Workshop Preview 2007
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50 Ways to Thank Your Helper: Acknowledging Variety in Motivation
Document Available: Cordero_handout1 High quality advocacy requires volunteers and staff to be dedicated, experienced, and inspired. To attract and retain diverse volunteers and staff, programs need to understand and recognize each individual's unique motivations and interests. The session will encourage attendees to increase the effectiveness and morale of advocates for justice through creative use of many different forms of recognition.
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A Candid Dialogue Between Firm Coordinators and Providers on Building Partnerships
Document Available: Cohen_Outline Pro bono counsel from several large firms will have a frank discussion with pro bono coordinators in nonprofits about effective techniques that pro bono agencies should employ to recruit, train and retain volunteers; to maximize volunteers' abilities in order to deliver high quality legal services to pro bono clients; and to develop a strong partnership relationship between firms and agencies. Come to this session prepared to discuss ways in which law firms can better partner with your organization.
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A Few Lessons Learned From Providing Legal Services in Major Disasters and Diaspora Presenters will provide an overview of the design and implementation of collaborative responses (LSPs, local bar, private law firm, and law students) to identify and meet high volume long and short-term legal needs that arise in the wake of a disaster. The workshop will focus on innovative responses in New Orleans and Houston.
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Access to Justice: Leveraging Law Students and Technology
Document Available: Fisher_handout This workshop will gather experts and conference attendees from the courts, legal services and legal education to evaluate and discover the right incentives and structures to help meet the legal services needs for low-income people by leveraging emerging technologies and law school resources. The discussion will focus on existing models and strategies for developing new proposals that use innovative technology to facilitate student-assisted legal research, improve student staffed call centers and self-help centers, and allow fast and efficient construction of web-based document assembly for court forms.
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Achieving Higher Ground: Increasing Client Services Through Student Involvement
Document Available: Meltzer_Outline Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps attorneys will share innovative strategies and techniques to increase law student involvement in pro bono to expand services and reach diverse client populations. Panelists will examine model partnerships between law schools and legal services organizations that vary in geographic location, proximity of law students and availability of resources. This workshop will highlight the benefits of collaborations between pro bono coordinators, staff attorneys, law students and EJW AmeriCorps attorneys and will identify strategies for tackling some of the challenges of working with law students.
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AmeriCorps: Using National Service Resources to Develop New Programs and Increase Organizational Capacity
Document Available: Paul_Outline This session will describe how legal aid programs can use AmeriCorps members to create new programs, build capacity to conduct current programs and develop sustainable volunteer programs. The discussion will include the use of AmeriCorps*VISTA members, AmeriCorps*Direct members and AmeriCorps*Attorneys through Equal Justice Works.
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Basics of Pro Bono in 90 Minutes or Less Panelists, including experienced pro bono professionals and ABA staff, will provide a basic map for successful pro bono management, including basic recruitment and retention techniques, effective quality control methods and resources to turn to when you have a question. Attending this session will ensure you get the maximum benefit from other EJC sessions.
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Beyond the Beginning: Outreach Strategies for Transactional Pro Bono Programs Positioned for Growth
Document Available: Dodson_Outline The key to growing a transactional pro bono program is reaching out to new partners. Experienced members of the transactional pro bono community will talk about the partnerships they've developed and the outreach strategies they used to reach eligible client populations and to tap into reservoirs of available volunteers and other resources in order to take their pro bono programs and activities to the next level. Panelists will present from the perspective of pro bono programs, law firms and law school clinics.
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Branding: What is it and How Can Legal Services Use it Effectively?
Document Available: Arledge_handout1 In today's philanthropic marketplace, competition for donor dollars is fierce. Many nonprofits, including a growing number of legal aid programs, are moving beyond mere logos and tag lines to a more integrated and comprehensive approach called "branding." This session will provide an overview of branding, followed by a discussion about developing a strong brand for legal aid, whether for individual programs, for statewide systems, or for our national community.
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Building Support from the Judiciary to Increase Funding for Legal Services
Document Available: Hankinson_handout The potential for obtaining or increasing resources from many sources, including the state legislature, IOLTA, and attorney registration fees, is much greater if you have the active support of the judiciary. This is your chance to hear from and ask questions of current and former Supreme Court justices about how to involve the judiciary in leading efforts to increase funding for civil legal services in your state. Panelists also will talk about work being done at the national level to encourage state Supreme Court justices to become more actively involved in increasing access to justice.
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Building Volunteer Management Capacity for Post-Disaster Relief Document Available: Choi_handout This session will explore effective strategies for managing large numbers of pro bono volunteers to provide post-disaster legal relief. Panelists will discuss lessons learned from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, among other disaster relief efforts, when legal aid providers often lacked the capacity to manage and use the volunteered assistance at critical times. This session is designed to explore strategies toward avoiding this dilemma in the future.
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Business Law Pro Bono: Creating a Culture of Engagement Between Business Attorneys and their Law Firms
Document Available: Butterworth_handout1 The ABA Section of Business Law kicks off its day of sponsored programming with this workshop focused on how to create and foster an enthusiastic and supportive culture within law firms and corporate law departments for engaging in transactional pro bono and public service. Presenters will discuss how to develop a culture that both encourages and excites volunteer business lawyers to seek out or create opportunities to become involved in the community, through transactional pro bono, service on boards of community-based organizations or other means, in a changing and diverse world.
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Busting the Myths Preventing Effective Use of Mediation by Legal Aid and Pro Bono Programs An interactive, panel-led discussion of the myths and misconceptions that limit the use of pro bono mediation resources by legal services and pro bono organizations and programs.
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Collaborative Websites: Innovations in Meeting Client and Pro Bono Needs This workshop exposes the legal services and pro bono communities to the ways statewide client and advocate websites are being used to increase the quality and quantity of services for diverse groups of clients, and creating new pathways for millions of low income people to access legal services. The workshop will look in-depth at New York's pro bono website and their experience creating a website area dedicated to disseminating pro bono opportunities, providing a library of training materials and pro bono resources, and highlighting pro bono news.
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Community Building Through Technology: Collaboration Tools The Web provides many new tools that allow people to work together to organize themselves, share information and achieve their shared goals. This workshop will show participants several resources and examples, including how to create and use 'wikis' - collaborative online Web spaces - to help manage group projects, task forces and share information efficiently and effectively. Also included in the program will be a demonstration of the National Pro Bono Volunteer Opportunities Guide, a project of Pro Bono Net and the American Bar Association. |
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Contingency Planning for Major Disasters: Policy-Making to Enhance the Delivery of Legal Services to Our Clients
Document Available: Barash_handout1
This workshop will discuss how the legal profession can prepare to respond to significant disasters, from the national level to the individual program, including policies, practices and procedures to facilitate the delivery of legal services to persons and organizations affected by such disasters by legal services and pro bono providers.
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Cultivating Cultural Competency in Volunteers
Document Available: Delaney_Outline How can a program assist pro bono attorneys' interaction with their clients? This session will address ways to educate attorneys about working with low income clients and clients of various ethnic backgrounds. Panelists will also discuss how staff and pro bono attorneys can cope with the emotional strain that can come with advocacy for low-income clients.
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Cutting-Edge Models for Bankruptcy Pro Bono
Document Available: Kransdorf_Outline Workshop attendees will learn how the New York City Bankruptcy Assistance Project (NYCBAP) knocks down barriers to pro bono bankruptcy advocacy with innovative solutions to law firm conflicts issues and by using internet-based remote access to streamline case management and supervision. Attendees will also hear from a local lawyer and a Colorado bankruptcy judge about Denver's own Faculty of Federal Advocates Pro Bono Program, through which bankruptcy lawyers represent debtors in adversarial bankruptcy proceedings.
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Developing and Funding Projects Targeting the Needs of Disadvantaged Persons Problems in communities have changed as the economy has taken a downturn. This presentation focuses on 1) how to identify community needs; 2) how to target individuals who do not have access to the justice system; 3) how to prepare a problem-solving plan; and 4) how to fund the project. This program is an interactive session with practical lessons for pro bono managers and legal services leaders.
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Developing and Maintaining Access to Legal Services for the Limited English Speaker Through Legal Hotlines
Document Available: Congiardo_Outline Legal hotlines have been launched all over the country and are providing a multitude of services to people with limited - or no - English skills who are in need of legal assistance. The four presenting organizations will provide short, general overviews of how their hotlines work, with each one focusing on a unique aspect of the models developed. Presenters will discuss ways to develop resources; the design of a multilingual/multicultural hotline; partnering to develop hotline capacity in the wake of a natural disaster; and, how to develop a collaboration utilizing local private bar volunteers, legal services and social services organizations.
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Difficult Conversations: Tools for Talking About What Matters Most
Document Available: Mittelstadt_Outline Good communication is essential to everything that we do. In this session you will learn skills you can develop and tools you can use to handle the most difficult and crucial conversations effectively with your staff, volunteers, bosses or board. Come learn more about this critical skill for pro bono and legal services staff and managers. Practice during this session in role play exercise and return home ready to communicate more effectively.
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Effective Practices in Law Student Recruitment, Supervision and Relationship Development
Document Available: Al-Mansour_Outline Recruitment, supervision and long-term relationship development with law students are critical in cultivating the next generation of public interest and pro bono lawyers. This interactive program provides ideas and concrete tips for recruiting, managing, and maintaining contact with law students long after they leave programs. Presenters will discuss recruitment program structures; supervision models; and ways to ensure they become tomorrow's staff attorneys, pro bono volunteers, and financial contributors.
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Emerging Issues in Legal Aid Technology: Cyber Piracy and Net Neutrality Increasingly internet technology is how our clients, our funders, and the public find and learn about our programs and how our clients get information and services important to their lives. Our clients' access to this technology is threatened by cyberpirates who seek to intercept them and divert them to commercial sites. It is also threatened by efforts to create "tiered services," meaning a second or third class internet for our clients and our organizations, reserving the higher tiers for "important" functions. Learn how to protect our clients and our organizations at this session.
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Ensuring Justice for Veterans Document Available: Saunders_handout1
Recent events have highlighted how challenging it is for many of the nation's active and inactive service men and women to receive appropriate medical care and access to benefits. In addition, those who have so honorably served our country often find themselves dealing with consumer, insurance and other issues for which they need representation. This interactive panel discussion will examine the underlying laws and rights affecting active and inactive service men and women, review the current status of how the system is functioning, explore the interplay between military and civilian advocates and strategize around how the equal justice community can participate effectively in ensuring that veterans have access to legal representation when navigating the system. |
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Ethics and Professional Responsibility Issues in a Transactional Pro Bono Program
Document Available: Chalmers_Outline Panelists will engage attendees in a discussion of the ethical issues that crop up in pro bono programs, especially those unique to transactional pro bono programs. Discussion will cover many issues, including unbundled (limited scope) legal services and conflicts created by community lawyering. Solutions to these and other issues will be discussed and illustrated with forms and handouts. Materials will cover select ABA Model Rules and state rules, illustrations and hypotheticals, and sample documents. Expect a lively discussion.
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Family Law Issues Affecting Low Income Same Sex Parents and Their Children
Document Available: Sakimura_Outline About six million U.S. children have lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) parents. These children often lack legal ties to at least one of their caregivers and face family destabilization. Legal strategies to help LGBT families protect their parent-child relationships exist, but generally require an attorney because of the complicated nature of the law. Free legal services are often the only way LGBT families can protect their families. The workshop highlights common legal issues faced by low-income LGBT parents and explores how legal service providers can help LGBT families.
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Fostering Involvement by Government Attorneys in Pro Bono Programs
Document Available: Douglas_Outline Government attorneys can play an important role in pro bono programs in cities where government offices are located. This presentation focuses on the successful collaboration in Olympia, WA between the volunteer legal program and government attorneys to increase services to low-income clients. Panel members will discuss efforts within the Washington State Attorney General's Office to expand pro bono work, and innovative service programs developed by the volunteer legal program to accommodate the unique needs of attorneys in government practice.
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From Building a Building to Building a Funding Stream and a Strong Bar Relationship This session will describe how legal aid programs can initiate a successful capital fund drive and from that create an effective long-term private fundraising capacity, as well as a long-term relationship with the bar.
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Going Local: Expanding Access to Justice and Pro Bono in State Judicial Districts
Document Available: Fragoso_Outline As statewide access to justice commissions and their equivalents have become more popular, it is worthwhile to consider how adding a local component will enhance the opportunities to increase access to justice and pro bono. Accordingly, panelists from Florida, Indiana, Colorado, and New Mexico will discuss how their states have employed local committees, based on state judicial districts, to increase judicial involvement, tailor activities to each locality's needs, and expand access to justice and pro bono.
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Growing and Facilitating a Pro Bono Culture
Document Available: Session Outline This workshop will examine a variety of ways in which the pro bono culture of a legal community can be strengthened. Methods discussed will include judicial leadership, policy initiatives, relationship building and creating opportunities that fit the skills and needs of volunteers. Objectives include learning about: 1) Judicial efforts through district committees to increase pro bono participation and collaboration; 2) Policies states have implemented to encourage pro bono - e.g. mandatory reporting, CLE credit for pro bono; 3) How to strengthen relationships between legal services providers and volunteers to increase the quality and breadth of pro bono service delivery.
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Holistic Legal Services: Addressing the Underlying Causes of Legal Problems to Help Change Lives This workshop will focus on the importance of providing holistic services to low income, marginalized clients as they access legal services. Clients have recurring legal problems when the root cause of their legal problems - such as substance abuse, mental disability, and domestic violence - go unaddressed. This workshop will cover practical issues, including the recruitment of social service volunteers and the interaction of pro bono attorneys with social service providers, as well as pointers regarding the integration of holistic services in a legal services context.
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Hot Topics in Legal Aid This session will focus on developments at the Legal Services Corporation, the funding outlook for LSC for FY 2008 and related developments, private attorney involvement initiatives, the status of loan repayment assistance programs in Congress and other matters of interest to the civil legal aid community.
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Hotlines and Ethics: The Latitudes and Limitations
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How People Really Use Technology: Current Research on People, the Media, and the Message Document Available: Raby_handout There are many organizations engaged in research on how disadvantaged populations can benefit from technology. Entertainment technologies, icon based systems, and hardware/software specifically designed for handicapped individuals are all relatively underutilized technologies within the legal services community. This session will explore the current research on these technologies, identify those which disadvantaged populations typically use and/or can benefit from, and discuss how these technologies can be incorporated into delivery mechanisms.
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Immigration and the Rule of Law
Document Available: Outline This session will explore how our immigration system does, or does not, honor the "Rule of Law." Anti-immigrant activists regularly invoke the Rule of Law in arguing against positive immigration reform, defining it narrowly and exclusively as a punitive enforcement mechanism. Yet, it is a far more expansive concept, encompassing the coherence of laws, and the ability to understand, obey, and benefit from them. Topics for discussion include access to counsel, pro bono, due process, administration of laws, and the integrity of the system overall. Participants will be able to identify various components of the Rule of Law, and analyze how they relate to our immigration system.
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Improving Chances of Success for All Children: How Attorneys Can Form and Support Quality Preschools
Document Available: Pleitez_Outline Children who attend quality preschools are more likely to become productive citizens. This workshop will highlight how pro bono attorneys can assist in assuring that children in disadvantaged communities have access to quality preschools. The workshop will offer concrete examples of how attorneys can help and will discuss the legal responsibilities these programs would face under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
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Language Access Issues for Health Advocates and Legal Services Providers Document Available: Perkins_Outline
This workshop will provide an overview of the legal framework for ensuring meaningful access for limited English proficient (LEP) individuals when seeking health and legal services, and will highlight promising practices. Focusing on two areas where much is being done to make services more accessible to LEP populations. Panelists will provide an overview of the legal and administrative frameworks, as well as specific state laws governing health care settings. The workshop will then offer tools and resources to assist participants in language access planning and practice.
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Legal Aftercare for the Domestic Violence Survivor: Making the Restraining Order More Than a Piece of Paper
Document Available: Cross_Outline This session will present tips to ensure the domestic violence restraining order is more than just a piece of paper, including tips for obtaining a clear and enforceable order, counseling on safety planning, steps to take in the event of a violation and tips on interacting with police. The session will also include how to seek civil contempt for violations, recruit pro bono attorneys, and effectively present a contempt case. Panelists will discuss the new ABA standards for representing victims of domestic violence and enforcement of protective orders after Castle Rock.
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Limited English Proficiency: Self Help Services as a Tool for Access Document Available: Ledray_Outline
Studies and practices confirm that most LEP people who deal with the justice system do so without the assistance of counsel. Self-help services become the major way of preventing injustice. This workshop will discuss the legal and ethical framework mandating language access in legal and self-help contexts and how language barriers impact court situations and the management of a self-help program. It will also highlight some promising practices for bridging the language gap in self-help contexts.
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Limited Scope Representation: New Opportunities for Recruiting and Engaging Volunteers Rules are changing to allow representation just for a hearing, or a clinic, without taking on responsibility throughout the case. The changes mean programs can offer volunteers a chance to have a short-term opoportunity, and we can serve many more clients. Presenters will share various limited scope structures and possibilities thus many of the models discussed are pro bono ones, designed specifically to attract volunteers. Large firms volunteers in particular are often attracted to short-term commitments and these projects suit these volunteers well.
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Medicaid Litigation Update
Document Available: Somers_Outline This session will discuss the most important Medicaid litigation over the past year, emphasizing both substantive holdings and cases addressing pressing access to the courts issues (such as private enforcement of Medicaid and deference to government agencies). Presenters will highlight cases in which lawyers from non-profit and private law firms have partnered to enforce the Medicaid Act's guarantee of health insurance and services.
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Medical Legal Partnerships: A Model for Multidisciplinary Training of Doctors and Lawyers to Improve Health Outcomes
Document Available: Tames_Outline Medical-legal partnerships use multidisciplinary training to help pediatricians and attorneys work together to improve children's health outcomes. Pediatricians and medical students are trained to identify cases where legal intervention is indicated and to advocate for their patients. Attorneys are trained to represent families as pro bono counsel and law students are taught how to practice with physicians to provide more holistic advocacy. This presentation will show how doctors, lawyers and medical and law students are trained to collaborate in their care of low-income families and children.
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MIE Roundtable for Legal Services Executive Directors and Managers This is an opportunity for pro bono managers and executive directors to share concerns and receive peer support. This forum provides legal services executive directors and managers with an opportunity to share management concerns and receive peer support and assistance in an informal and confidential setting. The roundtable will be facilitated by members of the Management Information Exchange Board of Directors.
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More than Cy Pres: Creating an Effective Court Awards Strategy As the bar and courts grow in their appreciation of how legal aid helps preserve the rule of law through high quality legal services to the disadvantaged, they are better able to direct various kinds of court awards to them. This session will demonstrate how to effectively plan and collaborate with the bar and judiciary in developing an overall strategy to secure cy pres and other major awards. This session will include a private attorney who will review ways in which pro bono attorneys can lead this kind of effort.
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New Orleans Now: A Portrait of Pro Bono Signature Projects and Excellence
Document Available: Abrams_handout1 This session will showcase some of the excellent pro bono work performed in New Orleans and the Gulf coast region by out-of-state law firms following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The cases and projects that law firm representatives will discuss represent some of the most challenging, uplifting, creative, and meaningful pro bono work performed on behalf of individuals and families ravaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
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New Resources to Support Campaigns for Social Justice With an increasing emphasis on delivery systems and organizational structures, legal aid and pro bono programs often lose sight of the goal of their work: economic, racial and social justice for their clients and communities. This session will highlight the work of public interest lawyers in one state (Mississippi) who reorganized and re-energized their work to strengthen the overall structure of the delivery system. Also, with a new Access to Justice Commission, pro bono partnerships, and increasing collaborations, Mississippi is finding new sources of support for advancing social justice.
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Non-traditional Pro Bono: New Ideas for Involving Attorneys
Document Available: Garvin_Outline This workshop will spotlight out-of-the-ordinary models for involving attorneys in pro bono. Models will include pro bono attorneys assisting domestic violence survivors in employment matters and assisting crime victims in upholding their rights. Come and be inspired to develop your own inventive pro bono project to address clients unmet needs.
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Online Interactive Pro Se Court Forms: A Collaborative Project of the Idaho Courts and Legal Aid
Document Available: Bladow_Outline
This session will focus on the collaboration between the Idaho Supreme Court and Idaho Legal Aid Services to create statewide court approved legal forms and make these forms available on-line through the National NPADO server. The session will include a presentation on the National NPADO server by Pro Bono Net and information on other similar projects around the country.
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Partnering for Success: Law Schools, Law Firms, and Community Pro Bono Partnerships
Document Available: Binford_Outline Panelists will explore several collaborative models for pro bono legal services: a partnership between lawyers from large firms with law students and community-based organizations, a collaboration that places psychiatric fellows in a legal clinic, a partnership with a state agency to prosecute consumer fraud targeting immigrant populations and a partnership between a law school and a bar association to serve 12,000 pro per patrons annually at a courthouse site with feeder mini-clinics. Learn how to identify potential partners in your community and hear about the steps involved in developing a collaborative effort.
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Partnering to End Homelessness: How Bar Associations, Legal Services, Law Firms and Advocates are Working Together
Document Available: Trupin_Outline
Panelists will discuss how to implement programs that provide access to justice to people experiencing homelessness. Collaboration is critical when providing high quality legal services to this population; no single organization is equipped to address the issues faced by people who are homeless. Presenters will highlight programs where law firms and legal service organizations partner with bar associations, law schools and individual lawyers to provide direct legal services, as well as nonprofits coordinating the pro bono legal services of law firms for class action and impact litigation.
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Public Sector Salaries, Student Debt, and Solutions
Document Available: Grumm_Outline
How do organizations recruit and retain law graduates with high student debt loads? Join this program to learn the latest facts on law school tuition and debt, review current public interest salary data, hear about a report on the impact of the debt problem on staff retention, and find out what stakeholders (e.g. schools, employers) are doing in response to the debt problem in the public interest arena. Group discussion will follow on how public interest employers can support the creation and improvement of financial assistance programs and hire/retain today's debt-burdened law graduates.
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Pushing the Limit Beyond Advice: Techniques for Providing Brief Services and Pro Se Assistance in a Hotline Setting
Document Available: Parker_Outline This workshop showcases approaches to providing brief services and pro se in a legal hotline or brief services unit setting. Panelists will describe how a brief services unit can address emerging legal issues and recent examples of hotline/BSU staff activities in providing these services. Programs will relate the results of partnering with other agencies including statewide efforts to improve and coordinate family law pro services through the courts and the helpline.
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Quality in Delivery of Services: Using New Tools to Improve Service to Clients (Part I) New publications from the ABA and the LSC provide important new tools for program leaders, advocates, governing bodies, funders and others. The ABA Standards for Provision of Civil Legal Aid, the LSC Performance Criteria, and the ABA Principles of a State System for the Delivery of Civil Legal Aid each address, from different perspectives, the quest for quality in delivery of services to clients. In this session, panelists who helped to develop these documents will provide an introduction and overview, while panelists who have relied upon these tools to implement successful new approaches will describe their experiences. The emphasis of this part will be on the ABA Civil Standards and the LSC Performance Criteria (also attend Part 2 during the afternoon session for further discussion about these tools and the Principles of a State System).
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Quality in Delivery of Services: Using New Tools to Improve Service to Clients (Part II) This session will provide an opportunity to discuss how the ABA Standards for Provision of Civil Legal Aid, the LSC Performance Criteria, and the ABA Principles of a State System for the Delivery of Civil Legal Aid can be used to stimulate improvements in program and system structures, operations and results. Panelists will suggest ways these tools may be used as a basis for training of board members and staff at all levels, education of others, outreach to communities, evaluation and for other purposes. Participants will have an opportunity to contribute to a wide-ranging discussion of how we can, as a community, ensure the highest quality in systems, programs and services.
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Responsibilities To Do Justice Everyone in the justice system has a certain set of rules they are expected to follow. But what happens when your obligation to follow those rules may result in an injustice? This roundtable discussion looks at a series of hypothetical situations to explore the obligations of court administrators, judges, lawyers and pro bono coordinators when they are confronted by dilemmas pitting their duties within the system against their responsibility to see justice done.
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Roundtable on Transactional Pro Bono Program Administration / Operations The key to keeping the quality of transactional pro bono legal services as high as possible it to regularly and critically review all aspects of your program and implement improvements whenever necessary. This workshop is not for the shy and retiring. It's a forum for transactional pro bono program managers and staff to come together and brag about their best practices; to show off manuals, methods and forms; and to crow about their successes to each other. Take home these ideas and use them to update a program or refine a practice.
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Running a Nonprofit in Today's Changing Environment: What You Don't Know That Can Hurt You - Part I
Document Available: Grumet_Outline Most legal services to the underserved are provided through nonprofit pro bono organizations. But a noble mission isn't always enough. Under the ever-increasing scrutiny of grant funders, public donors, and tax authorities, nonprofits must take great care to guard against missteps. This is a two-session workshop, first covering nonprofit basics, followed by a guided exercise in which attendees will discover why a nonprofit needs certain policies, what a policy should say and how to go about the process of writing your own policies.
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Scaling the Mountain of Family Law Needs Through Innovative Pro Bono Models
Document Available: Abbott_Outline This ever-popular session will present several models of innovative techniques to increase family law pro bono services. Attendees will be encouraged to share their own creative solutions and success stories.
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Second Season of Service: Tapping into a Growing Volunteer Base
Document Available: Hubbard_Outline It is estimated that 40,000 lawyers a year will begin to retire, consider retiring, or significantly alter their work environment over the next several years. Based upon just 50 hours a year per affected attorney, this would represent two million volunteer hours annually. This program will highlight the work of the ABA Presidential Commission on Second Season of Service, inform legal services providers how to tap into this demographic and highlight existing programs. The workshop will also look at practice rules and other considerations that facilitate pro bono practice by this population.
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Self Represented Litigation: Attorney, Court and Legal Aid Leadership Responses to the Access Revolution Updates developments in self represented litigation, including research, court access innovations, courtroom innovations, pro bono involvement, national judicial leadership, funding, intake and assessment, the ombudsman role of self help services, technology, strategic planning, Law Library roles, Unbundling and national networking (Self Represented Litigation Network). Extensive question problem solving and networking time.
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Serving Geographically Remote Areas: Linking Technology and Pro Bono Attorneys to Bridge the Service Gap Rural areas present special challenges for the provision of legal services. One particular challenge is the difficulty in bringing legal professionals to these areas. This seminar will discuss ways to use technology and other outreach methods to serve those in underserved rural communities.
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Simplifying Intake, Improving Service Delivery and Supporting Advocates: LiveHelp, Document Assembly and Online Intake
Document Available: Calkins_Outline Emerging technologies, and better use of existing technologies, show great promise for providing better service to our clients and simplifying the workflow in our offices. Use of LiveHelp on-line chat, on-line document assembly (for advocates and clients), and on-line intake will be discussed and demonstrated in this session. All are relatively easy to use in your program.
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So You Want to Start a Business Pro Bono Program?
Document Available: Alfonso_Outline This workshop will present the nuts and bolts of starting a business law pro bono program. These programs serve the business law needs of community-based organizations in metropolitan and rural communities. Business law pro bono programs allow maximum leverage of legal resources available to serve the organizations that are the safety net to the poor and underserved communities. Workshop participants will learn about service delivery models, outreach, client intake, volunteer lawyer recruitment, and case placement practices.
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Solo and Small Firm Practitioners: Small Shops, Big Contributions
Document Available: Norton_Outline Solo practitioners and small firms make up the vast majority of the practice community. Learn about the challenges to pro bono participation that these firms face and strategies for addressing those challenges.
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Soul of a Citizen: A Conversation With Paul Loeb
Document Available: Loeb_handout1 Join keynote speaker Paul Loeb in an intimate conversation about how we get involved in working for justice, and how we can involve others. Paul will look at what stops us or others from getting involved, how we can reach out to people beyond our familiar networks, and how we can avoid burn out and learn to keep on for the long haul.
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Starting a Telephone-based Delivery System: Choosing a Model, Funding, Legal Services System Integration
Document Available: Johnson_Outline High quality legal services are fostered through coordinated, telephone-based delivery systems, such as centralized intake and hotlines. Before programs can capitalize on such systems, they must understand the key components of implementation. This session will help programs address the issues surrounding start-up, implementation and advanced growth for small and large organizations. The session will focus on vision/goal setting, fundraising and budgets, developmental approaches, managing change. Other topics include ongoing project management, staffing, training, and expansion.
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State Funding Roundtable: The 2007 Legislative Session and Beyond This session is an excellent networking opportunity for legal services staff and volunteers who are involved in obtaining and increasing funding for civil legal services from the state legislature. We will talk about progress made and problems confronted in the 2007 legislative session, hear about innovative ideas, share materials and discuss strategies for the future.
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Successful Practices for Fostering Supportive Relationships Between Staff and Volunteers
Document Available: Benson_Outline A key element of a successful pro bono program is a cooperative relationship between staff and volunteers. This workshop will discuss a variety of approaches to nurture mutually supportive relationships, including strategies for creating teamwork between staff and volunteers and techniques for educating staff on working with volunteers. The discussion will include lessons learned from research and theory in the field of volunteer management and how they might apply to the field of pro bono. Bring your thoughts, questions and experiences - active participation by attendees is encouraged!
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Tech Tips and Tools: Fifty (More) Ways to Work Better, Faster, and Cheaper An annual favorite! This session will provide highlights of the newest, greatest and cheapest tech tools to help you and your legal aid program work more efficiently. Online tools, free applications, open source options and tips for everyday applications like Excel and Word will leave you wondering how you ever managed without these tips and tools.
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Technology in Self Represented Litigation Innovation: The Promise of Access for the Disadvantaged Technology provides highly cost effective services to a broad diverse range of disadvantaged communities, particularly when properly configured and supported. This session will emphasize multi-lingual websites, video for remote access, LiveHelp technology to support access for those less comfortable with websites, document assembly and an access to justice technology bill of rights.
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Telling the Story of Legal Aid: Practical Communications Strategies for Outreach to Diverse Audiences Legal aid and public interest law programs have great stories to tell. But even with all of the progress our community has made in recent years, the message still is not getting through to most of the people who need to hear it (i.e., donors, volunteers, funders, and policymakers). This workshop will give attendees simple, practical tools that they can easily incorporate into their work to improve their own organizations' outreach to a diverse range of audiences and advance the overall cause of equal access to justice.
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The Corporate Pro Bono Challenge: Taking Advantage of an Innovative New Tool for Corporate Pro Bono Corporate Pro Bono will present its Corporate Pro Bono Challenge, an aspirational pro bono goal for corporate law departments. We'll discuss the Challenge and how pro bono programs and legal service providers can use the Challenge to recruit in-house volunteer lawyers. The purpose of the Challenge is to increase corporate law department involvement in pro bono and enable them to identify, benchmark and communicate their commitment to pro bono service. Attendees will be able to identify the realities and needs of corporate law departments seeking to fulfill the Challenge.
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The Intersection of Race, Gender, Leadership & Opportunity in the Equal Justice Community Does the intersection of gender and race affect recruitment and retention of staff, managers, and directors? Is gender a factor in the leadership opportunities of staff, board members, and client leaders? Join us for an opportunity to engage in a constructive, interactive roundtable discussion about the opportunities, challenges, and dynamics created by the intersection of gender and race in the equal justice community
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The Land Loss Prevention and Hospice Pro Bono Projects: Innovative Collaborations in Florida and Georgia
Document Available: Zehren_Outline Recent recipients of Partnerships in Law and Aging Program grants will describe their collaborative projects addressing the unique legal problems of low-income elderly African American landowners and terminally ill individuals, respectively, through joint initiatives between legal services programs and local bar associations and the use of pro bono attorneys.
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The Pinnacle of Pro Bono Involvement: Judicial Participation in Pro Bono
Document Available: Zainey_Outline Judicial support of and participation in pro bono is critical to a sound culture of pro bono. What may judges do? Panelists will discuss various examples of judges energizing pro bono at the local level, report on particular state judicial conduct rules with commentary favorable to pro bono and the changes to the ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct that provides significant positive guidance and direction. Objectives include learning about: 1) Policies that encourage and support judicial participation in pro bono; 2) Strategies for judicial involvement in pro bono and its promotion.
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Towards a Civil Right to Counsel Document Available: ABA Resolution on Right to Counsel Over the last year, advocacy for a civil right to counsel has gained significant momentum. Participants and panelists in this session will review the recent policy and litigation developments that have created this momentum and then discuss how to best coordinate the local and national efforts over the next year and beyond. Panelists will include those working on implementation of the ABA s resolution calling for recognition of the right, and advocates directly involved in state level litigation. Please join our discussion of these exciting efforts.
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Update on LSC Initiatives The LSC Board recently approved the LSC 2007 Private Attorney Involvement Action Plan which among other activities, will feature the development of a program letter providing helpful guidance on how to engage private attorneys with LSC-funded programs more fully. This session is an opportunity to learn more about the Action Plan, share your thoughts and ideas with LSC, and hear about a range of other initiatives, such as the Leadership Mentoring Pilot Program and the next steps in that effort, LRAP, the progress of the CSR revision, and more.
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Upgrading Rural Delivery: Sowing Justice, Harvesting Hope and Opportunity
Document Available: Bamberger_Outline This session will provide a critical examination of the unique challenges that rural legal aid providers face in effectively delivering legal services due to vast geographic distances, a paucity of staff advocates and pro bono attorneys, lack of public transportation, inadequate infrastructures, and other critical resources. Presenters will explore delivery strategies across the entire legal spectrum and the use of pro bono attorneys, law firms, law students, and other appropriate professionals and paraprofessionals.
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Using Demographics to Identify and Serve Vulnerable Populations
Document Available: Glasmeier_Outline This session will present affirmative steps to confront barriers that exist for populations isolated by geography, language, culture, race, disability, and other circumstances in accessing the full range of legal services. It will also demonstrate how strategic planning around access issues can aid organizations in public relations, fundraising, disaster preparedness planning, and the involvement of private attorneys. Knowing the location and concentration of isolated populations can help legal aid providers better understand poverty, and document its nature and its peculiar persistence.
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Using Non-Attorney Volunteers to Lighten and Brighten Your Load
Document Available: Kawanabe_Outline Representatives from a pro bono organization, legal services program, law school, and paralegal association will discuss the variety of ways in which non-lawyer volunteers participate in pro bono programs, pro se clinics, and legal services programs. Panelists will discuss the unique challenges and benefits of involving paralegals, law students, interpreters, medical professionals and others to meet the needs of low-income clients. Come prepared to discuss examples from your own program!
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What Happens After the Call? Incorporating Follow-up Plans for Hotline Clients
Document Available: Ehrlich_Outline A major goal of assessing client outcomes is to optimize project effectiveness by allocating resources where they will achieve the maximum benefit. This session reports results from several hotline client outcome studies and presents procedures for incorporating client outcome tracking. Client outcome assessment also requires the hotline to identify clients who might need additional assistance in performing tasks to solve a legal problem versus clients who might be a good candidate for self advocacy. Experienced hotline managers will present factors to consider in making these determinations.
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When Immigration and Pro Bono Intersect in Transactional Pro Bono Programs
Document Available: Beleno_Outline America's diversity starts with her immigrant population. Providing transactional pro bono services to immigrants presents a unique set of issues. Learn how programs overcome the challenges of outreach, culture, training, client screening and funding. Presenters will discuss how they develop a network of immigration lawyers and consultants for client referrals or for consultation and how they partner with ethnic bar associations to develop a network of qualified, language-proficient lawyers for client referrals and for consultations.
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Youth at Risk: A Challenge to Provide Quality Legal Support to Youth Aging Out of Foster Care In a changing, diverse world where youth-of-color are disproportionately in the care of government foster care agencies, those who are close to emancipating, or already emancipated, out of foster care face high risks. We will examine what we know about the challenges facing youth aging out of foster care, hear the perspective of youth who traveled these paths, describe innovative approaches to creating legal support for foster youth before and after they turn 18, and engage in a discussion of the hurdles facing our most at-risk youth and how lawyers and bar groups can help them.
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