Towards Justice For All
The Access to Justice Network is a community of judges, court managers, attorneys, librarians, researchers, technologists, and community leaders dedicated to closing the justice gap.
Our Network Activities
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Email List
The Access to Justice Network’s email list lets justice professionals ask peers for examples, advice, and ideas — and to share their own projects. The emails reach professionals across the world & help best practices spread and scale.
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Working Groups
Our Access to Justice Working Groups focus on high-impact themes, bringing together community members to receive trainings, spotlight case studies, and workshop new initiatives.
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Conference
Our bi-annual conference, building from the Self-Represented Litigation Network (SRLN) Conference, brings our community together to share the latest research & innovations, and plan for future impact.
What is the Access to Justice Network?
The Access to Justice Network is a community of
justice professionals working together toward a better legal system.
We are a peer-to-peer, multi-stakeholder network that shares resources, provides support, gives trainings, and builds relationships, all to drive forward the improvement of the justice system.
The Access to Justice Network grew out of the Self-Represented Litigation Network (SRLN). SRLN continues as a resource library & mapping group, while the Access to Justice Network now operates the working groups, email list, and conference work that SRLN began.
Working Groups
The Access to Justice Network facilitates ongoing working groups to bring justice professionals together to discuss challenges, themes, and common work.
Each year we choose working group themes based on the community’s priorities and needs. Network members can sign up to join each of the Working Groups.
Please explore our 6 Working Groups for the 2024-25 year: Technology and Forms, Legal Self-Help Websites, Access to Justice Research, Law Libraries, Court-Based Assistance, and AOC Directors.
Technology and Forms
The Technology and Forms working group explores innovation and technology in the access to justice domain, often with a focus on forms. We welcome people who work at legal services organizations, courts, self-help centers, tech companies, and other entities broadly involved in innovation and technology initiatives in the Access to Justice community.
Meeting topics may include form design and delivery, document automation, electronic filing and court case management, use of AI in forms and in the delivery of legal services, language access, disability access, and more! Meetings typically include a short presentation or product demo followed by Q&A and group discussion.
Working Group Leads: Lisa Colpoys, Jessica Frank, Sam Glover
Legal Self-Help Websites
The Legal Self-Help Websites Working Group explores the many tools and tasks associated with Legal Self-Help websites, including legal information, triage, referrals, chat, uses of AI and GenAI, and more.
We also cover all dimensions of maintaining these sites, including accessibility, usability, and content updates, analytics, translation, and others. We meet monthly, and most meetings are a combination of a demo and discussion on a particular topic. Anyone who contributes to a legal self-help website, or is planning to do so, should attend.
(In past years, this working group was called the Triage & Portals group.)
Working Group Leads: Angela Tripp, J. Singleton
Access to Justice Research
The Access to Justice Research Working Group will feature presentations by researchers, exploratory workshops on possible research efforts, and panel discussions on specific research topics relevant to civil justice practitioners.
Working Group members can learn about new studies’ findings about what works in providing civil justice, and they can also think through research designs for projects they are working on.If you have a specific research question or project you’d like featured in our Working Group, please write to us at mdhagan [at] stanford.edu and ahnora [at] stanford.edu
Working Group Leads: Margaret Hagan, Nóra Al Haider
Court Based Assistance
Self-represented litigants walk into courthouses hoping to solve the problems that they face.
In response, courts have created a wide range of services to assist the people coming through their doors.
The Court Based Assistance Working Group will examine court assistance programs including but not limited to
- Nonlawyer Navigators,
- Self Help Centers, and
- other informational services.
We welcome feedback from working group attendees and hope to bring you information that could help to spark new conversations in your own jurisdiction.
Working Group Leads: Stacy Weiler, Robby Southers
Law Libraries
Law librarians are uniquely positioned to help bridge the justice gap for self-represented litigants, and joining the network’s Law Library working group offers a valuable opportunity to make a meaningful impact.
This is a leading resource and support network, providing practical tools, reform insights, and a collaborative space for law librarians to connect with justice system professionals across the country.
By joining, members gain access to curated materials, training, and best practices that can support transformative change in their own libraries, fostering a more accessible and user-friendly court experience for self-represented litigants.
Working Group Lead: Andre Davison
AOC Self-Help Directors
This group is for people who staff statewide efforts to provide services to self-represented litigants in court.
This is generally those people who work at organizations like the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), Judicial Council or similar organizations.
The goal is to share information and provide support.
Working Group Leads: Bonnie Hough, Rochelle Klempner
Join the
Access to Justice Network
We welcome justice professionals who work in the courts, legal aid, law libraries, research centers, bar associations, local governments, and more.