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The Louisiana State Bar Association’s

Access to Justice Committees and Initiatives

April 2021

The Louisiana State Bar Association has historically supported the concept of “Access to
Justice” and has long recognized the importance of the efforts of organizations providing for the
legal needs of the indigent. Since 1997 the Bar has actively demonstrated its commitment to help
meet the needs of poor Louisianans by establishing and funding the Access to Justice (ATJ)
Program.

Access to Justice History

The ATJ Department

The LSBA’s Access to Justice Department commits full-time Bar personnel to support the
activities of Louisiana’s non-profit civil legal aid community in their efforts to ensure access to
the court system for indigent people. The six member ATJ Department also provides personnel
for the LSBA’s independent efforts to address the unmet legal needs of the poor.

The ATJ Committee

The ATJ Committee’s mission is to assure that every Louisiana citizen has access to competent
civil legal representation by promoting and supporting a broad based and effective justice
community through collaboration among the LSBA, Louisiana Law Schools, private
practitioners, local bar associations, pro bono programs, the LBF, civil legal aid providers and
other stakeholders in Louisiana’s Justice Community. The ATJ Committee works to increase
awareness of the indigent population’s unmet civil legal needs and assists by working toward
solutions that can be realized through proper funding of the legal services providers, alternate
methods of service delivery, and increased participation by the legal community. The Committee
has 36 volunteer members. The majority of members are attorneys, but also include non-attorney
members of the justice community that support our efforts. Membership is geographically
diverse and includes corporate counsel, judges, legal services attorneys, legal educators, large
and small firm representatives, as well as pro bono directors. Their one common goal is assuring
that legal needs of the indigent in Louisiana are addressed. The Committee facilitates the work of
all legal services providers by encouraging statewide collaboration and interaction in ATJ
Committee-sponsored programs and the projects it implements. Committee work is
accomplished through subcommittees

The ATJ Policy Committee