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Access to Justice Department Initiatives

Working in conjunction with our Justice partners, the Louisiana State Bar Association’s Access to
Justice Department has been able to produce constructive results on numerous projects. These
justice community initiatives all have the underlying objective of integrating the network of
programs to further provide the best legal services possible to Louisiana’s indigent. Descriptions
of some of the projects undertaken by the department follow.

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 in-person, remotely through webinars, and pre-recorded via video, giving
attorneys multiple options to attend and access to educational seminars they may have overwise
avoided due to costs associated with travel and 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 an effort to support social distancing and at the request of attendees, the
conference will be held virtually over a three-day period in December this year. The department is
working with a third-party virtual platform provider to offer an interactive webinar series and we
hope that by hosting the event online, an increased number of participants and national presenters
will be able attend. The three-day event will include programming on professionalism, ethics,
technology, procedural and substantive law.

Louisiana Civil Legal Aid Awards

In 2015, the LSBA introduced two new awards at the Louisiana Justice Community Conference
recognizing excellence and ingenuity in the civil justice community. The Legal Service Excellence
in Advocacy Award recognizes an individual advocate who has displayed the highest levels of
dedication, passion, and professionalism in representing vulnerable clients. The Legal Service

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