2018 NLADA Annual Conference--Resilient Justice

We are seeing an expansion of the civil justice system reform movement that includes: research, legal representation, self-help, technology, communication, research, government support, political engagement, community empowerment, and judicial leadership. Yet most people are still unable to secure civil legal aid. Courts are struggling to preserve basic services. Non-lawyers are barred from helping people. Lives continue to be interrupted by a civil justice system that presumes equal power between parties and that directly and indirectly pushes people into homelessness, poverty, and even into the criminal justice system. To what degree does civil justice system reform prioritize racial justice, profile societal savings, and promise substantive justice in specific areas of law such as evictions, debt, jobs, family, and benefits? Is the movement successfully engaging activists in communities most affected by an unjust system? Is it enlisting the passion of leaders in all sectors of society, including students, social scientists, corporate leaders, government officials, and philanthropic leaders? Criminal justice system reform has a goal, a theory, a financial argument, criminology, books, television shows, films, litigation, and organizing. Join in discussing all of the elements essential to the success of the civil justice system reform movement.