An LSC grant program is trying to increase access to justice through tech
Left to Right: Glenn Rawdon, James Sandman, Joyce Raby, David Bonebrake. Photo illustration by Brenan Sharp/ABA Journal; photos courtesy of James Sandman, Joyce Raby and David Bonebrake; Shutterstock
Twenty years ago, technology wasn’t always celebrated by public interest lawyers, Joyce Raby says.
“I had a lawyer follow me out to my car, yelling at me that his clients were too stupid to use fax machines,” says Raby, who was a program analyst for the Legal Services Corp. from 2000 to 2008. Raby is now executive director of the Florida Justice Technology Center and serves as co-vice chair of the State Bar of California’s Task Force on Access Through Innovation in Legal Services (see “Outside the Box”).
However, she saw the transformative potential of technology and its ability to help all people attain access to justice.
Together with LSC program counsel and grant administrator Glenn Rawdon, Raby created the Technology Initiative Grant Program, which awards regional LSC offices money for creating technology plans that help low-income people with their legal needs.
She says the legal profession didn’t understand the automation possibilities of technology, and some legal aid lawyers believed only people—not computers—could help clients with problems.
Their belief was that using technology would create a second-tier legal system to the traditional model of one attorney for every client.
“That model doesn’t scale, and it’s never going to reach all the people who need assistance,” Raby says. She adds that for self-represented litigants who don’t qualify for legal aid, it’s better to have access to high-quality information and do-it-yourself tools than to settle for no assistance at all.
Despite all of the resistance, Raby and Rawdon both say that to their surprise, their LSC bosses did not back down from criticism about technology. They also point out it was unique that management oversight was not onerous or burdensome and that LSC was willing to take a risk to try something new.
“Because LSC took the position of letting us make structural decisions based on what we were hearing in the field and overall objectives of the program, we were able to be very responsive to the legal aid community, and that’s kind of what made the TIG program useful,” Raby says. “It was either that they didn’t understand the impact of what we were getting ready to do, or they had an inkling that it was going to be big and didn’t know how to manage it.”
And as legal aid directors saw the successes that other offices were having with technology, they opened up to it, Rawdon says.
Specifically, intake workers in the Ohio offices were saving 14 to 16 minutes per application once they adopted online intake forms, allowing them to process more of them.
“I won’t say there’s been universal acceptance. I’ve been kind of disappointed that programs aren’t more willing to adopt automated documents for staff usage,” he says, adding that some lawyers still think that if you don’t physically fill out every form for every client, you might miss an error.
However, some legal aid directors who originally opposed the idea of introducing technology to client services have since changed their minds after seeing positive results, Rawdon says.
“They don’t have to be proficient in using technology, but as long as they see the benefit and trust staff people who are proficient in technology, the programs really do work,” he says.
Since 2000, approximately $65 million has been awarded by the TIG program. Among the offerings by grant recipients are automated forms and document assembly for Michigan residents, and a mobile interface enhancement that allows people to apply for services with the Montana Legal Services Association. That project also added texting capacity with the office’s case management system so that clients get text reminders about appointments and can submit forms into the system from their phones.
In 2018, the TIG program received 58 letters of intent that were whittled down to 38 full applicants. Ultimately, 26 grants were awarded. James Sandman, president of the LSC, decides who gets the grants. (Editor’s note: On Jan. 21, after the February-March issue went to press, Sandman announced he would leave LSC in February.) When the TIG program started, he says, many legal aid offices didn’t even have websites.
“The first order of business was to fund website development of every state and territory with two populations in mind—first, low-income people, and second to … pro bono lawyers, who might be taking on a client where they needed help,” he says.
When considering TIG proposals, Sandman looks for ideas that can help various legal aid offices rather than just the grant recipients.
He mentions a 2018 grant for $212,000 to Philadelphia Legal Assistance to expand software tools for a program known as Upsolve, which generates Chapter 7 bankruptcy forms through a series of questions. (See “Going for Broke,” September-October 2019.)
“That has a nationwide impact because bankruptcy is a matter of federal law,” Sandman says. “We’ve also funded projects for online intake to make legal services available to people 24/7.”
Rather than being given a lump sum, TIG money goes to recipients in pieces as project milestones are reached. If something doesn’t go as expected, the plan can be modified, which helps the offices learn from their mistakes and ultimately have better outcomes, says David Bonebrake, a program counsel and grant administrator with the program, who with Rawdon and grant administrator Jane Ribadeneyra helps applicants with proposals.
One TIG recipient, Legal Aid Chicago, is working on a project that involves integrating natural language processing and other artificial intelligence tools into its intake system. “Think Alexa or Siri,” says Vivian Hessel, Legal Aid Chicago’s chief information officer. Her organization in 2018 received a $266,000 TIG award, which will be paid over three years.
“Now, typically, a human listens to or reads the problems,” she says. The software can review messages and pull out potential issues quicker than a person could, and then send the messages to the right staff member for review. Once the project is in place, she adds, the call-in line will still be available as well.
“A person might say, ‘I’ve been evicted because I couldn’t pay my rent.’ The landlord is not doing anything wrong, and the reason they could not pay their rent was because they were terminated from their job and were not paid by their employer. That’s the legal issue,” Hessel says. “The software can’t pick up on that, but it pinpoints the information quicker for the attorney.”
The office has never been able to help everyone who qualifies for legal aid in Chicago, she adds, and the software will allow one full-time employee to review three times more intakes than before. “It’s a lot better for a person with a legal issue, because a lot of times people feel like they are not being heard. Access to justice is about people feeling the system is fair. Even if you can’t help people, just being heard is important to them,” Hessel says.
This article first appeared in the February-March 2020 issue of the ABA Journal under the headline “A Rewarding Mission: The Legal Services Corp.’s Technology Initiative Grants Program team is trying to increase access to justice–one project at a time”
Does Your Plumbing Issue Sometimes Make You Feel Stupid?
This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.
Neighbor News By Ferdin Correa, Neighbor May 29, 2018 10:16 pm MT {{ replyButtonLabel }} Reply
The plumbing system is like a backbone of a house. Other than water supply plumbing system involves drainage and sewer too. It has many components associated with it like faucets, valves, showers, bathtubs, sinks, valves etc and these components are prone to malfunctions. We encounter many plumbing difficulties on day to day basis like leaky faucets, clogged toilets, broken sewer line etc. Equipment like a water heater, garbage disposal, and water purifiers need time to time maintenance so as to work in a perfect condition.
Keeping yourself updated with the knowledge of plumbing can be very beneficial in a long run. Majority of the times, the plumbing problem is the result of our own mistakes which we can totally avoid by being a little attentive about our plumbing. Even the smallest wrong action like flushing garbage in the toilet, can cause massive blockage of the toilet which will require a professional local plumber in Glendale. So let's discuss the mistakes that we are doing on a regular basis which is causing plumbing troubles for us.
24 hour emergency plumbing serviceYour drains and flushes can run smoothly forever if you are conscious of what you are putting in it. Plumbing problems are difficult to fix and the services are very costly, so take a few steps from your side to ensure a healthier plumbing.
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Swipe This! Social media makes me feel like my career is lagging. Will I ever catch up?
“Swipe This!” is an advice column about how to navigate human relationships and connections in an age when we depend so heavily on technology. Have a question? Email [email protected]
Dear Swipe This!
About three and a half years ago, I went back to school for my master’s degree in film. I loved it. I made a ton of friends, and I worked on some of my best projects. Then I graduated and went back to the real world. I don’t have a financial safety net, so I had to get a day job and balance that with creative projects. I’ve had some successes, but it’s been pretty slow. I don’t feel like I’m anywhere close to ready to quit my day job.
To make matters worse, whenever I check social media, it looks like everyone I went to school with is thriving. Some of them have landed amazing jobs in the film industry. I can’t go on Instagram without seeing someone won an award or got into a festival, or is on a high-budget shoot. It’s like all my peers zoomed ahead of me and I got left behind at my stupid office.
I haven’t talked to any of my film school friends about this because it’s so embarrassing. When we get together, I try to stay positive. I tell them about the projects I’m working on, and I’m enthusiastic. And when good things happen, I post on social media and they’re supportive. But my successes are never as big or impressive. Sometimes I think maybe they just feel sorry for me.
I’m 29. I thought by now I’d be more successful. I have friends who work in other, non-creative fields, but when I look at them I feel just as bad. All the “normies” are married and having babies, or engaged and planning weddings.
I thought life would be different. I worked hard and went to a good school. I’m doing my best. I thought things would fall into place for me. I thought if I didn’t have the family, I’d at least have the career, or if I didn’t have the career, at least I’d find love. But everything still feels so uncertain. And I’m starting to feel like I’m so far behind that I’ll never catch up.
What did I do wrong? Why can’t I catch a break? Will I ever catch up?
Sincerely,
Left Behind
Dear Left Behind,
I wish I could install an alarm for you that would go off when you dive into Instagram compare and despair spirals. A siren would blare and a voice would command you: Step away from the phone. You are too close to the phone.
It’s pretty much impossible not to keep track of the lives of others. And since everyone filters their lives to share the most glamorous version of themselves, I’m not surprised that you feel your life is dull compared to all the shiny updates your film school friends are posting. But I think the true source of your discontent isn’t a lack of achievements. It’s a lack of purpose. You’ve lost your way. You’ve taken a thing you loved and weaponized it against yourself. Instead of sinking into the joy of creating, you’re wallowing in a pit of self-judgment.
You are still so young. Leslie Jones didn’t join the cast of Saturday Night Live until she was 47. Carmen Herrera, an abstract painter, didn’t reach fame until her 90s! Even if you were 99 years old and you wanted to create, I would tell you it’s not too late. As long as there’s air in your lungs, as long as you’re living, you have every right to create. And you don’t need any awards or seals of approval to do that.
You do, of course, need the basics, like money to provide you with food and shelter. And you have that. So why do you resent it? I think you imagine that your job is holding you back or isn’t glamorous, but it’s a tool. It doesn’t have to be at odds with your dreams if you don’t want it to be. It can be a support. And if you don’t like the support that it’s offering you, you can look for something better. But nothing you change will make you feel happy or satisfied if you don’t reconnect with your purpose.
Think back to when you first fell in love with your art. Do you remember the electric feeling of possibility? Do you remember being present and fulfilled and thinking, This is what I want to do with my life! When did you decide that racking up gold stars was more important than being in love with your work?
The life you’ve chosen isn’t an easy one. It requires courage and tenacity to create. To become the artist you want to be, you will have to work hard. Your rewards won’t always be material, and maybe won’t get the recognition you crave when you think you need it most. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t commit yourself to making the life that you want.
You are one of the brave people who choose to follow their dreams, and that is something to be proud of. But sometimes when we are chasing our dreams, we imagine there is a finish line, and we forget the pleasure of running. We imagine that there’s an endpoint—a moment of achievement where our dream will arrive and we get to live in uninterrupted satisfaction—and we forget how good it feels to be alive in a body, our lungs full of oxygen.
But there is no finish line. No matter how much you achieve, you will always have to reckon with the full, unfiltered spectrum of the human experience. You could get a fancy job tomorrow or win an award, and there would still be days where you look at what someone else has and wonder, would I be happier if I had that?
The only antidote I know for this kind of longing is to surrender to the fullness of what you feel, all of the longing all of the sorrow. As an artist, the best thing you can do is welcome in your yearning and desire. Let it fuel you to create more art.
Maybe you think if you had the comfort of a partnership, you’d feel more secure and supported. But maybe your unique path, obstacles and all, is leading you to the unique art that only you can create. As an artist, you cannot reject the life you are currently living. You have to love it. That doesn’t mean you don’t long for more or different, but it means you dig in with curiosity about the richness of this experience, discomfort and all.
And when you do that, when you build your story, step by step, with integrity, I believe you will make art that people connect with. Because it will be coming from a place of truth.
A friend of mine was talking to me about our artistic careers the other day, and she told me she had found inspiration in an unlikely place. She saw an old man crossing the street, and he was moving so, so slowly, but he was going forward. Eventually, he got to the other side.
Maybe you don’t want to move at that old man’s pace. Maybe you are yearning for a Segway to scoop you up and zoom you to the next chapter of your life. And maybe, one day, it will. There may be big breaks and big celebrations. But I hope that you will take comfort in being present for all the smaller steps you are taking today. I hope you will honor them because they are just as meaningful, and they are carrying you forward.
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