Bringing together all facets of the legal community, the 2010 Equal Justice Conference will focus on delivery of legal services to low-income individuals during its 11th annual gathering that takes place at the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs in Phoenix May 11-15.
The EJC is sponsored by the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service along with the National Legal Aid & Defender Association.
Designed to strengthen ties within the civil justice system, the EJC will feature more than 90 workshops and pre-conference sessions, organized under seven program tracks — delivery innovations; information management and technology; management and diversity; partnerships; pro bono; resource development; and substantive law.
“Access to justice is a concern for all Americans regardless of income level,” said ABA PResident Carolyn Lamm, who is the keynote speaker at the EJC awards luncheon on Friday, May 14. “The Equal Justice Conference focuses attention on the need to improve delivery of legal services to the economically disadvantaged and in the public interest so that our country lives up to its commitment of justice for all.”
Donald Saunders, NLADA director of civil legal service, said that with the downturn in the economy forcing legal aid providers to do more with less, “the EJC is an important way to provide tools and training to legal aid lawyers and advocates seeking to keep clients in their homes while providing access to affordable healthcare, a clear path to education and job opportunities for clients and their families.”
Information from the conference, he said, “helps lawyers give voice to the voiceless through such sessions as limited scope representation and maintaining the financial health of non-profit legal organizations.”
Sonia Nazario, board member of Kids in Need of Defense and author of the book Enrique’s Journey, will deliver the keynote address at the EJC’s opening plenary on Thursday, May 13.
Nazario, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, has worked at The Wall Street Journal and The Los Angeles Times.
Enrique’s Journey is the story of a Honduran boy’s search to find his mother in the United States.
It began as a newspaper feature that earned the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, the George Polk Award for International Reporting and the National Association of Hispanic Journalist Guillermo Martinez-Marquez Award for Overall Excellence as well as the Pulitzer.
Other conference highlights include:
Thursday, May 13
•Limited Scope Representation: How to Do More with Less
•Law Firm Deferrals: What Worked, What Did Not and How Do We Plan for the Class of 2010
•Helping Hard-Hit Consumers and Homeowners Through Collaboration and Technology
Friday, May 14
•50 Ways to Recruit Volunteers in Smaller Urban/Rural Areas
•A Toolkit for Legislative Change: How to Propose and Enact Bills to Promote Social Justice
•Assessing Your Nonprofit’s Financial Health
•Eviction Defense: Court and Community Collaborations
Saturday, May 15
•Energizing Change: Transforming Compassion Fatigue, Finding Balance and Sustaining Effectiveness
•Assisting ID Theft Victims: From New Resources to Proven Models
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