2025 Equal Justice Conference

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.

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.

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.

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