Using tech to magnify the goodness of inclusive legal services with Claudia Johnson

Reimagining Justice

This episode no. 36 is with Program Manager of LawHelp Interactive at Pro Bono Net, Claudia Johnson.

When in some states of America there are 27 forms to file for a simple divorce, we discuss where responsibility lies to make the law relating to housing, health, and family issues, more understandable for lay people, which is particularly important given the global rise in numbers of self-represented litigants. There’s been a theme going for the past few episodes around the use of document automation to make legal service delivery more efficient, but more importantly effective and scalable when it’s based on human centred design principles. Again in this episode we cover smart forms, use cases they’re best suited for and some they’re not - and importantly, how to decide. As Claudia says, “there are easy ways to use tech to magnify the goodness of law and show respect to your clients”. We also talked about Claudia’s project with Bay area legal aid which centralised intake for a large number of clients over a large area, from different language groups. This was a significant exercise in change management and Claudia shares her tips for success.

Claudia spoke passionately about her work with the National Language Advocate Network, a group that works to promote non-discrimination on the grounds of national origin, and considering the diversity in America, the conclusions she’s reached about why materials aren’t available in many more languages. Claudia has an extensive career in innovative projects and you will learn a lot from her whether your work is in a commercial or community law context.

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Links:

• Pro Bono Net
• LawHelp Interactive
• NY Times article
• Bay Area Legal Aid
• Rochelle Klempner
• Claudia Johnson blogs on “Legal Services Policy Research and the Elephant in the Room”
• National Language Advocate Network (N-LAAN)
• Standards for Language Access in Courts
• Best Practices for Access-Friendly Court Electronic Filing
• Tim Baran’s interview
• Neota Logic

Andrea Perry-Petersen – LinkedIn - Twitter @winkiepp – andreaperrypetersen.com.au

Twitter - @ReimaginingJ

Facebook – Reimagining Justice group