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Bar associations can demonstrate their relevance to the public by building tools that
address the ever-growing access to justice gap. In 2016, floods ravaged the areas in and around
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, yet flood victims often lacked the documentation of home ownership
that is required to establish eligibility for FEMA and state recovery disaster assistance. A
multifaceted campaign called “FloodProof” emerged last year to address these needs, and the
Center stepped up to play an important role.
Working with Stanford Law School, Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS),
Louisiana State University Law School, and Louisiana Appleseed, the Center created a mobile
app to help Louisiana flood victims gather information and documents needed to establish home
ownership and complete disaster relief applications. The Center developed a web-based version
of FloodProof and explored efforts, in cooperation with the ABA Standing Committee on
Disaster Response and Preparedness1 and Louisiana Appleseed, to drive greater awareness and
use of these new technology resources. Through a collaborative effort with SLLS, LSU Law
School, Southern University Law School, Baton Rouge Bar Association, Louisiana Appleseed,
and local and state government, flood victims are being introduced to both the mobile app and
web platform to assist in recovery. The Center is now replicating the effort in other states.
The Center is collaborating on similar projects in many different areas, such as the
creation of a web-based tool to direct victims of hate crimes or bias incidents to available
resources, an app for law enforcement that would help translate Miranda warnings into other
languages, and the pairing of legal tech companies with legal aid offices so that cutting-edge
tools can enable frontline legal services lawyers to reach more clients. In short, bar associations
can marry their networks and substantive expertise with innovative thinking to have a positive
impact on how the public accesses essential legal services.
Embracing Other Professionals
Embracing change means welcoming a wide range of professionals who can contribute in
various ways. The Center’s volunteer leaders include people who have innovated outside of the
legal industry; in fact, one of the Center’s Innovation Fellows was a court administrator who was
not a lawyer.
Recognizing the role of other kinds of professionals also means an openness to rethinking
the regulation of legal services. In 2016, the ABA adopted Model Regulatory Objectives for the
Provision of Legal Services,2 and one of the explicit rationales for doing so was a recognition
that various kinds of professionals are playing an important role in the delivery of legal services.
The Model Regulatory Objectives set out some basic principles to help regulators and bar
associations think through their regulatory stances in light of these developments.
Conclusion
At an inflection point for the legal industry, bar associations must be at the vanguard of
change rather than a bulwark against it. If bars embrace their role as change agents, they will
ultimately serve both their members and the public more effectively.
1 ABA COMMITTEE ON DISASTER RESPONSE AND PREPAREDNESS, https://www.americanbar.org/groups/committees/disaster.html.
2 MODEL REGULATORY OBJECTIVES FOR THE PROVISION OF LEGAL SERVICES (2016),
https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/directories/policy/2016_hod_midyear_105.docx.
203
address the ever-growing access to justice gap. In 2016, floods ravaged the areas in and around
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, yet flood victims often lacked the documentation of home ownership
that is required to establish eligibility for FEMA and state recovery disaster assistance. A
multifaceted campaign called “FloodProof” emerged last year to address these needs, and the
Center stepped up to play an important role.
Working with Stanford Law School, Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS),
Louisiana State University Law School, and Louisiana Appleseed, the Center created a mobile
app to help Louisiana flood victims gather information and documents needed to establish home
ownership and complete disaster relief applications. The Center developed a web-based version
of FloodProof and explored efforts, in cooperation with the ABA Standing Committee on
Disaster Response and Preparedness1 and Louisiana Appleseed, to drive greater awareness and
use of these new technology resources. Through a collaborative effort with SLLS, LSU Law
School, Southern University Law School, Baton Rouge Bar Association, Louisiana Appleseed,
and local and state government, flood victims are being introduced to both the mobile app and
web platform to assist in recovery. The Center is now replicating the effort in other states.
The Center is collaborating on similar projects in many different areas, such as the
creation of a web-based tool to direct victims of hate crimes or bias incidents to available
resources, an app for law enforcement that would help translate Miranda warnings into other
languages, and the pairing of legal tech companies with legal aid offices so that cutting-edge
tools can enable frontline legal services lawyers to reach more clients. In short, bar associations
can marry their networks and substantive expertise with innovative thinking to have a positive
impact on how the public accesses essential legal services.
Embracing Other Professionals
Embracing change means welcoming a wide range of professionals who can contribute in
various ways. The Center’s volunteer leaders include people who have innovated outside of the
legal industry; in fact, one of the Center’s Innovation Fellows was a court administrator who was
not a lawyer.
Recognizing the role of other kinds of professionals also means an openness to rethinking
the regulation of legal services. In 2016, the ABA adopted Model Regulatory Objectives for the
Provision of Legal Services,2 and one of the explicit rationales for doing so was a recognition
that various kinds of professionals are playing an important role in the delivery of legal services.
The Model Regulatory Objectives set out some basic principles to help regulators and bar
associations think through their regulatory stances in light of these developments.
Conclusion
At an inflection point for the legal industry, bar associations must be at the vanguard of
change rather than a bulwark against it. If bars embrace their role as change agents, they will
ultimately serve both their members and the public more effectively.
1 ABA COMMITTEE ON DISASTER RESPONSE AND PREPAREDNESS, https://www.americanbar.org/groups/committees/disaster.html.
2 MODEL REGULATORY OBJECTIVES FOR THE PROVISION OF LEGAL SERVICES (2016),
https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/directories/policy/2016_hod_midyear_105.docx.
203
