Project Nanny Van: a legal service design
“Project Nanny Van is an excellent new example of creative legal service design…this mobile van that [goes] to locations where nannies might be congregating, and provides them with resources about their legal rights — as well as other resources to empower them.”
See more Open Law Lab ideas.
From the ABA Foundation: “Part of access to justice gap is that Americans don’t know when to seek legal help, says study,” Aug 8, 2014, by James Podgers:
Link to report: ACCESSING JUSTICE IN THE CONTEMPORARY USA: FINDINGS FROM THE COMMUNITY NEEDS AND SERVICES STUDY
“Executive Summary …
ABA Journal News: Savings produced by court budget cuts are exceeded by harmful economic effects (white paper)
The white paper, “The Economics of Justice,” by Eric J. Magnuson, Steven M. Puiszis, Lisa M. Agrimonti, and Nicole S. Frank (DRI, 2014)
Press release: “DRI White Paper: Judicial Funding Cuts Inflict Widespread Economic Harm in Communities”
Oregon State Bar: Promoting Access to Justice with E-Books
“The OSB Legal Publications department launched a new project in May that we wanted to tell you about. We have begun offering a series of Family Law e-books on Amazon.com. These e-books include information on how to find and hire a lawyer, as well as links to information about the OSB Lawyer Referral Service, legal aid services in Oregon, and the ABA page on lawyer referral services nationwide….” [Link to full 6/27/14 blogpost.]
Open Law Lab is a wonderful website, curious, provocative, funny, wise, and more. It stands on its own (enjoy!) but it is also an excellent companion to Richard Zorza’s Access to Justice Blog.
One of my (several) favorite Open Law Lab “images of law” is the blog post titled: Law for Normal People. It includes a graphic with this text that pretty much sums up everything that makes legal self-help center and public law library program management so confounding:
“People don’t want to talk to lawyers, but they really want legal advice.“ (See its original posting at the Stanford d. school blog, Whiteboard.) And read more about the lawyer / artist: Margaret Hagan.
Richard Zorza & David Udell Article: New Roles for Non-Lawyers to Increase Access to Justice
You can also link to this article from the SRLN website or from Richard Zorza’s Access to Justice blog, where you will be able to find dozens, hundreds, of other practical and provocative articles on Access to Justice issues.
The Clackamas Review wrote a great story about our small claims court programs generally (see video) and the Clackamas County Small Claims Court Program specifically!
“Make the most of your time in small-claims court,” by Raymond Rendleman, Clackamas Review, June 9, 2014
Excerpt: “Jennifer Dalglish, the Clackamas County law librarian is dedicated to providing equal access to legal information and legal-research assistance to all citizens, so she is always looking for new and improved ways to do so.
Link from Richard Zorza’s inimitable Access to Justice blog: A Cautionary Tale — Cartoon Points Out the Downsides of Automated Courts
Access to justice and court systems broken (and broke)?
“If our courts are broke, how can Californians get divorced? An idea,” by Ted Rall:
The Legal Forms Problem bedevils most states, even those with active statewide Access to Justice Commissions (Oregon does not have one). Some states are tackling the legal forms problem head on with gusto and with Statewide Legal Forms Committees (see also the legal forms program presentations at the ABA Equal Justice website – there was an excellent one a couple weeks ago on the Washington State Legal Forms initiative).
See the ABA Resource Center for Access to Justice Initiatives and the Access to Justice blog for information and news about these A2J commissions and initiatives.
From 3 Geeks and a Law Blog, 4/22/14, post: “LegalZoom Gets Nod from South Carolina Supreme Court”
“The Oregon Innocence Project (OIP) is a joint project of the Oregon Justice Resource Center (an independent nonprofit based out of Lewis & Clark Law School) and Metropolitan Public Defender whose mission is to (1) exonerate the innocent, (2) educate and train law students, and (3) promote legal reforms aimed at preventing wrongful convictions….” [Link to the OIP.]
The Oregon Innocence Project Launch and Benefit Party, April 9, 2014
Oregon Legal Research Blog