Virtual ABA meeting explores equal justice issues

The American Bar Association Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service and the National Legal Aid & Defender Association will convene their annual Equal Justice Conference from Tuesday through Thursday, Aug. 11-13, with webinar programs related to access to justice, COVID-19 challenges and racial and other ethnic justice issues.

The ?Equal Justice Conference, initially scheduled in May in Atlanta, was moved to August and planned virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It kicks off on today at 10:30 a.m. with a plenary keynote by Andrea Young, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia and daughter of civil rights leader Andrew Young, a former mayor of Atlanta and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Immediately following is the program, “Hot Topics in Civil Legal Aid,” which will explore timely issues facing the pro bono, legal aid and advocate communities.

Near 20 programs follow through Thursday, including panels in these broader areas:

• Access to justice during COVID-19
“Brave New World: Pro Bono, Technology, and Virtual Services in the Age of COVID-19”—Tuesday, 1:45 to 2:30 p.m.
“Providing Access to Justice in the Midst of COVID-19”
Wednesday,10:30 to 11 a.m.

• Consumer issues, including evictions
“Right to Counsel in a World Gone Mad: Evictions During and After COVID-19”—Wednesday, 12:55 to 1:40 p.m.
“Protecting Against the Financial Harms of COVID-19”—Thursday, 12:55 to 1:40 p.m.

• Racial and other ethnic injustices
“Untangling Racial Inequity with a Systems Thinking Model”—Thursday, 3 to 4 p.m.
“Decolonizing Justice: Looking Toward Indigenous Knowledge for Empowerment and Creating New Systems of Justice”—Thursday, 4:15 to 5:15 p.m.

The full schedule of the conference, August 11-13, is available online at www.americanbar.org/groups/probono_public_service/ejc/full-schedule.