Courts, Lawyers and the Administration of Justice Section Works to Improve Access to Justice!
It sounds like a broad and lofty goal, but improving access to justice includes many simple and practical issues. The section’s steering committee of nine members meets monthly to organize events that promote the section’s mission, with a focus on ways to improve access to justice. Listed below are the events organized by the section in 2007.
Back to Top
Lunch-time "Brown Bag" Programs
The section continued its series of organizing free “brown bag” seminar/panel programs on important and timely topics related to the administration of the Courts and access to justice:
Pro Bono Practice in the D.C. Courts: Ideas for Improvement
In 2005, the section solicited recommendations from practitioners about barriers to increased pro bono representation in the D.C. Courts and opportunities for improvement. In culmination of that work, Judge Inez Smith Reid of the D.C. Court of Appeals and Superior Court Judge Stephanie Duncan-Peters discussed suggestions identified in the Section’s review with firm pro bono coordinators and legal service providers.
(Superior Court Conference Room, January 2007)
Back
to Top
E-Filing in Superior Court: Civil II
Judge Brook Hedge, Chair of the Superior Court’s Technology and Automation Committee, provided an overview of the current status of e-filing and its planned expansion, described issues that have arisen with the phasing-in of e-filing for Civil II cases, and answered questions about e-filing.
(Superior Court Conference Room, March 2007)
Back to Top
Ten Years of the Pro Se Unit of the U.S. District Court
Several judges of the United States District Court, including James
Robertson and Gladys Kessler, described the origin of the Pro Se
Unit and described the work of the staff attorneys in expediting
cases, reducing reversals, and ensuring the consistent handling of cases
filed by unrepresented persons.
(U.S. Courthouse Judges’ Dining Room, March 2007)
Back to Top
Guardianships and Probate in the District of Columbia: Opportunities for Attorney Appointments and New Directions in the Court
Associate Judge A. Franklin Burgess, presiding judge of the Probate Division of Superior Court, Anne Meister, the newly- appointed Register of Wills, and experienced probate practitioner Edward Varrone described recent changes in the Probate Division and the procedures for receiving court appointments to handle wills or guardianships for indigent persons.
(Superior Court Conference Room, March 2007)
Back to Top
The D.C. Attorney Disciplinary System: Pending Reforms and Alternatives
After a lengthy review, the D.C. Bar’s Disciplinary System Study
Committee issued a report recommending changes to the disciplinary system.
Committee Co-Chair John Payton, D.C. Bar Counsel Wallace E. "Gene"
Shipp, Georgetown Law Professor Michael Frisch, and a former member
of the Board of Professional Responsibility, Lee Helfrich, presented
a lively and informative discussion about the proposed changes and alternatives
to improving the disciplinary system.
(Morgan Lewis & Bockius Moot Courtroom, April 2007)
Back to Top
Supreme
Court Panel: “A View From the Press Gallery”
The section again offered a luncheon event in the D.C. Bar’s summer
associate series, attended by a sold-out crowd of over 200, in which a
panel of top journalists covering the Supreme Court discussed the term
just ended from an insider’s perspective. Once again, the event
was at Arnold and Porter and moderated by our former steering committee
member Art Spitzer of the ACLU. Journalist participants included Joan
Biskupic (USA Today), Robert Barnes (Washington Post), Tony Mauro (Legal
Times and American Lawyer Media), and Stuart Taylor (National Journal
and Newsweek).
(Arnold & Porter, July 2007)
Back to Top
Summer Law Day at Thurgood Marshall Academy
The section continued its successful collaboration with Thurgood
Marshall Academy Public Charter High School to present a summer law day
for entering ninth grade students, hosted by Wiley Rein LLP. The students
analyzed legal problems and did a mock trial in small groups based on
materials and teaching techniques from the Georgetown University Law Center
Street Law program. GULC Street Law staff again coached the volunteer
instructors from the section and participating firms.
(Wiley Rein, July 2007)
Back to Top
Courts, Lawyers and the Administration of Justice Section Wants Your Input!
The section’s steering committee is currently planning
events for 2008. Included with the hard copy of this newsletter was an
announcement concerning the first in a series of Bench-Bar Brown Bag luncheons.
We are also currently considering nominations for election to the steering
committee. If you have ideas about how the section can better promote
its mission and have the energy and time to organize programs, write public
statements or prepare comments on rule changes, please contact any member
of the steering committee:
Julie H. Becker
The Legal Aid Society of D.C.
1331 H Street NW
Suite 350
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-628-1161
Email:
jbecker@legalaiddc.org
Peter Buscemi
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
1111 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20004
Phone: 202-739-3000
Email: pbuscemi@morganlewis.com
Michael S. Frisch
Georgetown University Law Center
600 New Jersey Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-662-9926
Email: frischm@law.georgetown.edu
Frederick V. Mulhauser (cochair)
American Civil Liberties Union
1400 20th Street, NW
Suite 119
Washington, DC 20036-5920
Phone: 202-457-0800
Email: fmulhauser@aol.com
Linda E. Perle
Center for Law & Social Policy
1015 15th Street NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-906-8002
Email: lperle@clasp.org
Stephen B. Pershing
Center for Constitutional Litigation PC
1050 31st Street NW
Washington, DC 20007-4499
Phone: 202-944-2856
Email: steve.pershing@cclfirm.com
Rebecca K. Troth
Sidley Austin LLP
1501 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-736-8339
Email: rtroth@sidley.com
Melvin R. Wright
D.C. Superior Court
500 Indiana Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-879-8336
Email: wrightmr@dcsc.gov
Michael J. Zoeller (cochair)
U.S. Department of Justice
Environment & Natural Resources Division
601 D Street NW
Washington, DC 20004
Phone: 202-305-1478
Email: michael.zoeller@usdoj.gov
Back to Top
