Open Law Lab
Reimagining Courts collects data and ideas for how the court system in the United States might be improved to be more human-centered and more efficient. It looks at what is happening inside of different types of court systems in the US, including some innovative new models like problem-solving courts.
Here is a terrific visual guide for all those making legal aid, court, or government help websites. It is from the Gov.UK team, and it lays out key…
Yesterday I went to the ABA Midyear meeting to attend the Center for Innovation meeting, and also sit in on a session about ‘Maybe there’s an app for…
If we frame access to justice innovation around scouting what problems people have that might lead to legal or life crisis finding patterns of issues and how they…
Last week I was in New Orleans at one of the largest legal aid and self-help Innovacion conferences, sponsored by the Legal Services Corporation. I presented on a…
My listening this week: a podcast, Jumping Off the Ivory Tower, from Prof. Julie MacFarlane, of Canada’s National Self Represented Litigant Project. Here’s how Julie presents her vision…
In court management circles, it is established that Artificial Intelligence and Big Data are crucial to the evolution of court services. So why isn’t the #AIrevolution taking courts…
Courts aren’t used to thinking about competition. Most have been used to be the only provider of dispute resolution. They haven’t had to think about the public as…
At the National Association for court Management, I attended the session on how courts are focused on better engaging minority and disadvantaged communities. There are many dynamics that…
A quick sketch of some of the takeaways from a presentation I gave, along with Karl Branting of MITRE corporation at the National Association for court Management. We…
A drawn dispatch from this week’s National Association for Court Management– from the plenary on how we might use evaluative frameworks to improve how courts perform.
Today I am in sunny, lovely Vancouver, British Columbia at a symposium of the Canadian Administrative Tribunals’ adjudicators, advocates, and other professionals. It’s co-hosted by the Council of…
In our Prototyping Access to Justice class, Kursat Ozenc and I are leading student teams to get quickly from speculating about how the courts could be improved to…
Last week I had the pleasure of attending the White House Forum on Increasing Access to Justice. It was a gathering of lawyers, judges, law clinic leaders, business-people,…
Earlier this week I found myself at lunch with an expert in sustainable finance, another expert on healthcare and patient engagement, and a user experience designer. Then there’s…
Why doesn’t it resonate with more Americans that we need a better justice system, that gives equal & universal access to all people who need to use law…
Today at the Judicial Council’s Beyond the Bench conference on innovations and user experience in family law & the justice system, I had the privilege to hear a…
Setting the tone of a priority on User Experience at the California Beyond the Bench conference. This quote is from Administrative Director Martin Hoshino, about the need to…
I had written earlier on this site about Kanan Dhru’s excellent visual law project LawForMe in India, to democratize legal knowledge and education through straightforward, delightful visuals about…
Some insights from Ben Barton at the UCHastings Equal Access to Justice conference, about the convergence of the same massive problem in the US legal and medical…
A thought in the room, at the conference at UCHastings on equal access to justice. Justice Goodwin Liu made a comment along these lines, seconded by other…
A vision from the Judicial Council’s Bonnie Hough at the UCHastings conference on equal access to justice.
A colleague working on improving the legal system in New Zealand from a user-centered design perspective mentioned this phrase to me in a recent email: Simple at the…
Here is a small sketch I made while listening to talks at the Legal Service Corporation’s 40th Anniversary celebration in downtown San Francisco last month. It was from…
How can we help people on-ramp into the legal system in much easier & accessible ways? This is the solution that’s been growing in my mind (but still…
This week I have been finishing up my research paper on what user-centered standards for better online legal help sites would be. I had surveyed lay adults about…
In the world of access to justice, consumer law, and even big law services, we need to think more clearly about what kinds of new products and services…
I made another visual based on a short questionnaire I ran back in November-December last year, on people’s thoughts on Access to Justice. Earlier visuals of the questionnaire…
As I’ve ventured into the world of public legal education — helping lay people figure out and navigate their legal problems — I keep hitting my head against…
From November’s 5 Question Friday, I have compiled some of the responses and quotes I received in response to this question — Is There a Coherent A2J Movement?…
via NYC Housing Court – Resolution Assistance Program (RAP). New York just began a pilot program of Court Navigators for Housing Courts in some jurisdictions. Non-lawyers would help…
via Better Lawyering for the Poor – NYTimes.com. The New York Times Editorial Board published a piece spotlighting various New York-based initiatives that might transform the structure of…
Here is a recent slide presentation of online intake models from a few different projects around the country. Webinar Next Week: Beyond Online Intake: Looking at Triage and…
I just discovered a rich design document & user research study conducted by a team out of Harvard’s Berkman Center in 2010. It looks at how more access…
For a paper I’ve been working on, here is a preliminary mind-map I’ve been sketching out. It’s a quick brainstorm of how DIY legal tools may be provided…
I’ve been prototyping various means to deliver & build legal knowledge — with a specific consideration of bolstering Access to Justice. One pathway, of course, is Visualized Law.…
A short cartoon I made while listening to Professor Nora Engstrom’s talk on Legal Clinics & attorney advertising at Stanford Law School last month.
