2009 Equal Justice Conference Strengthens Ties in Civil Justice System

CHICAGO, April 10, 2009 – Lawyers, judges and advocates representing all aspects of the civil justice system will gather in Orlando May 13 – 16 for the 2009 Equal Justice Conference.  Designed to strengthen ties within the civil justice system, the 10th annual EJC will feature discussions on the delivery of legal assistance to low-income individuals.

Sponsored by the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service along with the National Legal Aid & Defender Association, the 2009 EJC will take place at the Doubletree Hotel at the Entrance to Universal, Orlando, Fla.

The 2009 conference will offer more than 80 workshops in seven tracks, including delivery innovations, information management and technology,  management and diversity, partnership, pro bono, resource development and substantive law.

“The Equal Justice Conference focuses attention on the growing need for improving access to justice for all Americans,” said ABA President H. Thomas Wells Jr. “In these economic times, adequate legal resources provided by fair and impartial courts will go a long way to ensure that we live up to our commitment to access to justice for all.”  He will speak at the awards luncheon on Friday, May 15.

“The importance of the work of the EJC cannot be underestimated, said NLADA Director of Civil Legal Service Donald Saunders. “For people caught in the economic downturn, the work of this conference will provide legal aid lawyers and advocates with the tools to help their clients stay in their homes and provide for their families.”

P. Sabin Willett, a commercial and bankruptcy litigation partner at Bingham McCutchen in Boston, who is known for his defense of several Guantanamo detainees, will deliver the keynote address at the EJC’s opening plenary on Thursday, May 14.

Other conference highlights include:

Thursday, May 14

• Delivering Legal Services to Active-Duty Servicemembers and Their Families, 9:45 -11:15 a.m.
• Bankruptcy Pro Se Models that Work, 1:30 – 3 p.m.
• Getting to “Yes” with Big Firms: Practices for Pro Bono Partnerships, 3:45 – 5:15 p.m.

Friday, May 15

• Money When We Need It: Resource Development in an Economic Crisis, 8:45 – 9:15 a.m.
• Hot Topics in Medical-Legal Partnership, 10:30 a.m. – noon
• ‘Creative Uses of Technology in Addressing the Foreclosure Crisis, 2 – 3:30 p.m.
• Getting to Uniform Court Forms, 3:45 – 5:15 p.m.

Saturday, May 16

• Making Recovery from Disasters Easier through Technology, 8:30 – 10 a.m.

The complete conference agenda is available here.

The ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service provides national leadership in policy, outreach, implementation and technical assistance activities designed to encourage, expand and improve pro bono activities and programs.  It is also the sponsor of the National Pro Bono Week Celebration taking place Oct. 25 – 31, 2009.

The national Legal Aid & Defender Association, founded in 1911, in the oldest and largest national, nonprofit membership organization devoting all of its resources to advocating equal access to justice for all Americans.  NLADA champions effective legal assistance for people who cannot afford counsel, serves as a collective voice for both civil legal services and public defense services throughout the nation, and provides a wide range of services and benefits to its individual and organizational members.
With more than 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world.  As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

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