Paths to Justice: Learning from this Nationwide Pilot Project—Ensuring Access to Justice in High-Volume Cases
On October 7, as part of our Paths to Justice Summit Series, IAALS hosted a webinar, "Learning from this Nationwide Pilot Project—Ensuring Access to Justice in High-Volume Cases," the second of two webinars on the paths of the pandemic.
The pandemic will have lasting implications for our justice system. The burden on the system will grow as the impacts on people’s lives and businesses translate into justice needs, both in society and ultimately in our courts. The immediate focus on keeping the doors of justice open will continue to shift to growing case backlogs and how to best utilize the innovations we’ve adopted in the pandemic going forward. Our justice system must plan accordingly, anticipating and cushioning these consequences and taking advantage of the opportunities. This program focused on high-volume cases, which pose unique challenges and also great opportunity for improvement in terms of access to justice. What have we learned in this pandemic—and through this nationwide pilot project—on how to ensure access to justice in these high-volume cases?
This esteemed panel featured Hon. Clemens Landau (Presiding Judge, Salt Lake City Justice Court), Sheriece Perry (Acting Co-Director, Massachusetts Trial Court Office of Court Management), and Gina Calabrese (Professor of Clinical Legal Education, St. John’s University School of Law), whose conversation was moderated by Hon. Jennifer Bailey (Administrative Judge, 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida, Circuit Civil Division).
Thank you to the attendees of this convening who generously gave of their time and expertise to brainstorm around these important issues.
Paths to Justice Summit Series
The goal of this convening was to bring together a group of diverse perspectives and partners to capture the lessons we have learned from the past year, identify continuing challenges, and inspire additional research. We hope the following summary helps to bring focus and clarity to the dialogue and ongoing innovation.