Justice for All Developments

See the Justice for All Project page here: www.ncsc.org/jfap

CONFERENCE OF CHIEF JUSTICES

CONFERENCE OF STATE COURT ADMINISTRATORS

RESOLUTION 5

Reaffirming the Commitment to Meaningful Access to Justice for All

WHEREAS, the Conference of Chief Justices acknowledged in 2001 in Resolution 23 that the

promise of equal justice is not realized for individuals and families who have no

meaningful access to the justice system and that the Judicial Branch has the primary

leadership responsibility to ensure access for those who face impediments they cannot

surmount on their own; and

WHEREAS, the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators

passed Resolution 2 in 2008 recognizing that ensuring access to justice in adversarial

proceedings involving basic human needs, such as shelter, sustenance, safety, health,

and child custody is one of the Conferences’ highest priorities and encouraged their

members to take steps to ensure that no citizen is denied access to the justice system

due to the lack of resources, or any other such barrier; and

WHEREAS, significant advances in creating a continuum of meaningful and appropriate

services to secure effective assistance for essential civil legal needs have been made by

state courts, national organizations, state Access to Justice Commissions and other

similar bodies, and state bar associations during the last decade; and

WHEREAS, these advances include, but are not limited to, expanded self-help services to

litigants, new or modified court rules and processes that facilitate access, discrete task

representation by counsel, increased pro bono assistance, effective use of technology,

increased availability of legal aid services, enhanced language access services, and

triage models to match specific needs to the appropriate level of services;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference

of State Court Administrators support the aspirational goal of 100 percent access to

effective assistance for essential civil legal needs and urge their members to provide

leadership in achieving that goal and to work with their Access to Justice Commission or

other such entities to develop a strategic plan with realistic and measurable outcomes;

and

2

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Conferences urge the National Center for State Courts and

other national organizations to develop tools and provide assistance to states in

achieving the goal of 100 percent access through a continuum of meaningful and

appropriate services.

Adopted as proposed by the CCJ/COSCA Access, Fairness and Public Trust Committee at the 2015 Annual Meeting.

Justice for All Grants Announcement

We are pleased to announce that grants will be awarded to seven states under the Justice for All project,

which is supported by the Public Welfare Foundation and housed at the National Center for State Courts.

The grants will support each state awardee in forming partnerships with all relevant stakeholders in the civil

justice community and beyond to develop state assessments and strategic action plans in order to implement

Resolution 5 on Meaningful Access to Justice for All passed by the Conference of Chief Justices and the

Conference of State Court Administrators.

That resolution envisions state systems in which everyone has access to effective assistance for their essential

civil legal needs through a comprehensive approach that provides a continuum of meaningful and appropriate

services. It also calls on courts, Access to Justice commissions and similar entities, civil legal aid organizations,

the bar and other essential partners to work together in each state to develop strategic plans with “realistic and

measurable outcomes” to reach the goal of 100 percent meaningful access.

In furtherance of the resolution, the Justice for All project seeks to enhance the commitment of the states to

reimagine how to work across organizational boundaries and optimize all available resources to advance access

to justice for all.

“Given the large number of people who are struggling economically, the increase of self-represented people in

our state courts, and severe funding deficiencies, the Public Welfare Foundation thought it was very important to

put resources behind the clarion call of the chief justices and the state court administrators,” said Mary

McClymont, president of the Foundation. “We wanted to help catalyze new ways of thinking and working

among civil justice actors in each state. The goal is to build a coordinated and integrated continuum of services

with the user in mind —people with essential civil legal needs, especially those who cannot afford lawyers. The

grants will help states bring together all civil justice stakeholders to determine the most effective ways to deliver

those services.”

The seven state awardees are: Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New

York. In addition to the initial strategic action planning grants of up to $100,000 each, these states will be

eligible to apply for funding in the next year to begin implementation of their plans.

A total of 25 states applied for the planning grants. The Justice for All Advisory Committee, which oversees

the effort, hopes the states that did not receive grants in this round will continue on their journey toward

implementing the resolution.

“We are thrilled that so many states — half of the country — demonstrated their commitment to fulfill the

promise of the resolution by applying for the grants,” noted Chief Justice Ralph Gants of the Massachusetts

Supreme Judicial Court and co-chair of the Advisory Committee. “We hope that all of these states, even those

that we were unable to award grants, will find ways to build on the momentum they have made to identify,

coordinate, and utilize the available resources to help those unable to afford counsel address their legal

problems.”

With continuing Public Welfare Foundation support, the project will offer any interested states that submitted

applications ongoing help with their strategic planning — including the newly developed guidance materials that

describe key components of a fully integrated system, targeted technical assistance with national consultants,

instructional webinars, and shared learning opportunities. A full list of ways states can receive assistance will be

made available soon. Information about resources will be accessible through the JFA website:

www.ncsc.org/jfap.

Hon. Laurie Zelon, associate justice of the California Court of Appeal, who co-chairs the Advisory Committee,

cited the importance of “cutting across boundaries and expanding the pool of typical participants from the

bench, the bar, and civil legal aid organizations, to include human services organizations, community leaders,

and other less traditional partners to address the particular needs of the civil justice system in each state.” She

added, “We all will be able to learn lessons based on the different experiences of the seven states and we hope

that all the participating states can learn what makes sense for them individually as well as learn collectively

from each other.”

Justice for All Advisory Committee

Hon. Ralph Gants, Co-Chair Hon. Laurie Zelon, Co-Chair

Chief Justice Associate Justice

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court California Court of Appeal

Dan Becker Peter Edelman

State Court Administrator Chair

Utah Administrative Office of the Courts D.C. Access to Justice Comm’n

Stephanie Hess William Hubbard

President, Nat’l Ass’n for Court Management Partner

Director, Ohio Supreme Court Office of Court Services Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough, LLP

Jim Sandman Jo-Ann Wallace

President President & CEO

Legal Services Corporation National Legal Aid & Defender’s Ass’n

Project Staff

Thomas Clarke, Project Director Shelley Spacek Miller, Project Manager

Vice President of Research and Technology, NCSC Court Research Associate, NCSC

Katherine Alteneder, Senior Advisor

Executive Director, SRLN

November 2016

MEMORANDUM

Date: April 3, 2017 Subject: First Quarterly Reports of Justice for All Grantees We are pleased to report that all of the JFA grantees have now completed their reporting for the first quarter. Each state has made significant progress in attracting a wide cross section of participants in the process, and all are focused on completing their inventory assessment. Each of the states is participating in on-line and telephone conversations, seeking guidance and support on their efforts. The cooperation between grantees will enrich the efforts of each state as well as the larger community as the work moves forward. We will continue to keep you advised of the on-going progress of these efforts. Hon. Ralph Gants Hon. Laurie Zelon Co-Chair Co-Chair Justice for All Advisory Committee Justice for All Advisory Committee

A Solution for the Access Crisis in Our Civil Justice System Seven states are moving forward with major changes to give people the help they need in court.

BY: Mary E. McClymont I March 30, 2017

Marie arrived at the Brooklyn Housing Court frightened and confused. Elderly and with impaired mobility, she had lived in her apartment for more than 20 years and had always paid her rent. But a new landlord was suing her, claiming that she had fallen behind. Marie faced a serious challenge: proving to a judge that she had paid her rent on time and doing so without any legal help or experience.

In civil courts across the country, people like Marie face an uphill battle. A recent study by the National Center for State Courts found that in 75 percent of civil cases one or both parties are in court alone, without legal guidance to navigate complicated proceedings. With effective legal assistance, stressful but common life issues such as landlord-tenant problems, foreclosure, debt collection, divorce, domestic abuse or child custody can often be resolved promptly; left to fester, these issues can tear families apart or send them spiraling into economic despair.

The increase in self-represented litigants in our state courts, along with severe funding deficiencies over the years, have created an access crisis in our civil justice system that amounts to a betrayal of one of our country's founding principles: the promise of justice for all. To be sure, there has been progress, with the development of many exciting innovations in recent years. Too often, though, they are offered piecemeal and not in ways that are most helpful to those who face civil legal problems. But in seven pioneering states, that's about to change.

Two years ago, in an unheralded but path-breaking move, the Conference of Chief Justices of the United States and the Conference of State Court Administrators unanimously passed a resolution supporting the goal of 100 percent access to effective assistance for people with "essential civil legal needs."

The resolution calls on states to develop systems in which everyone can get legal help through a comprehensive approach that provides a continuum of meaningful and appropriate services. It also calls on core players -- courts, Access to Justice commissions, civil legal aid organizations, the private bar and other essential partners -- to work together across organizational boundaries in their states to find solutions. Now, Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota and New York are seizing the opportunity to bring the vision expressed by the resolution closer to reality through what's known as the Justice for All Project.

Housed at the National Center for State Courts, overseen by a distinguished advisory committee and funded by the Public Welfare Foundation with others on deck, the project will assist the seven states with resources to assess their systems' strengths and weaknesses, make coherent action plans that integrate services to close the gaps, and begin making changes. They will harness an array of practical solutions -- such as self­ help services, automated court forms, and limited scope representation -- to better match users who have specific needs to the appropriate level of help.

The potential benefits for our communities are substantial. In New York City, for example, the recent addition of "court navigators" -- trained and supervised personnel with no formal legal training -- is helping people like Marie manage their way through the sometimes-daunting Brooklyn Housing Court system. A navigator named Ernesto helped Marie keep her home by assisting her in tracking down the money order she had submitted for her rent and showing her how to have it reissued to the new landlord. Beyond that, the navigator helped her obtain a senior-citizen rent-increase exemption.

The project has unleashed interest nationwide, from states that are red and blue, small and large. In all, 25 states applied for funding, suggesting that there is both widespread awareness of the crisis in our civil justice system and a formidable will to come together to remedy it. Momentum is building, and all of us must commit wholeheartedly to achieving a system of justice that works, not just for the few who can afford it but for everyone.