The Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Immigrant Defense Project, National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, and National Legal Aid and Defender Association recently launched the Defending Immigrants Partnership website, which aims to ensure effective legal representation of non-citizen defendants in criminal proceedings. To access the resource library you must join the site, but membership is free. - K
Last week, I-CAN! E-File launched. One of my favorite projects, this site walks you through filling out your tax forms and then files your federal return. (It also files your state return if you are filing in Alaska, California, Michigan, Montana, New York, or Pennsylvania.)
This project helps to ensure that low-income households claim their Earned Income Tax Credit, an important component of the United States' anti-poverty program. The Earned Income Tax Credit makes a significant difference for low-income households. Last year, I-CAN! E-File put $33 million in refunds and credits in the pockets of low-income workers in 45 states. One woman that I talked with about the EITC informed me that her refund would be used as a security deposit for the apartment she wanted to rent. This apartment would let her to move her children out of their rented trailer, which was warmed with only a space heater.
If your legal aid or pro bono program isn't educating clients about the Earned Income Tax Credit, an amazing opportunity is being overlooked. Encourage your program to start. Legal Aid Society of Orange County has made the I-CAN! E-File system available, and outreach materials are available from Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, so your program just needs to use them to get the message about the Earned Income Tax Credit out.
And a special shout out to AJ Tavares, whom I saw at the TIG Conference last week. AJ is the technical mind behind I-CAN! projects. As is typical for this time of year, he looked exhausted. Turns out that he loves going to the TIG Conference, but it usually happens at the same time that he is trying to launch I-CAN! E-File, so he ends up working day and night to do both. AJ, I hope that you get to sleep soon! - K
ABA Site-tation, a blog that covers technology issues facing the legal community, recently re-launched at a new address and with an updated look. Check out the the great information it offers on security, online tools, and mobile computing. - K
Today LSC announced that the presentations from the 2009 TIG Conference are now posted online. - K
Today the Pew Internet & American Life Project released "Generations Online in 2009," a report that tracks current generational differences in online activities.
The full report is available here. -MContrary to the image of Generation Y as the "Net Generation," internet users in their 20s do not dominate every aspect of online life. Generation X is the most likely group to bank, shop, and look for health information online. Boomers are just as likely as Generation Y to make travel reservations online. And even Silent Generation internet users are competitive when it comes to email ...
Late last year I mentioned that the FCC had proposed a plan to offer free wireless Internet service to Americans. Not unexpectedly, the FCC didn't take action before the end of the year as some had predicted. However, the new administration has included six billion dollars in their proposed economic stimulus plan in order to improve Internet access in underserved areas. As digital divide advocates have long recognized, increased access to the Internet will provide both short- and long-term economic benefits. (Thanks to Molly French for pointing this out.) - K
On 1/23/09 the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a notice updating the poverty guidelines for 2009 (74 FR 4199). They are also availble on the HHS website here. -M
I was asked this morning, "How do I know if I'm a part of the botnet or at risk of becoming part of the botnet that you mentioned in your last post?" I'm not an expert, but here are a few resources that I found this morning:
TechSoup's Kami Griffiths will interview Colin Carpenter and Lori Pottinger from International Rivers about their flash video, "We All Live Downstream", which was chosen as runner up in the Adobe-TechSoup 2008 Show Your Impact contest. Learn about the process for developing a flash video and how to produce a similar video for your organization. Register online here. -M
In October 2008, Microsoft released an out-of-band update, or a critical update that is released outside of the normal update schedule. Well, for those of you who didn't update your systems, it might well be too late. The New York Times reports that this vulnerability is now being exploited and has already infected nine million computers.
What's going to happen if your computer is infected? Experts say that it will become part of a huge botnet; however, they don't know what that botnet will be used for. At the least, it sounds likely that your IT staff will be clearing up a mess with your computer, apologizing to your ISP, and attempting to get them to not classify all of your organization's outgoing e-mail as spam. A more serious prospect--it captures client information, like social security numbers, or modifies files, like your accountant's records.
My favorite quote from the article:
"I don't know why people aren't more afraid of these programs," said Merrick L. Furst, a computer scientist at Georgia Tech. "This is like having a mole in your organization that can do things like send out any information it finds on machines it infects."
Today was the first day of the TIG Conference, and as with all of the previous conferences, I learned a lot. A few of those lessons:
Perhaps the most important lesson that I learned was that I can't be in two places at once nor can I do twelve things at once. (And it's a lesson that I seem to have to keep learning over and over.) But the good news is that I don't have to. There is a whole crew of people who are also documenting what is going at this conference for you. Live-tweets are available here. Webcasts are available here. And others are blogging about sessions as well. - K
The International Bar Association's Media Law Committee and Human Rights Institute today launched a new website for legal professionals that work to defend freedom of expression:
The goal of the site is to create a global community of media lawyers for mutual support and discussion. The website will act as a point of information sharing, capacity building and networking for those involved in media work all over the world. In particular, it will provide details of, and links to, local and global organisations working in the sector.
The Legal Information Institute (LII) at Cornell University School of Law just announced the launch of a new online lawyer directory in collaboration with Justia.com that allows lawyers to purchase a LII badge for their profile, with proceeds going to support the work of LII. More information about the Legal Information Institute is available here. -M
If you weren't able to attend the Legal Services Corporation Technology Initiative Grants (TIG) conference that's taking place through Friday in Austin, TX, you can watch sessions live online thanks to Illinois Legal Aid Online (see the full schedule below). You can also follow the conference on Twitter here. -M
Wednesday, Jan. 21:
8:30 am-9:00 am: Opening Remarks
10:45 am-12:15 pm: Project Management for Legal Services
2:00 pm-3:30 pm: Network Securities and Computer Use Policies
3:45 pm-4:45 pm: Meeting the Technology Need
Thursday, Jan. 22:
9:00 am-10:30 am: 2009 Google Apps and Microsoft Office Live
10:45 am-12:15 pm: PowerPersuasion
2:30 pm-3:45 pm: You Never Get the Disaster You Want
4:00 pm-5:00 pm: Trying to Raise Money in this Economic Environment
Friday, Jan. 23:
9:00 am-10:00 am: Tools to Engage Court Leadership
10:15 am-11:00 am: NTAP'S Interactive Support Services
11:15 am-12:00 pm: The Essentials of TIG Project Evaluations and Reports
On JDSupra's blog, JDScoop, Adrian Lurssen profiles legal aid and non-profit legal organizations on Twitter in his latest effort to capture lawyers and legal professionals using Twitter. The post, inspired by today's New York Times article, Interest Rate Drop Has Dire Results for Legal Aid, also highlights nonprofit legal groups using JDSupra for online outreach, including Pro Bono Net and Texas RioGrande Legal Aid. -M
The LawHelp/NY Consortium, a group of nonprofit legal services organizations that support the statewide legal information and referral website LawHelp.org/NY, has been named one of eight finalists for The Collaboration Prize:
The Lodestar Foundation, in association with the Arizona-Indiana-Michigan (AIM) Alliance, created The Collaboration Prize in an effort to demonstrate how nonprofit resources can be used more effectively to create greater impact. The LawHelp/NY Consortium, which is made up of 11 legal aid, bar and pro bono organizations throughout the state, was selected from a competitive pool of over 644 U.S.-based nominations.
LSNTAP has announced their 2009 trainings. - K
American Bar Association President H. Thomas Wells Jr. is urging lawyers to respond to President-Elect Barack Obama's call for a national day of service on Jan. 19 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day) by committing to increased pro bono service:
While lawyers can take pride in the pro bono and community service work they do, the need is greater than ever before. We need to commit ourselves to improving our neighborhoods, our cities, our towns and our country - on January 19, throughout the rest of 2009 - and beyond.
LTN has announced the winners of the sixth annual Law Technology News Awards. Among the award categories is "most innovative use of technology for a pro bono project," which was won by Miriam Buhl, pro bono counsel at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, for their implementation of Pro Bono Net's Pro Bono Manager software:
To help make the practice of pro bono more effective and efficient for its 1,300 attorneys in 20 offices, Miriam Buhl and others at Weil teamed with Pro Bono Net, an organization that serves the public interest legal community. Weil became the first user of Pro Bono Manager, PBN's new commercial software product that integrates content from the public interest legal community (including training events, volunteer opportunities and news) with powerful pro bono reporting, knowledge management and lawyer matching tools.
I've told you before that NTEN loves its members, so it should be no surprise that it is looking out for members who can't afford to attend the Nonprofit Technology Conference, an amazing technology conference for nonprofits. With help from members who have a little extra cash and Convio, NTEN will award up to 57 scholarships and airline miles tickets. The only catch--to qualify, your organization needs to have an annual budget of less than one million dollars. If you're interested, you can apply for the scholarships, which will be awarded on a rolling basis. And if you want to help someone attend the NTC, you can donate to NTEN. (Check out this page or contact the staff.) - K
If your organization is hosting legal interns this summer or if you're a law student looking for a place to stay for a summer internship, be sure to check out the NALP Summer Apartment Exchange. (Note that free registration is required to search for housing or post a listing.) -M
The Arkansas Access to Justice Commission today announced the official launch of EqualJusticeWatch.org:
The goal of the new Arkansas Equal Justice Watch website is to encourage action by state leaders to support equal access to justice for all Arkansans. The Watch is a project of the Arkansas Access to Justice Commission created by the state Supreme Court to expand civil legal justice. This website is designed to provide legislative decision makers with the latest information about civil legal aid in their districts as well as enable constituents to easily research civil justice issues in their communities. Data for each of the 75 counties in the state include population demographics on poverty, education, disability, divorce, foreclosure, bankruptcy in addition to the 2008 numbers and types of cases handled by civil legal aid. Through this website visitors can easily locate and contact their Senator and Representative to express support for justice legislation.
I wanted to highlight an excellent list of legal aid groups using social networking tools that Tom Winter of Community Legal Aid Services in Ohio posted to the comments for yesterday's post on new blogs and twitter profiles. It condenses a few blogs and twitter profiles that we have highlighted here in the past as well as a great list of legal aid groups on Facebook and MySpace. A hearty thanks to Tom for researching and collecting all of these in one place! -M
Last year, NPower Greater DC Region, a non-profit technology assistance provider, included a little something extra in their monthly e-newsletters: twelve tips for keeping your network stable and secure. Each tip was written plainly, intended for accidental techies, non-profit managers, and others who need an introduction to the basic characteristics of a high-quality network.
So what are those twelve benchmarks?
I wanted to share a few recently launched legal aid blogs and Twitter profiles, which I hope represent a new trend in social media adoption for our community in 2009:
Blogs:
Twitter Profiles:
The website WhoCanISue.com, which aims to assist "people with potential legal claims find an attorney to answer questions and assist with bringing a claim," announced its official launch today. Although the site has received some media attention, it's unclear what real value it brings to the field -- with generic legal information and lawyer referrals -- among established sites like FindLaw, Avvo, and LawHelp.org. -M
An excellent overview of major e-discovery rulings in 2008 by Cecil Lynn III and Alexandra Hicks for Law Technology News. -M
In an effort to help the environment and support the unemployed, Dell and Goodwill have partnered to form the Reconnect program. Now, in ten states, you can drop off your old electronics for recycling at Goodwill stores, which will see that your electronics are recycled or reused appropriately and use any profits to support their work. - K
Do your staff know where they can turn to brush up on their spreadsheet and word processing software skills? What about to learn more about that new Web 2.0 stuff that can help them network and learn from each other? Yes, you may have told them before, but they have a lot of other important things on their minds--their clients. So I'd encourage you to remind them. A few resources that you can point out:
A huge thanks to Mike Monahan, the Director of the State Bar of Georgia Pro Bono Project, for inspiring this post. (And reminding me to remind you to remind your staff.) - K
Today, Robert Ambrogi announced that bloggers can get in free to LegalTech New York. They even get reserved seating--a front-row table with electricity! - K
After a brief hiatus, the technola "resources" page is back up with additional sites and more complete descriptions. It now includes three categories:
We'll do our best to keep it updated over time (please add your suggestions to the comments). Also, we'll soon be publishing a blogroll with all of our favorite law, technology, and nonprofit blogs. -M & K
If you use short links (URLs) when sending emails, instant messaging or microblogging, you can create them in seconds from your browser by adding TinyURL to your browser's toolbar. -M
DesignM.ag, a website aimed at web designers and developers, recently posted a list of 40+ Inspirational Non-Profit Website Designs. A few of my favorites include Change.org, Tenement Museum, Children's Rights, and Housing Works. -M [h/t to the NTEN Blog]
Earlier, Matthew told you that LSC had released the final Technology Capacity Planning document. Well, Joyce Raby and Glenn Rawdon will be hosting a session at the LSC TIG Conference, where they want to answer your questions about this document. If you have a question that you want answered, either e-mail it to Joyce Raby or post it below, and I'll pass the question on to her. - K
Getting back from vacation and realizing that the TIG Conference is only two weeks away added a little extra energy to my week -- both in the form of excitement and in an emotion that Alison Paul labeled as "AACK." Matthew won't be attending, so I'll be carrying the flag for technola. Since I am presenting as a part of only one panel and one "expert" table, you can expect plenty of live-tweeting and live-blogging. And I've heard rumors that some of the sessions will be webcast. So there will be plenty of ways for those of you who can't attend in person to participate and interact with the people who are. As a note, for the live-tweeting, I'm planning on using the hashtag #LSCTIG. If you are live-tweeting, please join me or let me know what tag everyone else has decided to use. That way we can easily aggregate the messages using Twitter Search. - K
Earlier, I pointed out how to link to a specific page in a PDF document. Recently, Chris Brogan pointed out a similar trick for linking to a specific point in a YouTube video. You just add #t=xmys to the URL, where x is the minute and y is the second that you want to link to. For example, if you wanted to link directly to where Jennifer Baum, a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society, is talking about her client's case in 2008 Legal Aid Clients, the URL would be http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJbjG6wPmT8#t=3m9s. - K
The topic of USB podcasting mics has recently come up on the LStech listserv and during a training that I did on podcasting with Liz Keith and David Bonebrake, so I wanted to share a few mics that Wired recently reviewed in its January 2009 issue:
All of these except for the Blue Snowball are cardioid mics, so they record only what's in front of them. The Blue Snowball also has an omnidirectional polar pattern option, so you can record around the mic (if you are doing an interview with someone sitting across from you, for example).
Another mic that's not mentioned here is the Blue Snowflake, which is more compact and less expensive than the Snowball. In doing a little research for this post, I also noticed that Blue has a new portable iPod recording device called the Mikey, a USB converter and mic preamp that allows you to connect an XLR mic directly into your computer, and a nice video on getting started podcasting. -M
The National Law Journal just published a great article on the impact of the Madoff scandal on public interest legal organizations. In response to the shortfalls facing several legal organizations, the Atlantic Philanthropies and Open Society Institute committed $300,000 in matching donations (the Brennan Center for Justice and the Center for Constitutional Rights are among the recipients). MoveOn.org coordinated the effort, which was reported here. Other work to support nonprofit victims of the scandal include efforts by a group of Jewish foundations and a website that provides links to the online donation pages of nonprofits that were hit financially. Please consider showing your support for the public interest legal organizations that were impacted by making a donation. -M
P.S. The American Lawyer reports that not every financial scheme has an unhappy ending ... "the legal department at insurance conglomerate ACE Limited put together a novel program that leveraged contributions from in-house lawyers into a $200,000 donation for three public interest groups."
A new series of resources on online intake have recently been posted to LSNTAP, with online training segments from Claudia Johnson (Pro Bono Net), Rachel Medina (Chicago Kent College of Law), Eve Ricaurte (Iowa Legal Aid) and Cynthia Vaughn (Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation). An overview of online intake and a resource on how to design a remote intake interview by Eve Ricaurte are also included. Legal aid organizations using online intake include Iowa Legal Aid and Legal Aid of Western Ohio. -M
In December 2008, Kate and I launched a Twitter profile to report news and information on access to justice issues in the United States and abroad. In less than a month, we've grown to almost 180 over 200 followers and have posted more than 200 updates. If you have a twitter account, you can follow @accesstojustice here. Alternately, you can subscribe to the RSS feed here. If you want to learn more about how attorneys and legal professionals are using twitter (and what they're saying), check out LexTweet, a great new service from Kevin O'Keefe (@kevinokeefe) and his crew over at LexBlog. -M
For those of you who are catching up on your blog reading during the holiday lull, I've put together two lists of technola's top posts in order to make your job easier. The first list is simply the most popular posts based on the number of page views.
The second list is a bit more nuanced. After reading Beth Kanter's post, I used PostRank to measure how much readers engaged with each technola post (left comments, clicked on links, bookmarked post on del.icio.us, and so on). Then I identified the top posts.
Happy Reading! - K
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