenary at the Chairs’ meeting. Our successes are certainly the result of the efforts of many, but I want to single out and thank the hard work, creativity, and thoughtfulness of Ron Lanoue, Vince Morris, and Chad Owens. Thanks, guys!
I attended a session on pro bono partnerships between corporate counsel and private law firms. I believe this is certainly an area where the Commission can have a positive impact. And it ties into something that I have been thinking about – the importance of involving our two law schools and major businesses in the work of our Commission. I will share more information about this whole area at our next Commission meeting.
As a Commission, I am not sure that we have devoted adequate attention to the needs of non-English speaking members of our population. I sat in on a discussion about efforts underway in Washington, D.C. and in Texas, and essentially learned that attention to the needs of this part of our society is actually in its infancy in most parts of our country. Perhaps we should consider at least making sure we know what is going on in Arkansas, and determining what the needs are.
I come back enthused about our work, and with ideas of new projects on which we might consider taking the lead – such as seeking an amendment to our Rules of Professional Conduct to make it clear that attorneys can provide unbundled services, and to create by rule a clear path for inactive and in-house attorneys to provide pro bono representation.
It’s good to be home in Arkansas, and to have such a terrific group of people to work with on important issues.
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New Ideas and Resources
 Vince Morris is Associate Director of Technology and Justice Projects for the Arkansas Legal Services Partnership. He helps staff the Arkansas Access to Justice Commission.
The national perspective reaffirmed what I already knew - our Commissioners are outstanding. The ATJ Commissioners are the real deal. You are a very active group that takes the charge of the Commission sincerely. You take the time necessary to forge the way to access to civil justice for all Arkansans.
I am still a big dreamer (and idealist) and these conferences always result in some fresh new big ideas. But as staff for the Commission, I know I need practical tools to make ideas a reality. At this conference, Chad, Ron and I got a ton of ideas and resources (the free kind). I look forward to continuing to provide staffing support for what may be a banner year for the Commission. Some of my new ideas and resources:
New Ideas:
- Games for Change: Imagine playing a video game that teaches the pro se litigant what to do and say in court (maybe call it "Judgment Day: Get Your Day in Court").
- Stronger Court Collaboration: What about giving Circuit Courts their own web pages on the Access to Justice website (information needed for litigants, court assistant links, judge/clerk information)? For a great example see Illinois Legal Aid.
New Resources:
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Seven Questions and Answers
 Ron Lanoue is Director of the Arkansas Legal Services Partnership. He is Secretary for the Arkansas Access to Justice Commission.
- What did you learn or take away from the conference?
- Each state has its own unique environment which largely dictates what issues they address and how they address them. The art of the possible is different everywhere. As former Speaker of the House Tip O’Neil once stated, “All politics is local.”
- If Arkansas’s legal aid community or Commission should take action on one thing from the conference, what would that be?
- The Commission is best positioned to help legal aid in the long term by developing strong partnerships between them and corporations/businesses, law schools, local & special bars, law firms big & small, the courts and others that the Commission should begin thinking strategically about.
- Did the conference give you any ideas about our statewide campaign for this fall?
- The “campaign report” will replace the pro bono insert in the Winter edition of The Arkansas Lawyer and would present more of a state justice posture.
- Did the conference give you any ideas about our first annual access to justice conference?
- Yes, staff needs to develop grant requests by June 1, to fund the conference for Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, Arkansas Community Foundation, Bar Foundation, and …………….?
- Any other new ideas?
- We should explore the California Justice Corps concept to extend the reach of legal aid, educate the courts, and facilitate the use of pro se materials.
- Any old ideas we should throw out?
- Now I may be going from thoughts to medd’lin but perhaps the Commission should consider meeting every 2 months.
- Were you pleased or displeased with the conference?
- Overall pleased. I think they need to change the format next year to be more of a track process which runs through much of the day with single and/or multiple sessions dealing with major themes like private funding, pro se, pro bono, rules, marketing/PR, substantive law, a national environmental scan [re: changes in demographics, the political environment, etc./things that might alter to way ATJC’s need to do business.]
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Five Thoughts After the 2009 Equal Justice Conference
 Lee Richardson is Executive Director of Legal Aid of Arkansas. He is an ex-officio member of the Arkansas Access to Justice Commission.
- Attitude makes leaders and organizations effective.
- Serving poor people is a growth industry in America.
- Medical/Legal Partnerships – Bad health has social detriments. Likewise, non-medical factors in people’s lives affect their health. What tradeoffs do low-income families make and how do these affect their health? There are at least 80 medical/legal partnerships nationally. Blue Cross Foundation in Arkansas may be willing to help fund a medical/legal partnership in Arkansas. The idea is to integrate legal advocacy into the clinical setting. Doctors are a trusted and credible resource for families. Doctors could screen for legal issues in a preventive way. They could survey for unmet legal needs in their waiting rooms.
- Montana has developed a pro se bankruptcy clinic model. It is a five-hour clinic that teaches pro se individuals how to do bankruptcy; afterwards an attorney meets with the client to review paperwork. About 90 pro se filers went through the clinic last year. Montana clerks and judges love the program. Judges nationally have never, anywhere, said a Legal Aid Attorney should be listed as attorney of record in a bankruptcy for someone they assisted pro se. Promoting pro se bankruptcy has been a national issue for judges.
- KEEP A POSITIVE, CHEERFUL, ATTITUDE!!
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Partnering with Law Schools and Public Libraries
 Chad Owens is Program Coordinator for the Arkansas Access to Justice Commission.
Both conferences provided great tips and information; however, one workshop in particular stood out. It was entitled, “Partnerships Between Courts, Law Schools and Legal Aid.”
In this workshop, Prof. Ron Staudt of the Chicago-Kent College of Law told how his school has created a Legal Aid Law Review, in which students write and edit interactive self-help forms for the legal aid website in Illinois. To recruit students to the Legal Aid Law Review, the college created positions for editor-in-chief, assistant editor, etc. This attracts students because it gives them something to add to their resumes.
The Chicago-Kent College of Law has also created a self-help terminal, which is staffed by law students. This provides a volunteer opportunity for students, who are not permitted to give legal advice. Instead, they are responsible for guiding pro se users to the correct documents on Illinois’ legal aid website.
Another panelist in this workshop suggested putting self-help terminals in public libraries, rather than in law schools and courts. Her argument was: (1) libraries stay open longer; (2) people already go there for information; and (3) public librarians -- unlike law students and clerks -- would not be tempted to provide anything more than technical assistance.
Finally, one of the panelists argued that law students are an untapped source for pro bono work. Law students can provide basic legal services under the supervision of an attorney. Obtaining volunteers is easy, she said, when the students are promised one-on-one contact with clients.
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Our Mission
Encouraging Arkansas Leaders to Uphold Equal Justice
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