Stop by the Exhibit Hall and visit with all 20 exhibitors during the conference. Also, don’t forget to play the exhibit hall game and get entered to win prizes during raffle drawings on Thursday and Friday. Copies of the game flyer in the program books and at the NLADA Membership Booth.
Wednesday May 14, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT Lobby Level
Stop by the Exhibit Hall and visit with all 20 exhibitors during the conference. Also, don’t forget to play the exhibit hall game and get entered to win prizes during raffle drawings on Thursday and Friday. Copies of the game flyer are in the program books and at the NLADA Membership Booth.
Thursday May 15, 2025 7:30am - Saturday May 17, 2025 10:00am EDT Lobby Level
Biases are internal processes everyone relies on to readily process information we have been taught, or experienced. This training will provide the tools needed for you to take the first step in being a better advocate for yourself, your team, and most importantly, for the clients we serve.
Community Justice Workers (CJWs) are trained advocates who provide critical legal advice, assistance and representation in underserved communities. With several states implementing CJW programs, this session explores how the Frontline Justice with support from Ascendium Education Solutions has convened a national taskforce to discuss how best to design and implement low-barrier, competency-based curriculum and credentialing pathways for community justice workers that have the ability to scale to meet community demand and built a justice workforce of the future.
Thursday May 15, 2025 10:00am - 11:15am EDT Continential 8
As legal self-help websites grow, generative AI chatbots offer efficiency and accessibility but raise ethical, practical, and technical concerns. This interactive session explores deploying AI in sensitive areas like family court, focusing on ethical issues, policy implications, and decision-making frameworks to ensure fairness, equity, and effectiveness.
Thursday May 15, 2025 10:00am - 11:15am EDT Continential 2
Recognizing that legal technology may help legal aid narrow the justice gap, the State Bar of California hired consultants to assess grantees’ operational efficiency and develop a statewide legal technology initiative for its 115 grantees. Panelists will discuss how to replicate this assessment and statewide initiative to other jurisdictions.
Thursday May 15, 2025 10:00am - 11:15am EDT Plaza Room A
Supporting law students to pursue paths to legal services is critical. Many diverse students enter school pursuing this path but get lost along the way. We will explore how legal services, law schools and stakeholders provide financial support and encouragement to help students make a commitment to access to justice.
Thursday May 15, 2025 10:00am - 11:15am EDT Plaza Room B
The MIE Roundtable allows legal services Executive Directors and Managers to discuss difficult challenges and pressing concerns confidentially, and to benefit from their colleagues who have experience and learning to share. This session moves the community as a whole forward toward better management, resulting in better services to clients.
Thursday May 15, 2025 10:00am - 11:15am EDT Golden Gate 6
This panel serves as a follow-up to Mountainqueer: Name Changes and More in Appalachia presented at EJC in 2024. Participants will learn how Legal Aid of the Bluegrass, University of Kentucky College of Law, and Legal Aid of West Virginia continue to collaborate and operate name change clinics in Appalachia.
Thursday May 15, 2025 10:00am - 11:15am EDT Golden Gate 7
The world of multimedia outreach seems to be changing almost on a daily basis. New platforms and tools emerge and become dominate, while others may lag behind or no longer be relevant to reaching the right audiences. In this fast-paced world how does your organization stay on top of messaging? This session will offer a quick guide to making the most out of your communications plan.
Thursday May 15, 2025 10:00am - 11:15am EDT Golden Gate 8
Professional development is an important part of a program’s strategies to build capacity and increase retention among staff. Join this session to learn how to support intentional, meaningful, and effective professional growth. Consider and share your own professional development goals, addressing skill-building, substantive knowledge, personal growth, and career path objectives.
In today’s rapidly changing world, it's essential to turn our traditional volunteering recruitment model onits head. This action packed session will challenge you and your organization to reconsider how you attract and retain volunteers.
Using real-world case studies with strategies that are actually working in today’s landscape, we’ll explore innovative techniques, tools, and resources to ensure your team is equipped to drive positive change within your communities, while creating a volunteering experience that meets the needs of today's volunteers.
Thursday May 15, 2025 10:00am - 11:15am EDT Continential 3
Learn how a legal aid program working with volunteer attorneys in low-income neighborhoods, both on an individual and group level, uplifts and advocates for many clients at once. Attendees will learn how they can develop and staff a geographically-focused project in an urban setting and invest legal support in low-income neighborhoods.
Thursday May 15, 2025 10:00am - 11:15am EDT Continential 7
This session will be an interactive “art of the ask” training for fundraisers and executive directors, outlining the steps and materials needed to prepare for a successful fundraising solicitation. We will provide the tools for legal aid fundraising and executive staff to make face to face solicitations and also support board members in becoming successful ambassadors and solicitors for their legal aid organizations. We will also facilitate an interactive solicitation practice with a “mock donor” so attendees can practice the skills they are learning in real time.
"Right to counsel" for tenants facing eviction is a growing part of the access to justice landscape. Should that mean the same essentially unlimited right as it is on the criminal side or is a tiered strategy of legal assistance? How does each approach measure up with regards to effectiveness and sustainability?
A lack of estate planning is exacerbating housing and economic insecurities in older marginalized communities. Studies show that the lack of estate planning is due to a perception that wills, and other wealth transfer devices, are only for the rich. This session will highlight a legal services estate planning model.
Legal services can use AI to promote equity and justice by improving efficiency and accuracy. Maryland Legal Aid's recent adoption of an AI policy and the development of tools like mlaGPT can show how automation can streamline tasks, from document summaries to routine processes. This session will offer practical steps to implement AI while maintaining ethical standards.
Charlotte law firms built CLIMB (Charlotte Legal Initiative to Mobilize Businesses) to enable pr bono lawyers to aid marginalized and under resourced small businesses owners and entrepreneurs with free legal services. CLIMB especially provides opportunities for transactional attorneys – who balk at litigation-oriented work – to engage in significant pro bono assistance.
Thursday May 15, 2025 1:15pm - 2:30pm EDT Continential 8
Housing courts have long been viewed as places of last resort, defined by their shortcomings and systemic power imbalances. Over the last three years, 24 courts set out to challenge this notion by launching eviction diversion programs that connect litigants with time, information, and resources to resolve their disputes in a less harmful way. Learn more about how these programs are reducing the number of eviction judgments, increasing trust and confidence in the justice system, and efficiently connecting litigants with legal aid and wraparound services.
In today's data-driven world, understanding and effectively utilizing data can significantly enhance the impact of legal aid services. This session will explore key data concepts and practical applications for legal services organizations. Using pro bono as a data subset, we will demonstrate how insights can reveal meaningful information about legal aid services.
Thursday May 15, 2025 1:15pm - 2:30pm EDT Continential 3
Hear about current trends in debt collection lawsuit filings and discuss reforms that empower self-represented litigants to navigate their cases and assert their rights. In interactive groups, participants will apply new resources to analyze policies in their states and identify areas ripe for reform.
Thursday May 15, 2025 1:15pm - 2:30pm EDT Continential 1
Legal Kiosks are computers located in public spaces providing access to legal services, removing technology and transportation barriers. Experience firsthand how our accessibility features can connect people with disabilities to legal information and services in their community. The session will cover software accessibility, physical accessibility, and user interface designs on a website that are WCAG compliant to ensure comprehensive access to all users. Watch demonstrations showcasing the kiosks' accessibility features, including optimal placement and design considerations for maximizing acc
Thursday May 15, 2025 1:15pm - 2:30pm EDT Plaza Room A
Back by popular demand, the Ethics Quiz show will allow attendees to show off their knowledge about legal ethics issues facing legal aid and pro bono lawyers. Using reality-based scenarios and the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, quiz show emcees experienced in the field will challenge attendees with practice-based scenarios on subjects including ethical use of artificial intelligence tools, working with allied legal professionals and pro-bono lawyers, confidentiality concerns, immigration issues, working with allied legal professionals, and disability and language access issues.
Thursday May 15, 2025 1:15pm - 2:30pm EDT Plaza Room B
Learn how to engage BIPOC Community members with outreach events designed in Talking Circle style to increase participation, awareness, and engagement with your firm on legal issues that impact the BIPOC community.
Explore how to use a creative blend of technology, pro bono management, and client empowerment to build capacity for discrete immigration legal services, bridge gaps in the immigration process, and apply creative solutions to improve access to justice for asylum seekers and low-income immigrants lacking full representation services.
Thursday May 15, 2025 1:15pm - 2:30pm EDT Golden Gate 8
Demand for pro se support has increased while the pro bono attorney supply landscape has changed. This session will explore reasons behind this dichotomy and offer strategies for increasing self-represented litigant access to volunteer attorneys. Highlighted models include online legal clinics, legal assistance hotlines and other convenient limited scope engagements.
Thursday May 15, 2025 1:15pm - 2:30pm EDT Continential 2
Panelists will introduce and demonstrate Purpose-Driven Board Leadership, a governance framework that helps governing boards of legal services organizations reimagine their roles to provide the strategic leadership and oversight that helps the sector better preserve and advance justice and equity.
Thursday May 15, 2025 1:15pm - 2:30pm EDT Golden Gate 6
Learn about joint projects fostered by the AAA-ICDR Institute to explore real-world examples of how Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) can enhance access to justice. Gain insights into the AAA-ICDR Foundation's grant evaluation process and discover innovative ways ADR is being utilized to promote justice within and outside the court systems to make access to justice more equitable for self-represented, diverse populations.
Thursday May 15, 2025 2:45pm - 4:00pm EDT Continential 8
Supervisors can be reticent to provide feedback employees need to improve their work and the quality of their organization’s legal services. This session will provide attendees with actionable and specific tips, tools, and a structure for adequately training and supporting supervisors to provide effective feedback delivery within their organizations.
Thursday May 15, 2025 2:45pm - 4:00pm EDT Plaza Room A
This session will explore the vital role libraries play in addressing legal inequities through partnerships with legal aid organizations and pro bono initiatives. By leveraging library resources, these collaborations empower underserved communities, provide legal information, and support attorneys. Attendees will learn about successful projects, strategies to engage volunteers, and innovative ways to increase access to justice. Participants will gain actionable insights on creating impactful, sustainable partnerships to serve diverse client needs.
This session will identify the structural challenges incarcerated parents face when trying to connect with their children, introduce the myriad ways the legal field can provide support to these parents in civil proceedings, and provide practical tips for participants to better support incarcerated parents and their children.
Thursday May 15, 2025 2:45pm - 4:00pm EDT Continential 7
Are you ready to explore how generative AI can revolutionize access to justice for prose litigants? Join us for a groundbreaking session where we tackle the pressing issue of legal representation gaps. Discover how innovative AI tools like Rentervention and Immpath AI are breaking down barriers, empowering individuals to navigate complex legal systems independently. Attendees will learn about the transformative potential of generative AI in providing personalized legal assistance, drafting documents, and offering real-time guidance.
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) decisions striking down race-based affirmative action in higher education, a tidal wave of attacks on racial equity programs has emerged. Panelists will share strategies for mobilizing pro bono attorneys to defend and advance DEI and racial equity initiatives.
Thursday May 15, 2025 2:45pm - 4:00pm EDT Continential 1
Learn practical steps for conducting intake process improvement projects, gaining insights into the critical stages of intake process mapping, stakeholder engagement, and the integration of technology with legal aid intake systems. Discover the common intake challenges identified during projects funded by LSC over the last five years and how legal aid organizations can apply the lessons learned.
Thursday May 15, 2025 2:45pm - 4:00pm EDT Continential 3
This session will explore models for growth in pro bono units at three different civil legal services organizations serving a mix of metropolitan and rural communities. Participants will take time to envision growth in pro bono teams at their own organizations, what they hope to achieve, and concrete strategies to make it happen. While the session will focus on challenges experienced with expanding programs at civil legal services agencies, lessons will be applicable to firms and others looking to expand pro bono programs.
Thursday May 15, 2025 2:45pm - 4:00pm EDT Golden Gate 6
Manufactured and mobile home residents face challenges, struggling to be recognized as legitimate communities. This marginalized community encounters complex, layered legal issues: personal vs. real property, repossession vs. foreclosure, and landlord-tenant vs. contractual relationships among others.
These homes are also overlooked both in disaster preparedness and response. This panel will explore these issues and discuss emerging disaster challenges for these communities, such as venture capital buyouts, that threaten what has long been considered the last affordable housing nationwide.
Learn how legal aid organizations use data, including case management system data, to inform litigation and non-litigation advocacy efforts and the allocation of scarce program resources. The Legal Services Corporation’s Civil Court Data Initiative, which increases the availability of data and analytics to legal aid organizations will be highlighted.
Thursday May 15, 2025 2:45pm - 4:00pm EDT Plaza Room B
Using case studies from three different states, the panel will provide an overview of how utility debt—especially water, sewage, and trash debt—impacts low-income people, share legal strategies to challenge that debt, and provide examples of affordability programs that have helped reduce racial inequities in access to safe and affordable utilities.
Legal services organizations often have their own intake systems, making it confusing and time-consuming to find help. Maryland and Washington D.C. are improving this experience by coordinating intake for multiple organizations. Panelists will discuss the challenges and successes of developing and implementing these systems. In addition, panelists will share technology development and governance issues jurisdictions should consider when implementing a coordinated intake system.
Much like many of our colleagues across the country, our office grapples with vicarious trauma, stress, and anxiety which has exponentially increased post Covid-19. New Mexico Legal Aid (NMLA) will collaborate and present with Assistance Dogs of the West to introduce several approaches to mitigate trauma and other visible and invisible disabilities. Approaches will include group counseling, mental and physical health, and peer support dogs working to help mitigate secondary trauma in professionals such as attorneys, paralegals, administrative staff and first responders in law enforcement.
Thursday May 15, 2025 4:15pm - 5:30pm EDT Plaza Room B
Hear how a legal services organizaion's pro bono team took on a large issue and created a holistic approach to recruit and engage with a diverse group of attorneys. Options include brief service-- in person or virtually, and extended service. All include wrap around support from the legal services provider.
Thursday May 15, 2025 4:15pm - 5:30pm EDT Continential 7
Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives that began during the racial reckoning of 2020, when the murder of George Floyd renewed demands for social justice, are being pulled apart by political and cultural shifts. In Utah, such legislation gutted DEI offices in a myriad of institutions and forced advocates to reframe. Hear how the Utah State Courts and the Access to Justice Commission are working to ensure that all Utahns have access to the promises and protections of our legal systems—that justice does not depend on your income, zip code, age, gender, status, identity, ability or the language you speak.
Thursday May 15, 2025 4:15pm - 5:30pm EDT Continential 1
Statewide civil legal needs assessments provide crucial data on unmet legal needs, barriers to accessing justice, and the lived experiences of underserved communities. These findings are valuable, but transforming the insights into concrete actions requires coordinated efforts across a broad spectrum of stakeholders. To foster meaningful change, it is essential to guide these diverse groups in reflecting on the assessment results and collaboratively developing strategies to address the identified gaps.
Thursday May 15, 2025 4:15pm - 5:30pm EDT Golden Gate 8
Starting a pro se self-help center sounds daunting—but it doesn’t have to be. In this session, we will share the story of how our program started a pro se self-help center using our existing staff and funding, and give participants the tools to start their own center.
Nonprofit attorneys and an impacted community member will discuss their experiences working in partnership to create, sustain, and support grassroots advocacy organizations and campaigns. This promising model benefits all parties by healing and empowering individuals, strengthening and supporting marginalized communities, and expanding organizational reach and impact.
Thursday May 15, 2025 4:15pm - 5:30pm EDT Golden Gate 7
This session will highlight successful collaborations between public interest organizations and private law firms aimed at advancing racial justice. Panelists will discuss significant wins, best practices, and lessons learned from challenges that have come from these partnerships and share insights on effective training and management strategies for coordinating pro bono projects across multiple law firms nationwide. This discussion will highlight how unity in action can transform challenges into opportunities to advance racial justice.
AI may have the power to democratize access to justice, but the path forward is complex. LSC’s Technology Initiatives Grant team will share many varied ways legal aid organizations are using AI tools to increase access to justice and enhance services to clients and self-represented litigants. The session will highlight use cases including how AI is used in internal/administrative tasks; legal advocacy; better help for SRLs; intake improvements; and more. Panelists will then lead a discussion related to replication strategies and other ways AI can enhance the work of legal aid.
Thursday May 15, 2025 4:15pm - 5:30pm EDT Golden Gate 6
The student loan crisis disproportionately impacts women, low-income, and Black borrowers, but few borrowers have access to legal help. This session will explore how legal aid organizations can learn from established models, such as newer programs in California and New York, to develop a student loan practice to assist borrowers.
Toxicity can undermine volunteer well-being, disrupt engagement, frustrate leaders, and ultimately hinder organisational success. This practical and inspiring session will explore the signs of toxic environments in organisations and offer real, actionable strategies for transformation. Through insightful examples and actionable takeaways, participants will explore how to create healthier, more supportive environments where volunteers feel valued, motivated, and empowered to make a lasting impact.
Thursday May 15, 2025 4:15pm - 5:30pm EDT Continential 2
This session provides practical strategies for attorneys and advocates working within LSC-funded organizations and pro bono initiatives to navigate restrictions on reproductive health assistance. Panelists will explore ways to support clients’ legal rights, assist clients in accessing health care, and provide helpful referrals while addressing related civil legal matters such as family law, domestic violence, and housing stability.
This session will highlight the importance of client stories in public messaging and explore practical strategies for identifying stories, communicating with clients, developing informed consent policies, and effectively elevating their voices. Done well, amplifying client stories is a mutually beneficial effort -- offering a platform to clients to share their lived experiences, and promoting the critical role legal aid plays in America.
The session will provide an overview of best practices in immigration pro bono. Attendees will hear from practitioners in nonprofits and a large firm about their collaboration to provide pro bono services in immigration. The session will explore how to be ethical, creative, and efficient in building pro bono partnerships.
Effective research partnerships between civil justice researchers, practitioners and policymakers are critical for building evidence-based policies and programs. This session will explore diverse perspectives, including from legal aid, courts, and researchers, on how to build and sustain effective research partnerships to advance access to justice.
Friday May 16, 2025 8:30am - 9:45am EDT Golden Gate 7
The student loan crisis disproportionately impacts women, low-income, and Black borrowers, but few borrowers have access to legal help. This session will explore how legal aid organizations can learn from established models, such as newer programs in California and New York, to develop a student loan practice to assist borrowers.
Friday May 16, 2025 8:30am - 9:45am EDT Golden Gate 8
Most pro bono trainings, in-person and online, are dull and lecture-based with no interactive component. This session will teach participants how to liven up their training sessions and will lead by example, using fun techniques to effectively convey information to participants in both live and virtual trainings.
This session will highlight innovative ideas and practices utilized by legal aid, law firm, and law school partners to build student-to-staff pipelines in order to meet hiring and pro bono demands. These ideas include the creation of internal fellowships, clinics, and innovative summer internships that incorporate mentorship, DEI principles, and public service.
Friday May 16, 2025 8:30am - 9:45am EDT Plaza Room B
Learn how Legal Aid of West Virginia and West Virginia University College of Law collaborate to increase pro bono attorney assistance and mentorship through various legal clinics staffed by students and volunteers. The panel will share lessons learned that could be applied by other legal aid organizations and law schools.
Friday May 16, 2025 8:30am - 9:45am EDT Plaza Room A
How can we skillfully manage change? Explore strategies by focusing on three common change profiles and three frameworks for skillful navigation at individual and organizational levels. Attendees will learn practical strategies to manage change dynamics, ensuring adaptive leadership in pro bono program management and beyond.
Law students are an important part of the pro bono delivery pipeline. In this session, you will learn about how to engage students in pro bono delivery, including how to build partnerships to involve law students in pro bono and respond to urgent needs with law student assistance.
LIFT Wisconsin and Legal Link will discuss how their organizations increase access to legal information for low-income individuals by using accessible web-based tools coupled with training. These simple tools support the development of a cadre of community justice workers who can bridge the justice gap and empower community members to address civil legal challenges that too often create barriers to economic stability and wellbeing.
This fast-paced, engaging session will provide tips about free and low-cost technology relevant to the access to justice community. This will include advances in AI, new apps, remote work and collaboration tools, information security resources, add-ons for Gmail and Outlook, and more. Panelists will also explore how emerging technologies – such as artificial intelligence and machine learning – can be applied to the access to justice field in innovative, yet accessible ways. Technology leaders will emphasize practical, easy-to-use technology that helps legal professionals do their work more eff
Friday May 16, 2025 10:00am - 11:15am EDT Golden Gate 7
Legal aid organizations in Texas, Iowa, and Oklahoma have long supported low-income clients affected by natural disasters. Their expertise is now crucial for addressing legal needs from crises like mass shootings, building collapses, and industrial accidents. This session explores how legal aid adapts strategies, develops scalable models, fosters collaborations, and provides holistic support to affected communities.
Talking about money can be tough! This session delves into the intersection of pro bono work and charitable giving at law firms. Participants will discuss strategies to enhance impact, including meaningful partnerships, innovative post-pandemic fundraising modalities, and collective action to advance access to justice for underserved communities.
This session will explore how efforts to foster civic culture is strengthened by engaged and deliberate civil justice strategies. Panelists will present emerging consensus about practices that shape how we treat each other and care for our communities. Discussion will center around the Academy’s projects centered around democracy & justice.
This session will offer research insights and lessons learned from a 2022-25 National Science Foundation (NSF) CIVIC grant focused on scaling and sustaining community justice workers in Alaska, as well as the expansion of this program in other states.
Friday May 16, 2025 10:00am - 11:15am EDT Continential 3
Serving clients and communities in legal deserts requires more than bringing an attorney to them. To build trust, communicate with clients, conduct outreach, etc., staff and volunteers require a new type of cultural competency. This presentation reviews national pro bono findings before delving into real-world scenarios faced in rural Georgia.
Friday May 16, 2025 10:00am - 11:15am EDT Continential 1
Learn from a nonprofit and legal practice who built remote, distributed teams from the ground up. Discover best practices for remote management in the post-COVID landscape, assess your organization’s remote work systems, and learn how to enhance program and employee management with effective remote strategies.
This session will provide tools to increase cultural competency and ability to serve low-income LGBTQ+ clients in a rapidly changing social and legal climate. The session will cover key developments in the law, as well as important concepts and practice considerations relating to serving LGBTQ+ low-income clients.
Friday May 16, 2025 10:00am - 11:15am EDT Continential 2
The State Bar of California’s 2019 California Justice Gap Study highlighted significant barriers to legal access for low-income Californians. A 2024 follow up study will update research and recommendations to address ongoing gaps to support policies that promote access to legal aid and pro bono service. The presentation will include discussions of the methodology, research, and findings of the 2024 study and how attendees may utilize data and research to drive policy initiatives to address the justice gap.
Friday May 16, 2025 10:00am - 11:15am EDT Plaza Room A
What’s really stopping attorneys from engaging in pro bono work? This session uncovers key barriers identified in national pro bono assessments and attorney surveys, challenging common assumptions. A senior pro bono counsel will share successful models that shift attorney mindsets, foster a culture of philanthropy, and provide law firms with the tools to boost pro bono engagement. Expect candid insights, success stories, and actionable strategies to energize your pro bono efforts and drive lasting change.
This session explores innovative upstream models from Frontline Justice, the Center for Justice Innovation, and HealthBegins, focusing on non-attorney interventions to bridge civil justice gaps. Attendees will gain practical insights into applying these approaches to address unmet legal needs through preventive, community-based strategies and problem-solving projects in various courts.
Friday May 16, 2025 10:00am - 11:15am EDT Golden Gate 6
On the surface, it may not seem that a volunteer and their low-income client have a lot in common, but what simmers below the surface can define a successful attorney-client relationship. This session will identify factors that affect how volunteers assist clients and clients receive that assistance.
Legal deserts—regions with limited access to affordable legal services—impact both rural and urban areas, leaving millions of middle-class Americans without options. This session will examine key data on legal deserts, explore contributing factors, and highlight incubator programs addressing the gap. Case studies from the Cleveland Legal Collaborative, Colorado’s Legal Entrepreneurs for Justice, and Purdue Global Law School will showcase data-driven strategies to expand affordable legal services and support sustainable practices in underserved communities.
Program Description: This session explores how strategic partnerships among legal services organizations, law firms, companies, and expert consultants enhance legal services. Participants will learn from real-world examples, discuss overcoming barriers, and gain practical tools to forge impactful alliances, ultimately improving access to justice for underserved communities.
Common data security assumptions don't always apply in the domestic violence (DV) context. With rampant breaches every year, there is a pressing need to focus on cybersecurity, for individuals, agencies working with survivors, and regulators looking at data protections. How can we ensure that data privacy and security policies, procedures, and rules all reflect the realities experienced by survivors? This session will outline how assumptions fail to account for the realities experienced by survivors; it will also offer suggestions for how to help clients concerned about these issues.
Friday May 16, 2025 1:15pm - 2:30pm EDT Golden Gate 6
Join us for an interactive “art of the ask” training for fundraisers and executive directors. This session will outline the steps and materials needed to prepare for a successful fundraising solicitation and provide the tools for legal aid fundraising and executive staff to make face to face solicitations and also support board members in becoming successful ambassadors and solicitors for their legal aid organizations. We will also facilitate an interactive solicitation practice with a “mock donor” so that session attendees can practice the skills they are learning in real time.
Engaging pro bono lawyers can increase your organization’s impact. It can also sometimes feel like more effort than it’s worth. This session will explore the ways in which pro bono lawyers add value while lifting the veil on pro bono practices at firms and legal services organizations to give you tangible practices for recruiting and mentoring pro bono attorneys for the greatest impact.
Friday May 16, 2025 1:15pm - 2:30pm EDT Plaza Room B
Litigants are perceived as lacking knowledge, but they possess crucial insights into process barriers that service providers might not see. Through user feedback and testing, service providers can redesign processes and empower litigants. This session will share lessons from Maryland Justice Passport to enhance service effectiveness by leveraging litigants' expertise.
This interactive session will include reports on developments related to state/territorial legislative funding initiatives aimed at increasing resources for civil legal aid. Updates will be provided on the ABA's data collection to support funding efforts and on potential federal funding that might be available at the state/territorial or local levels. Participants will share developments in their states/territories in a roundtable format and learn from others about what has worked, and not worked, in raising state/territorial legislative funding and accessing potential federal funding.
Friday May 16, 2025 1:15pm - 2:30pm EDT Golden Gate 8
Enhance your outreach program with strategies that integrate technology, inclusive hiring, and social impact. This session explores project management tools, social media engagement, and data-driven decision-making—all through a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) lens. Learn best practices for recruiting diverse talent, crafting inclusive messaging, and building authentic connections. Gain practical insights to create equitable, impactful, and sustainable outreach initiatives that drive lasting change.
Legal aid providers can protect the rights of older adults by expanding guardianship defense programs and services. This session highlights the guardianship defense provisions in the updated Older Americans Act regulations and showcases the Guardianship Defense Cohort, a group of legal aid organizations that built capacity for this critical work.
Learn about the new AI Co-Pilots that legal aid and court help groups are building to assist lawyers and paralegals with delivering high-quality and efficient services to more people.
What do expungement, debt collection, and name change cases have in common? 1) They are very important to the individuals with the case; 2) legal aid providers have limited resources to provide more help, and 3) the cases are often subject to the unpredictability of low and limited jurisdiction courts. This session will explore how three legal aid organizations have leveraged pro bono volunteers to provide targeted assistance to clients while advancing strategic advocacy efforts that have resulted in far-reaching improvements to court systems and the administration of justice.
This session is designed to build on the workshops we have done for the past few years on how to explain legal aid as constituent services to legislators and their staff. Now that many LSC grantees and other legal aid programs have begun to develop relationships with their federal and state legislators and staff, we want to identify ways to build on and expand those connections, e.g., provide trainings for district caseworkers; involve legislative staff in community outreach efforts. The panel will include LSC grantee Executive Directors and civil legal aid practitioners with experience meetin
Friday May 16, 2025 3:00pm - 4:15pm EDT Golden Gate 6
Life is more expensive when you are poor, impacting health. Consistent access to nutritious food is a powerful tool to improve health. This session explores how leveraging community partnerships and providing technical assistance to health care providers and CBOs, and legal assistance to patients, can improve food security and health.
How can we break down silos and build resources and community between organizations committed to access to justice? Dive into the transformative impact of legal aid-justice tech collaboration. This session will explore the potential of ethical tech advancements to revolutionize the access to justice landscape.
Friday May 16, 2025 3:00pm - 4:15pm EDT Plaza Room B
News about "Tangled Titles", aka "Heirs Property", seems to be everywhere these days. Learn how a coalition of legal services programs, volunteer attorneys, research and policy organizations, and the City of Philadelphia joined forces to preserve and protect inter-generational homes.
The SCOTUS decision abolishing affirmative action in college admissions profoundly affected racial justice litigation. The SFFA case was cited in legal attacks on Title VI disparate impact regulations, and several programs assisting minority businesses. Learn about these developments, current efforts to invalidate immigration laws due to intentional racial discrimination and the ways in which the decision profoundly affected other laws and programs that foster racial justice.
Explore leading practices in strategic planning for pro bono programs, including tools to support dynamic frameworks for ongoing decision-making. Attendees will gain practical tools to assess and enhance their programs, set clear priorities, and navigate complex challenges with greater clarity and confidence.
Justice Sotomayer's oral commentary in Grants Pass ignited core belief systems of folks across the nation. As advocates for the indigent, we have a unique opportunity to act right now by using our widely untapped but existing data and community commitment to leverage partnerships and programs, like Continuum of Care (CoC), to impact the rise of homelessness and prevent continued punitive response.
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