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Answer Rate: 78%

Number of Clients Served: 779

Percent increase in 2020:
Overall increase of approximately 53% in questions from 2019

Top 6 questions types for 2020:

1. Family/Divorce/Custody
2. Housing or Property Owned
3. Other
4. Debts & Purchases
5. Civil/Constitutional Rights
6. Employment

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17 annual Louisiana Justice Community Conference goes virtual with double
attendance rate
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The 17 annual Louisiana Justice Community Conference was held completely virtually this
year due to the COVID-19 public health crisis. While many prior-year attendees missed the in-
person experience, the virtual platform presented several unexpected opportunities to change
things up and expand the conference audience. The virtual platform allowed the LSBA to host
100% more attendees than last year, including non-attorney legal aid staff and attorney
volunteers. The conference also attracted national presenters from organizations such as the
National Alliance of Multicultural Disabled Advocates, the New York Fines and Fees Justice
Center, the University of Baltimore School of Law, the Children’s Law Center of California,
and more. The agenda featured new experiences in addition to continuing legal education, such
as a virtual tour of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and several interactive workshops and
breakout sessions. Most importantly, the ATJ department was pleased to be able to continue
to host the event with no risk of COVID-19 transmission for attendees!

LSBA Standing Committees

Criminal Justice Committee focuses efforts on funding and mental health.
Jean Faria and Graham Bosworth, Co-Chairs
The committee met in September where they discussed project proposals and prioritized which
initiatives would be the focus of the 2020-2021 Bar year. During the meeting, five project
proposals were presented with three priorities chosen: funding the criminal justice system,
mental health issues relevant to the criminal justice system, and the bail system. Members
volunteered to form working groups to take on these initiatives, most of which met between
the September and December full Committee meetings. Projects flowing from these initiatives
are still being discussed, with the next full Committee meeting scheduled in February.

Legal Services for Persons with Disabilities Committee hosts multiple trainings.
Elena Perez and Dayna Ryan, Co-chairs
The committee met on November 13, 2020 and will meet again on February 26, 2021. At the
last meeting, the Committee continued discussions about operations and issues in light of
COVID-19 and Hurricane Laura, including notarization issues and COVID testing inside