Page 81 - Impact: Collected Essays on Expanding Access to Justice

States, to use indexing and data to measure and expand access to justice . See http://www .globalgoals . org/global-goals/peace-and-justice and http://www .un .org/ga/search/view_doc .asp?symbol=A/ RES/70/1&Lang=E . The World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index tracks access to justice in major cities in nations around the world . http://worldjusticeproject .org/rule-of-law-index .
10. Research – Research on access to justice is supported and conducted in many settings, including universities, law schools, government agencies and institutes, the American Bar Foundation, http:// www .americanbarfoundation .org/faculty/profile/31, the Legal Services Corporation (www .lsc .gov), the National Center for State Courts, www .ncsc .org, the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel (www .civilrighttocounsel .org), the National Center for Access to Justice (www .ncforaj .org), and the Self-Represented Litigants Network (www .srln .org) . The National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA) maintains a web site posting civil justice system research studies, http:// legalaidresearch .org . The National Science Foundation is funding new research on the civil justice system . http://www .nsf .gov/pubs/2013/nsf13076/nsf13076 .jsp . The Office for Access to Justice in the U .S . Department of Justice has convened researchers in the field . http://www .justice .gov/atj .
III. funding & Coordination
11. LSC, Access to Justice Commissions, Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts & Other Initiatives that Coordinate and Help to Fund Civil Legal Aid – In virtually all settings, civil legal aid programs lack resources to respond adequately to people’s needs . LSC remains the largest single source of support for civil legal aid in the United States, distributing federal dollars to locally incorporated LSC-recipient programs across the country . www .lsc .gov . Access to Justice Commissions, now present in 37 states, carry out multiple functions, including supporting fundraising . http://www .americanbar .org/groups/legal_aid_indigent_defendants/initiatives/ resource_center_for_access_to_justice/state_atj_commissions .html . Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts, are an important source of revenue . http://www .iolta .org/about-naip . “Raising the Bar” Campaigns increase law firm support . http://www .dcaccesstojustice .org/raising-the-bar . State and local government, and private philanthropy, provide new revenue for civil legal aid, including filing fees, and cy pres awards . See http://www .americanbar .org/content/dam/aba/administrative/legal_ aid_indigent_defendants/ls_slcaid_atj_state_rule_policy_matrix_sept_2014 .authcheckdam .pdf . In New York, state and local government revenues have become increasingly important sources of funding for civil legal aid . See, for example, http://www1 .nyc .gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/108- 16/mayor-bill-de-blasio-city-council-speaker-melissa-mark-viverito-creation-office-of .
12. Federal Leadership Initiatives, including the Office for Access to Justice, the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable (WH-LAIR), and the Access to Civil Legal Services Caucus – In 2012, the U .S . Department of Justice’s Office for Access to Justice conceived of and staffed “LAIR,” http://www .justice .gov/atj/legalaid . In September 2015 the White House issued a Presidential Memo establishing LAIR formally as the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable (“WH-LAIR”), https://www .whitehouse .gov/the-press-office/2015/09/24/ presidential-memorandum-establishment-white-house-legal-aid-interagency . WH-LAIR recognizes that federal agencies can be effective in accomplishing their goals by assuring that the people they are trying to help have access to legal solutions . WH-LAIR includes a process of identifying federal agencies that have grantmaking capacity and a mission-driven interest in supporting civil legal aid services . President Obama formally charged WH-LAIR with responsibility for implementing in the U .S . the U .N .’s Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, including Goal 16, which calls on all countries to assure access to justice . https://www .whitehouse . gov/the-press-office/2015/09/24/presidential-memorandum-establishment-white-house-legal- aid-interagency . WH-LAIR is one of many initiatives of the Office for Access to Justice, which
Alternative Models
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