This session will address the rights of people with disabilities to access the courts and the inadequacies of established procedures to provide reasonable accommodations to individuals who need them in order to be able to fully participate in court proceedings. Two states, Washington and Illinois, have created a clear process to receive and process requests for reasonable accommodations that have provided clarity to both people who request accommodations as well as to court staff. The presenters will discuss both the established processes in Washington and Illinois in addition to their efforts at Cleveland Legal Aid to develop a similar procedure in Ohio through the creation of proposed statewide rules and advocacy, the drafting of uniform documents that can be used to request reasonable accommodations, and the development of systemic litigation efforts to force change. The session will also address the difficulties that people with disabilities face with respect to accessing the court system and requesting accommodations.

Join us to explore effective strategies for advocacy and learn how to utilize this toolkit to enhance language rights in your community! (The Toolkit concept was proposed by the NLADA Latina-o-x Section, and collaboratively developed by Northwest Justice Project and language access partners across the country, and supported by a Legal Services Corporation T.I.G. Grant). "

In this session, hear how public defenders across 20 states are using AI tools like JusticeText to find and leverage those critical moments, saving hours and securing better client outcomes in the process. We will share why our team of ex-Google engineers started building JusticeText as a school project five years ago. We will highlight specific strategies on how public defenders can partner with technologists to build tools that level the playing field and tackle mass incarceration.

This workshop will cover the nations first legal services project dedicated to Veterans of Color and discuss the ways we collaborate with Pro Bono Attorney's and students to provide compassionate services to our nation's forgotten heroes.

The presentation will begin by exploring the historical and contemporary contexts of tribal sovereignty, emphasizing the unique legal and cultural landscapes that shape tribal communities and their justice systems. Understanding this background is essential for fostering meaningful and respectful partnerships. The presentation will highlight the multifaceted importance of partnerships between tribal communities and organizations that serve tribal members.

Presenters will discuss the most common civil legal needs of gun violence survivors (of non-fatal shootings and homicides), funding available to support those services, research that supports that such services can contribute to reducing gun violence, and critical partnerships to reach this very underserved and vulnerable population. Other topics include: this work as a critical component of criminal justice reform; partnering with indigent defense organizations; the potential for federal civil rights litigation/systemic advocacy; and federal regulatory changes re: victims' compensation.

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. This will be an interactive conversation with the audience asking questions of a panel that includes LSC grantee Executive Directors and civil legal aid practitioners with experience meeting with and educating federal and state legislators and their staff. The panel will also address compliance with LSC lobbying restrictions applicable to LSC grantees in communicating with legislators.

To date, 23 jurisdictions have enacted a right to counsel for tenants facing eviction, but there has been virtually no attempt to litigate the constitutional right to counsel for such cases. While the Supreme Court has been hostile to the right to counsel in civil cases, the state courts have been more receptive. Come learn about the history and landscape of such litigation, as well as whether it's the right time for a landmark case to be filed!

The criminal legal system continues to facilitate pro-government juries that contradict the essential component of the Sixth Amendment--a fair cross section of the community. This presentation will model how to educate communities about the importance of jury service, the impact of diverse juries, and the power of jury nullification.

While highlighting the difference between malpractice and professional discipline, this session will discuss the common malpractice and ethical pitfalls facing attorneys and ways to avoid and/or minimize claims as well as steps to take if faced with a malpractice claim or disciplinary proceeding.

Formerly incarcerated people share how they reclaimed their humanity after experiencing such a dehumanizing experience disguised as Public safety.

This session will discuss best practices in designing training programs for community justice workers that have the ability to scale to meet community demand. It will focus on what the evidence shows us about effectiveness of training programs and why using low-barrier adult education models are needed to achieve scalability.

This presentation offers a comprehensive overview of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Legal Services for Veterans Program, designed to inform and engage legal aid professionals. Participants will gain a clear understanding of the key components and benefits of VA Medical-Legal Partnerships (MLP) and how these partnerships can significantly improve Veterans' overall health and well-being.

This session will discuss the general features of AI-related legislation, regulations, and agency guidance, how the proposals will or won't protect low-income communities, and what to look out for in similar discussions at the state or local level. Please note that this session is crafted with LSC-funded programs in mind and will not involve prohibited activities.

This presentation will provide an in-depth look at the current landscape of lawyer discipline, with a spotlight on matters affecting legal-aid, public defense and other equal justice practitioners. The presentation outlines key aspects of the ABA Model Rules for Lawyer Disciplinary Enforcement, which serve as a foundation for state regulations, as well as a practical guide to state specific disciplinary procedures. As an example, the presentation will highlight the procedures in Michigan, through investigation by the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission (AGC), which may lead to public hearings by the Attorney Discipline Board. The session will also highlight common issues leading to disciplinary actions, address the unique challenges faced by legal services and public defense providers, provide practical advice to lawyers in responding to grievances, and highlight frequently asked questions about the grievance process.

This session will focus on essential preparations legal aid programs need to have in place before disaster strikes, going beyond basic Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP). Panelists will discuss key elements of disaster preparedness specific to legal services organizations, including strategic resource allocation, implementation of Disaster Legal Services (DLS), training and mobilization of legal professionals, and effective community outreach. The session will provide practical guidance on developing comprehensive disaster response plans, establishing partnerships, and leveraging pro bono resources to maximize impact during crises.

This session is for newly minted and seasoned board members. It is designed to provide the information and inspiration needed to create a well-structured, engaged, strategic, and purpose-driven board. You will gain the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary for an effective board. You will also learn the importance of your voice and how to ensure your talents are utilized.

The Holistic Defense Project is a partnership between the AK Public Defender Agency and Alaska Legal Services Corporation that provides past and current public defender clients with a team of professionals to assist them with social service and legal needs. The HD project is a multidisciplinary team of professionals who strive to help clients address the underlying problems and circumstances that brought them to the legal system in the first place. ALSC's Community Justice Workers--locally embedded, culturally appropriate and community connected legal helpers work directly with lawyers to offer wrap around services to PD clients, putting them in a better position overall and less likely to come back into contact with the justice system.

NLADA's Civil Legal Services Team will facilitate an engaging discussion with attendees around current hot topics in civil legal aid. Issues to be discussed include: 1) Transitions in Washington and priorities for a new administration; 2) NLADA's efforts regarding the growing field of expanded legal practitioner models; 3) Public Service Loan Forgiveness; 4) The outlook on federal funding; 5) LSC matters; and 6) other matters of interest to the civil legal aid community. This session provides an opportunity for attendees to discuss key policy and practice issues facing the field.

Litigating Racism is a workshop that educates participants on the intersection of race and the criminal legal system. Advocates will be given the historical context of racialized oppression in the American criminal legal system.

The MIE Roundtable provides a forum for legal services executive directors and managers to share management concerns and receive peer support and assistance in an informal and confidential setting. This session allows participants to share their most difficult challenges and pressing decisions, and to benefit from the best thinking of their colleagues who share similar concerns and have experience and learning to share, moving the community as a whole forward toward better management and thus better services to clients.

This panel aims to break the mold of normalized perfectionism by sharing real-life experiences of 1) caving in negotiations, 2) missing an opportunity for testimony, 3) making a filling error, and 4) losing at trial. Each panelist will share lessons learned from cases they did not win.

In this session we will explore the difference between 'burnout" and "moral injury" - highlighting the personal, community, and systemic forces that impact sustainability efforts in social justice work. We will focus on resilience as a foundational component in advocacy work and share experiences and practices that can help build resilience and strengthen our resolve to continue the work in the face of adversity.

NLADA's Beacon of Justice Awards honor members of the private bar who are tireless advocates for equal justice. In 2024, applicants addressed Civil & Human Rights -- civil rights defined as guarantees of equal social opportunities and equal protection, regardless of race, religion, or other personal characteristics based on laws, and human rights as guarantees and protections based on one's rights as a human being. These panelists, representative of the class of law firms winning 2024 Beacon of Justice Awards, will discuss their firm's pro bono work, highlighting the civil & human rights work for which they were honored earlier this summer. NLADA President & CEO, April Frazier Camara, will moderate what will be an informative and inspirational conversation.

Presentation includes: Hot topics from the FTC, including briefings on some of the top cases case affecting lower income consumers and sharing information about the FTC's multi-lingual consumer and business resources, self-help tools like our refreshed consumer.gov website, Identitytheft.gov, the agency's Consumer Advocate Center program for legal services providers, and consumer alerts on scam topics like renters' issues.

This panel will make the case that prioritizing technology and data is an investment toward achieving your mission, an opportunity to leverage untapped talent within your organization, and a concrete step toward advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in our professional community.

This session will feature four LSC panelists discussing the content and application of LSC's new Program Letter 22-3 which seeks to provide more detailed guidance to LSC grant recipients on how they can maintain objective integrity and independence from organizations that engage in LSC restricted activity. The session will be moderated by the Director of LSC's Office of Compliance and Enforcement with the goal of helping attendees understand the history and background information of the regulation, the factors that LSC examines when it conducts a program integrity review, and best practices LSC grantees can implement to ensure program integrity.

Initially a project seeking to match clients facing eviction with housing and public benefits advocates, Manhattan Legal Services' "Housing Benefits Project" has evolved into a holistic approach to housing and economic justice, combining robust eviction defense with access to public benefits, social work support, pro bono collaborations, and impact advocacy to address systemic barriers to accessing government benefits. The result is an ongoing working relationship with our clients that survives the eviction case and seeks economic stability for our clients and their families.

This workshop will focus on how communities can build partnerships with public defender offices that can lead to systemic impact well beyond individual cases.

A panel of LSC and non-LSC legal aid attorneys from three states will present on SSA Anti-Alienation violations in state criminal court debt practices. Specifically, the panel will focus on how these practices violate federal anti-alienation rules and the litigation and advocacy strategies that have been used to address these violations in their states. Panelists will be from Arkansas, Iowa, and Virginia legal aids.

Public defenders and civil legal aid attorneys should be partners in the fight to ameliorate the devastating consequences of the criminal court system. Unfortunately, we are often siloed from one another. How do we consider the potential housing and employment consequences of various outcomes in criminal cases? How can we use those tangible consequences in negotiations with the state and for mitigation purposes? Navigating intentionally coercive systems in which the concept of "choice" is a farce, we must use an integrated approach whenever possible to adequately advise people we represent about the various outcomes. In this workshop, we will explore these concepts and provide examples of the ways we work together in this fight.

This session will explore legal needs at the intersection of race, language, and poverty, in the face of growing technology and artificial intelligence around automated models and language services. We will review the current state of access to justice for vulnerable groups and discuss best practices in addressing barriers impacting linguistically marginalized communities and the role new technologies could and should play. In light of recent federal developments and guidance, presenters will share a broad range of community based, administrative, and litigation strategies in utilizing civil rights laws to advance language rights, as well as collaboration and capacity building efforts with government agencies

This presentation will provide an explanation of what guaranteed basic income is, how it can help fight systemic racism, and discuss how civil legal aid attorneys can help with the creation, design, and operation of these projects in a way that can protect GBI recipients and their existing government benefits.