Access to Justice and TechnologyRonald W. Staudt

Class 1: IntroductionAugust 26, 2004

Access to Justice and Technology

Mechanics

Justice Web Collaboratory

Will Hornsby’s Article

Access to Justice and Technology

Seating ChartCourse WebsiteCourse Information Class attendance Assignments Grading

Class topicsPaper topics Web Exercise

What is the JWC?

JUSTICE

COLLABORATORY

WEB

Leveraging web

technology

Dedicated to improving

access to justice

Bringing different organizations together for a common purpose

JWC Major ProjectsIllinois Technology Center for Law and Public Interest (ITC) www.itcweb.org

Illinois state-wide coalition of legal services providers, foundations and and bar associations

Internet portal development, access to justice and legal services for low income individuals

Access to Justice (A2J) www.judgelink.org/a2j/ Interdisciplinary study of self represented

litigants A2J prototype construction and testing Daley Center Self Help Web Desk A2J Author Project with CALI funded by the State

Justice Institute Cook County Illinois, Lake County, Illinois Maryland California

Access to Justice (A2J) www.judgelink.org/a2j/ Unique experiment – potential to change courts?

Customer service; digital infrastructure; AI… Interdisciplinary reflections Stories we experienced during the field research Student participation in new models, client

interaction…

Illinois Technology Center for Law and Public Interest (ITC) www.itcweb.org Student involvement in public service, clinical and

writing opportunities – curriculum innovation… Knowledge management, practice impact of web

tools …

JWC Major Projects – Research Ideas

Access to Justice:A Compelling Challenge

Statewide A2J Portals

Massive Need

LSC turns to

technology

Court Redesign

Courts left behind

Pro se explosion

BizCase 8

The Need 35,000,000 Americans live in households with income below the poverty level

10,000,000 more are potentially eligible for legal services with income between 100% - 125% of poverty levels

BizCase 9

Need for Legal Services

LSC agencies closed 1,000,000 cases for low income clients in

1999

Still:

80% of the Poor and Working Poor in the United States Do

Not Have Access to Legal Services

LSC- Technology Initiative Grants

As a result of the additional $4.25 million LSC received in FY 2000 for technology initiatives, our Office of Program Performance established the Technology Initiative Grants ("TIG") Program. …[W]e identified three priorities for proposals: showcase how a complete package of technology tools can help

indigent clients with access to legal services and self-help information;

new and innovative uses of technology for assisting clients; and promote the linkage of offices to provide a more cohesive

delivery system.

Unprecedented statewide collaboration To increase access to justice for low income and disadvantaged persons through innovative use of technology to train, support, and educate legal aid providers, pro bono attorneys, and the public. Partners:Cabrini Green Legal Aid Clinic Illinois Bar FoundationCARPLS Chicago-Kent College of Law/IIT The Chicago Bar Foundation National Center on Poverty Law, Inc.Prairie State Legal Services Chicago Volunteer Legal ServicesLawyers Trust Fund of Illinois Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance

FoundationLegal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan ChicagoSouthern Illinois University School of Law-Self Help Center

IllinoisLegalAidSite

IllinoisProBonoSite

IllinoisLawHelpSite

ITCweb.org

Authors &Experts

Managers &Editors

•Courthouse

•Legal Aid •Office

•Social Service Agency

•Law SchoolClinics &Libraries

•PublicLibraries

•Home

Customers Producers Portals

CMS

IllinoisLegalAidSite

IllinoisProBonoSite

IllinoisLawHelpSite

ITCweb.org

Authors &Experts

Managers &Editors

•Courthouse

•Legal Aid •Office

•Social Service Agency

•Law SchoolClinics &Libraries

•PublicLibraries

•Home

Customers Producers Portals

CMS

IllinoisLegalAidSite

IllinoisProBonoSite

IllinoisLawHelpSite

ITCweb.org

Authors &Experts

Managers &Editors

•Courthouse

•Legal Aid •Office

•Social Service Agency

•Law SchoolClinics &Libraries

•PublicLibraries

•Home

Customers Producers Portals

CMS

IllinoisLegalAidSite

IllinoisProBonoSite

IllinoisLawHelpSite

ITCweb.org

Authors &Experts

Managers &Editors

•Courthouse

•Legal Aid •Office

•Social Service Agency

•Law SchoolClinics &Libraries

•PublicLibraries

•Home

Customers Producers Portals

CMS

Access to JusticeMeeting the Needs of Self-Represented Litigants: A consumer based approach

                     

              

              

              

              

        

              

                             

                    

Barriers Facing Consumers Seeking Access to Courts

Too expensive: Complexity -- 50% attribute excessive

costs to complexity Lawyers -- 85% of Americans

attribute excessive costs to attorneys

Lack of information about processesLack of Legal RepresentationDistrust of Lawyers

Barriers to Re-engineering Courts

Decentralized Funding and Control

Lack of Resources Time Constraints Lack of Technical Know-how System Constraints

Access to JusticeFunding Partners

State Justice InstituteOpen Society InstituteCenter for Access to the Courts Through TechnologyPreparing Global Leaders in the Heart of America Pritzker/Galvin Match

Project Partners

National Center for State CourtsChicago-Kent College of LawInstitute of Design

Part 2 – CALI, AOC in California, Maryland JN

Project StagingPHASE 1, FALL 2000:Identify the major barriers to access to justice by litigants without lawyers

PHASE 2, SPRING 2001:Employ the latest in system design methodology to redesign the process

PHASE 3, 2001-2002:Translate conceptual models into an Internet based prototype

Phase 1 & 2Shadow the Customer: Ethnographic research in 5 courts, California, Delaware, Colorado & Illinois

what do people want from courts, what do they do in the courthouse

Design new solutions: Structured Workshop to design new solutions from the customers’ perspective

Charter, Defining Statements, Design Factors, Function Structure, Information Structure and

53 Solution Elements in a System Structure

Report available at http://www.judgelink.org/a2j/ and in a book released this summer.

Phase 3: Prototype Developmentwww.judgelink.org/A2J/

Prototype Proof of Concept and Toolkit Traveling down a guided path Easy to use interface

Personal guideMapPersonal Folder and Document List

Operational Prototype – Simple Illinois Divorce

Judgelink.org\A2J\prototypes\

Cook County Illinois Joint Simplified Dissolution of Marriage “Guide me” w/ HotDocs linkage

Access To JusticeWebsite

Customer Data

Document Assembly Server(LEXISNEXIS HotDocs OnLine)

E-Filing at Courthouse

Server

XML

XML

Shift to the Digital Paradigm

Will Hornsby

Unmet need

Two tiers of law practice: corporate/institutional clients & personal plight lawyers

Pro se and unbundling

Inefficiencies of traditional model and digital design efficiencies

Inefficiencies of traditional model and digital design efficiencies

Client developmentIntake and screeningClient educationForm preparationGeographical barriersOngoing client communicationDispute resolutionAncillary businesses

What is Unbundling?

“The client is in charge of selecting one of several discrete lawyering tasks contained within the full-service package.”

Forrest Mosten

Why do we care?

Access to Justice remains a serious problem in the US and “…by providing limited service representation or ‘unbundled’ services in the area of civil law [we may be able to] stretch limited ‘free’ services and make for cost services affordable to a larger segment of our society.

Kim ProchnauKing County Superior Court Administrator

Next Class

Unmet need and self represented litigantsRequired Reading Deborah L. Rhode, Professionalism in

Perspective: Alternative Approaches to Nonlawyer Practice, 1 J. Inst. Stud. Leg. Eth. 197 (1996).

ABA Legal Needs Study Illinois Legal Needs Study Recommended Reading Owen, Staudt & Pedwell, Access to Justice:

Meeting the Needs of Self-Represented Litigants (2002).