The annual ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conference, the principal gathering for the many partners working on access to justice issues around the country, was held earlier this month in Dallas, and CBF programs again were prominently on display.
In conjunction with the conference, the CBF held a strategic planning convening for a new national initiative, the Above the Line Network. A joint project of the CBF and the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS), the Above the Line network brings together programs from around the country and in Canada that are working to improve access to legal help for middle-income consumers and small businesses who make too much to qualify for already overstretched free legal aid but not enough to afford legal help at traditional market rates.
The CBF Justice Entrepreneurs Project has been one of the leaders in these efforts for ten years now, and along with other partners in the new Above the Line Network, was featured on one of the conference panels highlighting the new initiative.
Other CBF programs highlighted on conference panels included the Cook County Legal Aid for Housing and Debt program, the CBF’s recent Recruitment and Retention Study for Legal Aid, and the CBF’s ongoing leadership in encouraging cy pres awards in class action cases to go towards legal aid and access to justice programs as a win-win solution for all concerned.
This year’s conference was an overall big success, with more than 1,000 advocates and other justice partners from around the country and beyond highlighting a range of innovative programs aimed at improving access to justice. We are already looking forward to next year’s conference, which will be in Detroit in May 2024.