Pro Bono

• Jurisdiction: Georgia,United States
• Citation: Vol. 27 No. 5 Pg. 0052
• Pages: 0052
• Publication year: 2022

Pro Bono No. Vol. 27, No. 5 Pg. 52 Georgia Bar Journal April, 2022

Gathering Together for Access to Justice

The Judicial Council of Georgia's Access to Justice Committee and the State Bar's Access to Justice Committee coordinate their work to analyze the unmet legal needs and approaches necessary to increase access to the courts and to legal assistance for poor and marginalized Georgians.

BY MIKE MONAHAN.

Members and guests of the Judicial Council of Georgia's Access to Justice Committee and the State Bar of Georgia Access to Justice Committee gathered for an informal joint retreat at the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, on March 8. The museum documents the history of slavery and racism in the United States. The retreat also included a visit to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice.

Supreme Court of Georgia Justice Verda Colvin, who serves as chair of the Judicial Council Committee, convened the event with U.S. Magistrate Judge Catherine Salinas, chair of the State Bar Access to Justice Committee.

The two committees coordinate their work to analyze the unmet legal needs and approaches necessary to increase access to the courts and to legal assistance for poor and marginalized Georgians. While the Judicial Council's committee studies ways to make Georgia's courts more accessible to its citizens (such as standardizing court forms and using law libraries to support self-represented litigants), the State Bar's committee investigates things lawyers can do to help meet the legal needs (such as developing law school clinics, drafting State Bar policies and practice rules that encourage pro bono activities, and increasing support for structured civil legal aid and pro bono programs). Both committees share a concern for enhanced funding to support access to justice initiatives.

The Judicial Council's committee and the State Bar's committee share agendas, and each has a liaison to the other committee to ensure they are working together efficiently and without duplicating effort and resources. With funding from the National Center for State Courts, the State Bar's committee adopted a strategic plan in 2017, found at iaals.du.edu/ sites/default/files/ga_jfa_state_plan.pdf. The Judicial Council's access committee is also focusing on parts of this plan that the courts can address. For the retreat discussion, participants were asked to direct their attention to several parts of the strategic plan: Empowering Religious Leaders...