Equal Justice Works, an organization mobilizing the next generation of public interest lawyers, just launched a YouTube Channel. This channel features several videos, including short spots where Equal Justice Works Fellows describe their projects. Take a few minutes to watch. The variety of programs and areas that they represent is amazing. - K
The ABA Journal is asking its readers if they've advertised for clients on Craigslist, an online classifieds site. My immediate reaction: "Hmmm, I wonder if any legal aid programs have done any outreach on Craigslist?"
From Quantcast's report on Craigslist's demographics, about 20 percent of Craigslist visitors make less than $30,000 a year. But scammers use Craigslist, too. (See Beware of Craigslist Scams, Avoid Craigslist Job Scams, and A Craigslist Scam You Might Fall For.) And, at least in Baltimore, Craigslist has a legal forum, where people are asking legal questions.
So while the demographics aren't perfect, about 8.5 million low-income people are using Craigslist. Are legal aid programs missing an opportunity? Could they tell potential clients how to spot a scam or show them where to find help after being scammed? Or maybe legal aid programs could point out legal information that Craigslist visitors could use instead of the opinions of an unknown forum member?
I don't know. What do you think? Has your program talked about this or done any outreach on Craigslist? - K
The Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN), Common Knowledge, and ThePort Network, Inc. have just released the Nonprofit Social Network Survey Report, which is based on a survey of 929 nonprofits conducted in March 2009. Highlights include:
The full report can be downloaded here. [Note that downloading the report requires you provide your name, organization and email address.] -M
On March 24, 2008, Google, the Salesforce.com Foundation and Facebook hosted a one-day conference on “Doing More With Less: Your Nonprofit in the Cloud,” which "focused on how online “cloud” and social applications can enable nonprofits to communicate, build community, and raise money more effectively and efficiently." Slides and video from the event are available here. -M
Today ABA Site-tation reported that the popular wiki solution, PBwiki (now PBworks), has launched a Legal Edition. Specific features for the legal profession include the ability to organize legal research, manage cases, and set up client extranets, deal rooms, and law firm intranets. -M
Have you been watching the work of Pro Bono Net, wanting to get more involved? Well, now is your chance. Pro Bono Net has a position open for a CTC VISTA, who will work with PBN staff on immigration related projects.
A year as an Americorps VISTA is a great experience. My first year in the legal aid community was as a VISTA with Montana Legal Services Association. I got to do interesting, meaningful work with great people. And that year started me down a career path that I likely wouldn't have found otherwise.
That said, being a VISTA isn't for everyone. It's not a job. You are a volunteer for a year and receive a stipend of about $11,000 as well as a few other benefits for your service. You can't attend school or have another job at the same time. The idea is that while you are working to eliminate poverty, you live among those you are serving.
Still interested? For more information about Pro Bono Net's position, check out their posting on the CTC VISTA site. - K
Be warned: this post is off topic. I apologize to those readers who are here for the good tech pointers and our opinions. This is neither. Feel free to skip to the next post. I won’t be hurt.
Still with me? Great. Get ready for a treat. Kevin Brooks, an English professor from NDSU and a board member of African Soul, American Heart, blogged about Andrew Filer earlier this week. Andrew wants to photograph every dot on the North Dakota map. The list of towns that he’s photographed is extensive, although he’s not yet made it to a few key cities: Fargo, Hankinson, Ray, and Zap. (How could he not start with the city famous for Zip to Zap?)
But Andrew has taken pictures of my hometown--Mayville, North Dakota. So, if you’ve ever wondered what Mayville looks like, here’s your chance. You can see pictures of my favorite drive-in, A & M, as well as Videos Plus, the local video rental store where my parents eat at least once a week. He didn’t take a picture of the elementary or high schools, but he has taken pictures of Clifford, Galesburg, and Portland, the three other towns in my school district. (That’s right. My high school, May-Port CG High School, had students from four towns, but my graduating class had just fifty-two students.)
And that concludes our tour of Mayville. Back to your regular scheduled programming.-K
Last week I found Zamzar, a web-based tool that converts files from a variety of common formats to a variety of common formats.
What really caught my eye was that Zamzar converts text to speech. Expecting average, robotic results, I was pleasantly surprised when I tried it. The pace, pauses, and pronunciation aren't perfect, but the resulting audio is much better than the built-in text-to-speech capabilities of Windows and sounds much more natural. For an example, check out this MP3 from Zamzar of my Deadline and Filing Date Calculator post.
Even though the result was better than expected, I still wouldn't be able to listen comfortably for very long. But for A2J Author developers who want to add audio to key points in their interviews or website coordinators who have short but widely used content and don't have the tools or time to record an audio version, Zamzar might be an option. - K
NPower and Accenture have joined together to ask nonprofits, "What software do you use?" They hope to find out whether nonprofits are happy with their options as well as what support the community needs to use the software effectively. You can participate in their survey here.
NPower has promised to share the survey responses with the community; however, for those of you who are motivated by material rewards, three random people who complete the survey will receive a new IPod Shuffle. - K
Eric Schultheis, Staff Attorney at the Race Equity Project of Legal Services of Northern California, just posted this excellent presentation on using maps and GIS in public interest advocacy. - M
The Chicago Lawyer recently published a nice article on the work of Professor Ron Staudt, director of Chicago-Kent’s Center for Access to Justice & Technology. Among its other projects, the Center for Access to Justice and Technology is behind A2J Author, which allows advocates to easily build guided online interviews for pro-se users to generate court forms or find answers to their legal problems. -M
In honor of National Volunteer Appreciation Week, TechSoup is hosting a webinar on "Managing IT Volunteers" on April 23, 2009 at 2:00 pm Eastern. Jayne Cravens, an expert in volunteer management, is the featured presenter and will talk about what it takes to support volunteers in technology-related tasks. Register for the webinar here. - K
On April 22, 2009 at 12:15 pm Eastern, the Berkman Center for Internet and Society will webcast Professor Richard Susskind speaking about his predictions for how the digital revolution will impact lawyers and law schools. - K
Wikipedia.org defines cookies as "small pieces of text, stored on a user's computer by a web browser; and [that] contain the user's settings, shopping cart contents, or other data used by websites."
Many web developers use cookies to track information about users in order to make websites work. For example, NPADO uses cookies to identify the form someone is filling out and allow him or her to return to the correct interview after generating a document.
Advertisers also use cookies to help them tailor ads. For example, in his post "Sugar-coated Corporate Speak," Seth Godin highlights a group of companies that are collecting information from cookies and selling information to advertisers to help them better identify potential buyers.
Is collecting and selling this data right? Wrong? Unfortunately, it's not a clear-cut call. Free content isn't really free. Someone is paying for it somehow. Often, advertisers are willing to step up and support news sites, blogs, and search engines. Yet, the data that is collected and shared can reveal a lot about people, threatening their privacy and anonymity. I'll admit that I'm torn. What do you think?
Interested in opting out from the initiatve that Seth describes? You can at the Network Advertising Initiative. - K
Often, I have trouble adding and subtracting time, especially hours and days, because I think about it too much. ("Does today count? Does it not count? Maybe it does count.") So, I was thrilled this morning when Mike Monahan pointed out this Deadline and Filing Date Calculator from Atkinson-Baker. What a great tool for advocates and self-represented litigants! - K
NTEN, the Nonprofit Technology Network, has several upcoming free webinars. Two are part of their ongoing Ask the Expert series, which are free for NTEN members.
Additionally, twelve sessions from the sold-out Nonprofit Technology Conference are being made available live and are free for everyone. (Check out more ways to participate in the NTC without leaving your office.)
Monday, April 27
1:30 pm Eastern/10:30 am Pacific
4:30 pm Eastern/1:30 pm Pacific
6:30 pm Eastern/3:30 pm Pacific
Tuesday, April 28
1:30 pm Eastern/10:30 am Pacific
4:30 pm Eastern/1:30 pm Pacific
6:30 pm Eastern/3:30 pm Pacific
Enjoy! - K
I don't enjoy reading legalese, so when I found Wayne Schiess' article, "Legal Writing Isn't What It Should Be," in the Fall 2008 MIE Journal, I was intrigued. Perhaps Schiess, the Director of Legal Writing at the University of Texas, could tell me why lawyers cling to such confusing language. (A note--for those who don't subscribe to the MIE Journal, you can find posts on Schiess' UT website that cover similar topics.) The article does explain some of the reasons why lawyers write like they do, and I now understand more about what causes them to develop their bad habits. However, reading the article convinced me that public interest lawyers need to kick these habits and write plainly all of the time, not just when they are drafting client legal education materials. Two of the quotes that Schiess used in his article made this point clear to me.
We cannot in justice to our job expect the client to employ us to interpret our own documents nor should we require him to consult our professional brethren for this purpose. -Sidney F. Parham, Jr., The Fundamentals of Legal Writing 72 (Michie Co. 1967).
If the clients can read the contract more easily and resolve contract questions themselves, doesn't that mean fewer billable hours for the lawyer? My experience is that clients--on both sides of the negotiation--respect the lawyer's ability to express ideas clearly. When they see good writing, they are less likely to try to do it themselves. While most business people can fake "legalese," writing in plain English takes practice. It takes real talent to express complicated legal, technical, financial, and commercial ideas in a straightforward way. -David T. Daly, Why Bother to Write Contracts in Plain English?, 78 Michigan Bar Journal 850 (1999).
Interested in learning how to write plainly? Check out these resources.
Whether you're a lawyer or not, I'd encourage you to try to write plainly. I know that it isn't easy, and, at least at first, it takes more time. But by expending a little effort, your writing style overall will improve. Two tips for how to get started and not become overwhelmed:
So try it. What do you have to lose? Perhaps it will save your writing from being one of Schiess' examples. - K
It’s time again for the Webby Awards, but this year there’s a twist. Of the five legal websites nominated for Best Law Site, three focus on public interest topics: the Immigration Advocates Network, WomensLaw.org and Workplace Fairness. They are joined by last year’s nominee, JURIST, and a newcomer commercial law site, GetLegal.com. Hailed as the "Internet's highest honor" by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. From now until April 30th, you can cast your vote in the Law category (and 70 others) in The Webby People's Voice Awards at http://pv.webbyawards.com. Winners will be announced on May 5th, 2009 and honored at a ceremony in New York City on June 8th. –M
TechSoup is offering a free free webinar, "Basics for Beginners: Getting Started with Social Media Tools," on Wednesday, April 15th at 9 AM PST. The presenters are John Haydon, social media coach for nonprofits, and blogger and internet marketing consultant, Chris Garrett. To learn more about this session (and register), visit http://www.techsoup.org/go/web2basics
Prior to 2004, I had a routine for most mornings when I arrived at work. I'd sit down, open up my e-mail, glance at what had come in over night, and then quickly browse through the websites that I got my news from. Larger sites like CNN.com always had new information, but often the smaller sites were updated irregularly. Checking these sites daily was a waste of time, but if I didn't check regularly, I'd forget and miss out on some of the best information and resources.
But somewhere around 2004, I was introduced to Sage, a feed reader that integrates with Mozilla Firefox. It let me bookmark a website's feed, and no longer did I have to go to each individual site. With the click of a couple of buttons, I knew which sites had new content and which didn't. My whole routine changed for the better. I was able to scan content and identify what I wanted to read more quickly. I was also able to add more sites to my list and keep up with content from a wider variety of sources.
At some point in 2008, after some urging by Matthew and participating in an LSNTAP training about feed readers and RSS, I switched over to Google Reader, which has a few more features than Sage and helps me manage my growing list of bookmarked feeds better.
Who else out there uses a feed reader? What made you start?
For those of you who don't use a feed reader, what's stopping you? If it's that
Internet for Everyone has just released a new report, Wired Less: Disconnected in Urban America, which uses multimedia and storytelling to highlight the urban digital divide. -M
Thanks to Ken Montenegro for pointing out this incredible list of one-page cheat sheets. You'll find everything from Emacs to vi, AWK to sed, and HTML to XML. - K
UCLA has just launched an excellent new guide to online legal research resources, Beyond LexisNexis & Westlaw. The Guide covers primary law, government resources, research guides, reference sources, forms, and legal news. It also includes a special section on California law and a list of attorney directories. -M
Brian Rowe, Access to Justice Board Extern at the Washington State Bar Association, will be speaking at the 2009 Nonprofit Technology Conference on fair use and user generated content. Holly Ross, Executive Director of NTEN, interviewed Brian about the panel he's put together. Her interview, 2009 NTC Preview: Brian Rowe on Fair Use and User Generated Content, is posted on the NTEN blog. - K
YouTube now lets nonprofit organizations that are part of its Nonprofit Program include a call-to-action on their videos, like the one seen in the image from the charity: water video below. (Full video available on YouTube.)
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| Example of YouTube Call To Action |
This tool lets nonprofits ask people to act on what they are seeing, such as asking them to make a donation. Both idealist.org's post "YouTube's New 'Call to Action'" and Frogloop's post "YouTube Adds Call To Action Tool For Nonprofit Videos" discuss using this tool for fundraising.
However, this tool may have other interesting applications for legal aid and pro bono programs. For instance, in the video "Filing a Pro Se Answer to a Lawsuit," Arkansas Legal Services Partnership could point people to additional legal information, send them to an online application for legal aid, or direct them to online automated documents that help them fill out the answer. Alternatively, a pro bono program might use the tool to recruit new volunteer attorneys. For example, videos, like this video from Weil Gotshal Pro Bono Program, could include a link to the National Pro Bono Opportunities Guide.
Is your program one of the many legal aid programs on YouTube? Are you using a call to action yet? If so, how are you using it and what do you think of it so far? - K
Jim Luce, who writes and speaks on Thought Leaders and Global Citizens, authored a really nice piece at Huffington Post on Pro Bono Net, the wonderful, innovative nonprofit that Kate and I call home. -M
This week Idealware released a report that compares four open source content management systems: Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal, and Plone. After a brief introduction to content management systems (CMSs), the report looks at several important areas, including ease of configuration, scalabilty and security, and user roles and workflow, and assesses the positives and negatives of each system. Then the authors take a few pages to provide recommendations on when you might consider using each of the CMSs. I haven't had time to read the report yet, but based on the people involved and the quality of Idealware's previous reports, this should be a great reference for people who are investigating open source CMSs. - K
For me, every one of the thirty-one days of March was filled, and I suspect that yours were, too. In case you missed any of our readers' favorite posts from March, we're bringing you a list of the top five.
And for our loyal readers who already caught all of those posts, check out these interesting posts.
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