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ACCESS TO JUSTICE REPORT
AUGUST 2021

To: LSBA Board of Governors
From: Monte Mollere, ATJ Director

Re: Justice For All Project

ATJ Commission Holds Justice For All Community Listening Sessions in Concordia
and East Carroll Parishes

The Louisiana State Bar Association’s Access to Justice Commission will host a series of
community listening sessions at the end of August and beginning of September in Concordia
and East Carroll parishes. Two community listening sessions – one at noon and one at
5:30p.m. – will be held in Concordia on Tuesday, August 31, and again in East Carroll on
Wednesday, September 1.

During each session, participants will be asked about how they have looked for legal help,
how they handled civil legal problems, and ways the Justice for All project can help make
addressing non-criminal legal issues easier. The input gathered from these sessions will be
used to help develop new legal resources for Concordia and East Carroll parish residents.

Both Concordia and East Carroll parishes were identified as areas where in-person legal
services, such as self-help centers, civil legal aid offices, and law libraries, are more than a
45-minute drive away. The long distances coupled with high poverty rates and lack of
internet access put the Mississippi Delta region at the top of the list for places in need of
access to legal services and resources.

The events are being held in conjunction with the Justice For All grant from the National
Center for State Courts, funded by the JPB Foundation. The goal of the Justice For All Project
is to attain 100% meaningful access to effective assistance for essential civil legal needs
through collaboration with stakeholders most impacted. The community listening sessions
will help execute the implementation phase of the grant, in which the Commission is tasked
with expanding access to civil legal resources in areas with the greatest barriers to getting
legal help.

More information about the community listening sessions is available in the event flyers for
each parish. Concordia and East Carroll residents are asked to sign up to attend using the
respective registration links.

To learn more about the Justice For All Implementation Project, please visit:
https://www.lsba.org/documents/News/LSBANews/JFAGrantPressRelease.pdf