This last post for ATJ Tech Fellow blogs is challenging us to create a legal solution that incorporates race-based advocacy strategies and the design thinking process. Our resources are:

During my time advocating on behalf of vulnerable populations for greater access to healthcare and healthcare services I realize that one of the best ways to develop community support and advocacy success is by having cultural competency. Therefore, prior to thinking of a legal solution I already know that this solution must reflect the cultural competency of the community you are working on behalf of or with in order for it to be effective. That’s why I think before entering the “Design Thinking” space, the community should be defined and cultural competency should be at the forefront of designing any legal solution. Arguably, this could happen later in the process or even after the solution has been created, however when placing cultural competency first this process could support collaboration with the community, foster respect, and overall success.

Creating legal solutions that are culturally sensitive to the users needs and beliefs could be done as easily as ensuring there is multi-language access, proper use of pronouns or words, or even ensuring the places where the legal solution would be offered are located in an accessible place where the community will frequent. Ultimately, cultural competency development before solution creation equals culturally sensitive design thinking, that could have the possibility of being used for race based advocacy.

If you’d like to learn more on the importance and usefulness of cultural competency in your raced based advocacy project or legal design solution or get my perspective — please reach out to me!

Image credit: https://patimes.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/pictures.jpg

Legal services are facing an age of service renewal as technology infiltrates every corner of our existence. While technological advances can seriously improve the delivery of legal services, it can also lead to unintended consequences particularly for those who receive the legal services. Why?

Because creating legal technology inherently contains bias. Well, creating any technology can potentially contain bias. The good part is that there are ways to guard against, improve, and remove any biases that may exist. This is of utmost important when the legal technology is created for or legal services are being delivered to, vulnerable populations, such as, low-income, women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex.

As a result of my fellowship, I have learned about the importance of user testing and quality assurance. Everyone can do their part in creating legal technology or in delivery of legal services.

There are legal services organizations with awareness of LGBT needs and geared specifically for to support LGBTQ, check them out:

New York Legal Assistance Group

Legal Services NYC

Anyone can become an ally and advocate too. There are other support groups and organizations that bring visibility and support to the LGBT community. Visit Everyone Is Gay to gain understanding and remember that no matter what we are human and as humans that’s the greatest commonality of all. Or Human Rights Campaign.

At the end of the day, there must be justice for all and justice begins with you.

Welcome LexBlog Friend and Passerby!

I’m humbled to have a digital space to share my perspective and uplift voices that may not otherwise be heard.

Over the next few weeks, you’ll be witnessing my expert-in-practice blogging skills on 3 topics @Miguel Willis picked for the 2018 Access to Justice Tech Fellows to write about.

Writing from probono.net’s New York City office I am spending ten weeks learning and contributing to the LawHelp Interactive® (LHI) team. LawHelp Interactive is an online legal document assembly service operated by Probono.net. It is used by courts, legal aids, and access to justice partners in about 40 states throughout the U.S. Plus, the forms are free to users – talk about #access #to #justice. Forms are available in child support and custody, domestic violence, debt collection, foreclosures, evictions, divorce, and more.The LHI team is comprised of technologists, form developers, quality assurance engineers, legal technologists, program managers, project managers, and lawyers.

What am I doing with LHI this summer? My first project is developing a marketing and social media plan, and creating user-friendly resource materials for current and potential stakeholders of LawHelp Interactive – Connect (LHIC). Connect is a new feature to LHI that assists an individual with their legal need(s) by allowing them access to interviews, which later create legal forms, on a variety of legal topics. An individual can choose to interface with these interviews by either 1) creating a user account on LHI, or 2) opt out of creating a user account and enter the LHI system anonymously. Once an interview is complete, the interview answer file is managed through LHI-Connect. The interview answer file can be shared and reviewed with any of the following parties: legal aid staff, court administrators and staff, or pro bono volunteers.

The LHIC platform improves the delivery of legal services because it allows several parties to collaborate at the same time. For instance, a group clinic could support self-helpers in completing an interview and advocates (attorneys, law students under attorney supervision, or probono volunteers) could review the form from a remote location. After review, a self-helper could print their form and file it. The LHIC platform is flexible to support access to justice work.

My second project connects my social justice, health policy and technology background with legal technology and law, by focusing on medical-legal partnerships (MLPs). Last summer, as a recipient of the Public Interest Law Initiative program, I worked for the Chicago Medical-Legal Partnership for Children, a program of the Legal Council for Health Justice and witnessed first-hand the power of these cross-sector partnerships.  I am seeking to collaborate with stakeholders on understanding technology use, areas for improvement and innovation within MLPs. There is much to learn in this area and I want to learn and be an advocate for MLPs beyond the term of this fellowship. MLPs, an innovative and collaborative model, already support the delivery of legal services to our country’s most vulnerable populations by addressing legal need as social determinant of health. Understanding how technology does and can improve medical, behavioral, and legal service delivery models within an MLP context is another step towards #access to #justice in our fast-paced technologically moving world. Together we can increase access to justice and improve health outcomes.