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ATJ Developing Leadership Intern Program
The ATJ Developing Leadership Intern Program was initiated in 2015 for the purpose of exposing
law students to the experiences and skills necessary to become the next generation of access to
justice leaders. Four students - one from each of Louisiana’s four law schools - are chosen to
participate in the program. Each student is sponsored by an organization with a commitment to
access to justice; the sponsors provide guidance, mentorship, and a $3,000 stipend for the interns.
Over a 6-week period, interns work with civil legal aid programs to learn about the civil legal
needs of low-income people and the ways in which these organizations address those needs.
Program activities are hands-on and include interviewing clients, attending court hearings, and
participating in community outreach efforts. Additionally, interns have the opportunity to tour the
Louisiana Supreme Court and interact with appellate and trial court judges, both state and federal,
who have been actively involved in developing and supporting pro bono and access to justice
efforts throughout Louisiana.

This year’s ATJ Developing Leadership Intern program runs May 16-June 24. New to the program
this year as a sponsor is the firm Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore LLC. The three remaining
sponsors for the 2022 program include Entergy, LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center, and Phelps
Dunbar, LLP.
Training
The Access to Justice Department offers a wide variety of low-cost and no-cost Continuing Legal
Education (CLE) opportunities focused on various areas of public interest law to civil legal aid
attorneys. The ATJ Training and Projects Counsel works with public interest law task forces,
training subcommittees, and various non-profit organizations to create affordable and pertinent
CLE programming for Louisiana’s justice community. While this position was originally created
as a training coordinator through funding subsidized by the Legal Services Programs, the position
has expanded to include building and fostering relationships among five substantive task forces,
pro bono organizations and other members of the justice community to ensure educational needs
are met.

ATJ provides trainings through in-person, remote, and pre-recorded formats, giving attorneys
multiple options to attend and access the educational seminars they may not otherwise receive due
to costs as well as time away from the office. Recorded CLEs are made available on probono.net/la
to legal aid, contract, and volunteer attorneys. The ATJ Department also provides customized
trainings for new solos in the LIFT Legal Incubator and Accelerator Program.

Louisiana Justice Community Conference
Each October, the LSBA’s Access to Justice Department hosts the Louisiana Justice Community
Conference. This is typically a two-day in-person event that provides civil legal aid attorneys the
opportunity to obtain 9.0 hours of relevant CLE training and network with the Louisiana access to
justice community. In recent years, the conference has been held virtually in an effort to support
social distancing and at the request of attendees. The virtual conferences have included national
presenters and record attendance. The conference programming includes professionalism, ethics,
technology, procedural and substantive law training topics.

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