Thank you for your fantastic response to yesterday's "Will You Blog With Me?" post. Currently, 15 people have signed up to blog with me, and another three or four have emailed to say that they'll blog. But that doesn't mean that the rest of you can't join in. If you are interested, you can sign up here. - K
Bloggers, I challenge you to publish one blog post between October 24 and October 30 in honor of the 2010 National Pro Bono Celebration. I am, and Tim Eigo, Scott Kuhagen, and Mike Monahan have pledged to join me. You should, too.
The National Pro Bono Celebration is a big deal. Last year, every state participated. Nearly 600 events were held. A number of legal aid organizations, pro bono programs, and bar associations created videos. Hundreds of people posted messages to Twitter and Facebook. But only a few bloggers published posts to recognize the lawyers and paralegals who provide free legal services to those who can't afford to pay.
I had hoped that more bloggers would reflect on their experiences, recognize their colleagues, and use the opportunity to talk about pro bono legal services. So this year, I want to see bloggers involved. Will you pledge to publish one post during the National Pro Bono Celebration? (And if you don't have a blog but want to sign up, let me know. Perhaps I can find a blog interested in a series of guests posts.)
Your post doesn't have to be elegant or elaborate. Just tell us what pro bono means to you. Perhaps you could tell us
And you don't have to be a lawyer to join this challenge. Feel free to sign up if you were helped by a pro bono attorney, know that your clients or customers have benefited from free legal assistance, or if your business supports pro bono or legal aid organizations.
At the end of the week, I'll gather all of the posts together and list them on techno.la. (This will be in addition to my National Pro Bono Celebration post.)
Bloggers, you know that you'll be blogging that week. Why not join the celebration? Sign up here.- K
Sonia Nazario, who's spent 20 years examining and reporting on social issues like hunger, drug addiction, and immigration, opened the 2010 Equal Justice Conference. In an emotional speech, she explained the difficulties faced by children immigrating to the United States to join their parents and her experiences on El Tren de la Muerta (the train of death) as she traced their journey. For those who couldn't attend in person, the ABA streamed this session live and have posted a recording online. Also available is a short interview with Ms. Narazio about Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), an organization that represents immigrant children, who otherwise would have to negotiate the US immigration system alone.
A side note: As you listen to the beginning of Ms. Nazario's session, several people will refer to protesters. While it's likely not a surprise that the ABA's decision to continue holding the Equal Justice Conference in Arizona was controversial, you may be surprised to hear that on Thursday local advocates protested the ABA's decision. azfamily.com has a short segment on the protesters as well as a quick shot of their song and dance. Was anyone at the conference able to capture the whole song? I couldn't find a recording on either Vimeo or YouTube. - K
Yesterday, after I posted about the resources available from the ABA Techshow, I noticed ABA Site-tation's great round up of blog posts and resources, including posts from several notable law blogs like 3 Geeks and a Law Blog and Above the Law. - K
The American Bar Association held its annual technology conference, ABA Techshow, last week in Chicago. The agenda was filled with interesting sessions, and fortunately for those of us who couldn't attend, the ABA did a great job of archiving sessions, resources, and tips online.
If you only have a few minutes to browse materials, head straight to the list of websites mentioned in 60 Sites in 60 Minutes, a session presented annually. You should be able to quickly find one or two new sites to try from the list of sites highlighted in 2010 or past sessions.
If you have some additional time, you can also check out coverage from the ABA Journal, the ABA Techshow Blog, videos from the Ignite Law session, and papers and materials from select sessions. - K
The ABA Legal Technology Resource Center scoured through the Firefox Add-on Directory and found four add-ons that lawyers can use to simplify research. Check out their blog post Firefox for Lawyers to learn more about CiteGenie, Jureeka, Iterasi, and Zotero. - K
For its annual list, the ABA Journal is looking for the best 100 law blogs and is asking you to suggest your favorites. Want to see who's made the list previously or to look for some new reading material? Check out last year's top 100 or the ABA Journal Blawg Directory. - K
The ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services is currently seeking nominations for the 2009 Louis M. Brown Award for Legal Access, which "recognizes programs and projects that have made innovative and/or substantial contributions toward meeting the legal needs of people with moderate incomes." Details about the Award and the nomination process are available here. The deadline is December 15, 2008. -M
Nominations are open for the second annual James I. Keane Memorial Award for Excellence in eLawyering, which is awarded by the Law Practice Management Section of the American Bar Association to law offices or legal organizations that have developed legal service innovations delivered over the Internet. The Award Guidelines and Nomination Forms can be found here. The deadline for submission is January 15, 2009. -M (Thanks, Marc.)
In recognition of Veterans Day, we wanted to highlight opportunities for attorneys to get involved in assisting veterans and military personnel with their legal needs. Below are four projects that do just that. By providing opportunities and resources for lawyers to offer pro bono legal services, ranging from protecting veterans benefits to providing general civil legal assistance to active-duty military personnel, these projects help to ensure that those who serve our country are not left without legal representation on issues that fundamentally impact their livelihoods.
ABA Military Pro Bono Project - The American Bar Association's Military Pro Bono Project connects active-duty military personnel to free legal assistance for civil legal issues beyond the scope of services provided by a military legal assistance office.
National Veterans Legal Services Program - NVLSP is an independent, nonprofit, veterans service organization dedicated to ensuring that the U.S. government honors its commitment to our veterans by providing them the federal benefits they have earned through their service to our country. NVLSP recently launched Lawyers Serving Warriors, which provides free legal representation in disability, discharge and veterans benefits cases to service members and veterans who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) or Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF).
The Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program - The Veterans Consortium was created by a grant from the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) as authorized by the U.S. Congress. It is an ongoing cooperative effort by four national veterans service organizations - The American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, the National Veterans Legal Services Program and the Paralyzed Veterans of America.
Project SALUTE - Project SALUTE provides free assistance and/or representation to thousands of low-income veterans exclusively on federal benefits issues throughout the United States. -M
The ABA Journal reports that a computer technician at Harvard Law School Clinic in Jamaica Plain lost a backup tape in the subway. This tape contains over 8,000 records for legal services clients and 13,000 records for other people, which contained Social Security Numbers and other personal data. - K
Over the past few weeks, it has been amazing to watch how many organizations are using technology to advocate around the presidential elections, but a quick disclaimer before I start showing off examples: Technola doesn't care if you vote for Obama, McCain, Mickey Mouse, or Ben, Kate's beagle, who runs on the platform of "More Meat!" We just want to show off a few examples of how technology is being used. So, now that we're done with that, we can get on to the fun stuff.
I know, I know. LSC-funded legal aid organizations are banned from any lobbying. But other non-profits aren't. In fact, Independent Sector has put together The Nonprofit Lobbying Guide to help non-profits figure out what they can and can't do.
And really, this post isn't about the elections and lobbying. It's about looking at how technology has been used to educate the public and move them to act. And don't even LSC-funded programs have to do that as a part of fundraising or community education or pro bono panel development? - K
If you haven't seen it yet (it was just featured in this week's LSC update), be sure to read "Who's Putting a Price on Free Legal Aid?" by Terry Carter in the September issue of the ABA Journal, which looks at the problem of legal aid domain cybersquatting. To learn more about how cyber-piracy impacts the legal aid community and how to protect your program, check out these resources available on LSNTAP. -M
Within the self-help community, it is widely known that Tina Rasnow, the Coordinator of the Self-Help Legal Access Center at the Superior Court, County of Ventura, is passionate about increasing access to justice. In fact, this summer, the ABA recognized her with their 2008 Lawyer As Problem Solver Award.
What is not as widely known is that Tina is an author and has written a book to help increase access to justice in California - Norton Gets a Ticket. This short story is easy to understand and a cute way to help educate the public about traffic violations. - K
An interesting article from the ABA Journal that discusses the results of the ABA's annual Legal Technology Survey Report. -M
Lately, I've been running across stories about computer security that run the gamut from trivial to terrifying. For example:
The good news is that TechSoup.org is currently putting on a Special Security Event, so you can learn about what you need to do to protect yourself. - K
An ABA Journal article about the Standing Committee on The Delivery of Legal Services hearings on the delivery of legal services through technology at the ABA Annual Meeting in New York City. -M
As was mentioned on Technola in April, the ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services is holding hearings on technology and delivery of legal services. The next hearing will be held during the ABA Annual Meeting on August 8, 2008.
For those of you who weren't able to attend the hearing that took place at the 2008 Equal Justice Conference, you can now listen to the testimony online. - K
Thanks Bill Jones at the ABA, all of the session materials available for 2008 Equal Justice Conference are now online. Materials from the last five years are archived here. Many of the technology related session materials for the 2008 Conference are also available on LSNTAP. Next year's conference is scheduled for May 14-16, 2009, in Orlando, Florida. -M
I've been collecting lots of little bits and pieces of information with the hope of turning them into full blog posts, but I haven't. So today, instead of depriving you of these valuable tidbits any longer, I'm throwing open the doors and inviting you to enjoy the smorgasbord.
An interesting twist on what is becoming a familiar story -- An employee at the Wagner Resource Group installed LimeWire to share files. Unfortunately, at the same time as the employee was sharing music and movies, he or she also shared information that contained Justice Breyer's and several other prominent attorneys' social security numbers, birth dates, and names. The full story is available from the ABA Journal. - K
The Celtics win and the fans riot. Sad, but unfortunately it gets worse. Footage of fans happily destroying the windows of Greater Boston Legal Services has been posted on YouTube. Cops are scouring this and other videos to identify suspects. More information is available in the ABA Journal, and a great response video has been posted on YouTube. - K
This is a post that I've been patiently waiting to write for some time now. The reason: Pam Weisz, PBN's Director of Corporate Sponsorship, would have been upset if I had announced the news ahead of her. So, until now, I've had to keep quiet. But as of today, the press release is out, and I'm free to go ahead. So here it is:
The American Bar Association has recognized Pro Bono Net and several of its partners for contributing to the understanding of professionalism among lawyers and will be presenting them with one of three E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Awards at the ABA Annual Meeting in New York City on August 8.
Pro Bono Net's application focused on how programs are leveraging technology to promote and support pro bono involvement in underserved, frequently rural, regions. Examples include an online pro bono manual in Mississippi that helps lawyers doing volunteer work outside their area of expertise; the use of online mailings tools to place pro bono cases in Wyoming; and pro bono trainings done via webcast in Georgia.
So let's hear it for everyone involved in these efforts. Go team! - K
The ABA Journal has a directory of law-related blogs, the Blawg Directory. Hang out there long enough, and you can find blogs dedicated to everything from consumer law to legal theory to trusts and estates. But until today, they didn't have a pro bono category, which was added when we submitted Technola. However, we feel a little bit lonely, and the list still doesn't have a poverty law or legal aid category. Matthew and I know that you are out there. So if you're a legal aid blogger, submit your blog and get listed. Let people know that you have something to say. - K
Looking for a way to add current legal news to your website? The ABA Journal, winner of this year's 2008 Webby Awards People's Voice Winner, has a new widget available that lets you add their headlines to your site or blog.
And if that doesn't give you enough legal news, you can also check out their Twitter feed and get updates pushed your way all day long. - K
For those of you with a taste for virtual law, an upcoming teleconference on "Why Virtual Worlds Matter for Lawyers." Panelists include:
More information is available on the ABA website and Virtually Blind. -M
The ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services, which focuses on increasing access-to-justice for moderate-income people, is holding hearings on technology and delivery of legal services. They will look at who is providing services using technology, how these services have benefited or harmed recipients, what technologies are being used, and what policies and rules exist.
The Committee is looking for people who want to testify or submit materials. If you are one of those people, check out the Committee's announcement for more information. - K
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