Access to Justice

Can generative AI tools make it easier for lawyers to offer pro bono services?

A commonly cited solution to helping bridge the access-to-justice canyon is for lawyers to provide more pro bono work. In that regard, have generative artificial intelligence tools made it easier for lawyers to provide pro bono services?

Jun 12, 2024 8:50 AM CDT

‘Robot lawyer’ DoNotPay reaches settlement in suit alleging it’s neither robot nor lawyer

“Robot lawyer” DoNotPay has agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging that the website engaged in the unauthorized practice of law and provided substandard legal services.

Jun 11, 2024 3:47 PM CDT

Migrants who cross the border illegally won’t be allowed a lawyer if they don’t get one pronto

Migrants who enter the United States illegally generally have just four hours to find a lawyer if they want legal assistance in a quest to remain in the country.

Jun 6, 2024 11:49 AM CDT

Citing ‘Sixth Amendment nightmare,’ 9th Circuit allows pretrial release of defendants without lawyers

A federal appeals court upheld an injunction Friday that requires Oregon to release pretrial defendants from custody if they have not received a lawyer within seven days.

Jun 4, 2024 2:06 PM CDT

Assignment load for public defenders needs to decrease, says data-based study

With the RAND Corp., the National Center for State Courts and the ABA’s Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense, a new study was created that contains “reliable, data-based workload standards.” The 166-page National Public Defense Workload Study calls for a significant reduction in workloads for those who do criminal justice work in the public sector.

Jun 1, 2024 1:50 AM CDT

What’s the key to community lawyering? Less lawyering and more community

On a two-week visit to Thailand with our program director to visit several True Costs Initiative grantee partners, including the Community Resource Centre Foundation, I learned that real community lawyering looks nothing like “traditional” lawyering, and it is precisely that characteristic that makes it such a potent tool for protecting environmental and human rights.

May 22, 2024 3:13 PM CDT

Asylum-seekers face ‘serious shortage of lawyers’ to help them

A surge in migrants crossing the southern border has created a case backlog in immigration courts and “a serious shortage of lawyers to help navigate the notoriously complicated legal process” for asylum-seekers, according to the New York Times.

May 21, 2024 9:01 AM CDT

Second groundbreaking ABA AI and economic justice webinar set for April 26

On April 26, the ABA, in partnership with the National Association of Consumer Advocates, will host “AI and Consumers: The Invisible Impact on Economic Justice”—the ABA’s second webinar in an ongoing series on artificial intelligence and economic justice issues.

Apr 23, 2024 8:53 AM CDT

Send in the paralegals

And what about the paralegals? Who are they? What can they do?

Apr 18, 2024 1:45 PM CDT

Winston & Strawn will provide reduced-cost legal services for routine tasks under Winston Legal Solutions umbrella

Winston & Strawn is offering its clients a lower-cost alternative to outsourced legal services that uses attorneys trained by the law firm for more routine legal tasks.

Apr 4, 2024 2:48 PM CDT

Civil legal aid lawyers are often the last line of defense. Why are there so few of them?

As the 2023 ABA Profile of the Legal Profession reveals, civil legal aid lawyers are in short supply across the United States. According to the 142-page report, even though there are 1.3 million lawyers in the U.S., nationwide there are still only 10,000 paid civil legal aid lawyers, or about three for every 10,000 people in poverty.

Apr 1, 2024 3:00 AM CDT

The ABA leads way on access to justice

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Legal Services Corp., the United States’ largest funder of civil legal aid. With a current congressional appropriation of $560 million, the LSC funds 131 independent legal aid programs with more than 800 offices serving every state and the U.S. territories. The American Bar Association was critical to the LSC’s creation.

Apr 1, 2024 2:50 AM CDT

Can generative AI tools make it easier for lawyers to offer pro bono services?

‘Robot lawyer’ DoNotPay reaches settlement in suit alleging it’s neither robot nor lawyer

Migrants who cross the border illegally won’t be allowed a lawyer if they don’t get one pronto

Citing ‘Sixth Amendment nightmare,’ 9th Circuit allows pretrial release of defendants without lawyers

Assignment load for public defenders needs to decrease, says data-based study

What’s the key to community lawyering? Less lawyering and more community

Asylum-seekers face ‘serious shortage of lawyers’ to help them

Second groundbreaking ABA AI and economic justice webinar set for April 26

Send in the paralegals

Winston & Strawn will provide reduced-cost legal services for routine tasks under Winston Legal Solutions umbrella

Civil legal aid lawyers are often the last line of defense. Why are there so few of them?

The ABA leads way on access to justice

The fate of billable hours is in the hands of artificial intelligence

Wells Fargo’s ‘willful blindness’ enabled former lawyer’s fraud, victims’ suit alleges

NY law prof is calling on ‘Lawyer Nation’ to reform

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