Annual Summit on Indigent Defense Improvement
A National Forum for Bar & Indigent Defense Leaders

Since 2005, the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants (SCLAID) has been sponsoring the Annual Summit on Indigent Defense Improvement. The Summit provides an opportunity for leaders of state bar and defender programs, as well as others interested in indigent defense reform, to learn from experts about recent developments from around the country and to engage in a dialogue with their peers from other states.

More than 40 years after the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Gideon v. Wainwright indigent defense services in the U.S. are still mired in a state of crisis. Yet, there have been important reforms in certain states and bar leaders especially have sometimes used their influence either to initiate or assist improvements in critical ways. ABA SCLAID sponsors this annual national forum because it recognizes the importance of leadership from the organized bar in addressing injustices faced by indigent defendants. This program is held in conjunction with the ABA Midyear Meeting, held annually in February.