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munity empowerment, especially if the deliveryis structured so as to reinforce transparencyand accountability in community institutions.Experience with delivering bundled municipalservices (e.g., licensing, registration, tax and feepayments) through one-stop shops offers relevantlessons of utility for Legal Empowermentof the Poor reforms as well. Membership-basedorganisations such as cooperatives, business associations,trade unions and grass-roots women’sorganisations can offer free or low-cost legalservices to the members.these suggestions for strategy and tactics, remainingtrue to the core values of the legal empowermentagenda. Where their efforts prove successful,they will make it possible for many more peoplenow mired in poverty to improve their lot in lifewithin the foreseeable future. While implementationsuccess cannot be guaranteed because of themany countervailing factors mentioned earlier,steady, modest progress in fighting poverty withlegal tools and rights is well within the realm ofpossibility in most countries.10. Support alternative dispute resolution. All fourworking groups emphasise the need to supportalternative dispute resolution mechanisms,including arbitration, mediation and conciliation.The fundamental challenge is to avoid thecost and expense of formal litigation in returnfor decisions that are made transparently andcan be enforced. Lessons learned from labourcourts may be instructive in other fields aswell.11. Collaborate with professional organisations.Professional organisations are promisingpotential allies. While lawyers, national barassociations, law reform commissions, andlaw schools are oriented towards meeting theneeds of the middle and upper classes, theyare also often willing to lend their professionalexpertise to the needs of the poor. Landsurveyors, valuators, and notaries often act asgatekeepers of rules that are often divorcedfrom the realities of the urban poor or evenholdovers from the colonial era, but they mayalso be amenable to reorienting their thinking.The role of urban planners and local authoritiesalso merits attention. It may be possibleto convert these stakeholders from possibleopponents into allies for change.Change agents are invited to consider and then try336