SLLS 50th Anniversary Justice is Golden Exhibit Program Book

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Mergers Change the Landscape of Civil Legal Aid Beginning in 1998, LSC promoted efforts to merge and reconfigure basic field programs. This move away from local control to fewer programs serving much larger geographic areas, permanently changed the way legal aid was delivered. By 2016, mergers reduced LSC funded programs from 325 to 133. In 2003, NOLAC merged its five parishes (Orleans, Jefferson, St. Charles, St. Bernard and Plaquemines) with SLLS’ five parishes (Tangipahoa, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Washington, and Livingston) and began operating under the SLLS name. Similar consolidations took place in other parts of the state. By 2010, only four Louisiana LSC funded programs existed – Acadiana Legal Services, Capital Area Legal Services, Legal Services of North Louisiana, and SLLS. In July 2011, SLLS assumed responsibility for civil legal aid in twelve more parishes in the Baton Rouge and Houma areas from Capital Area Legal Services. Louisiana Legal Services Network As of January 1, 2017, there are two LSC funded programs here as compared to the nine programs that originally served the state in the early years. Acadiana Legal Services took over Legal Services of North Louisiana and now covers forty-two parishes with SLLS serving the other twenty-two. Both programs serve 50% of Louisiana’s poverty population, the second highest poverty rate in the United States. Both SLLS and Acadiana have six offices each scattered throughout the state.
State Planning Strengthens Access to Justice As legal aid programs across the country faced decreased federal funding, the need for strategic state level planning to strengthen the delivery network became paramount. In response, many states formed entities, typically called Access to Justice Commissions or Access to Justice Committees, composed of prominent justice community stakeholders to focus jointly on identified justice problems in their state. The Louisiana State Bar Association (LSBA) Access to Justice (ATJ) Committee was established in 1996 to consolidate two already existing LSBA committees (the Legal Services Committee and the Volunteers in Public Service Committee). To support its work, the LSBA created a staffed Access to Justice (ATJ) Program. The ATJ Program is a joint effort of the Louisiana Bar Foundation, the Louisiana State Bar Association and the Louisiana Legal Services Programs. The ATJ Program dedicates personnel to support ongoing activities of the non-profit civil legal aid organizations in their efforts to provide access for indigent people to the court system. Over the years, it has also taken on independent efforts to address the unmet need of Louisiana’s indigent population. By order of the Louisiana Supreme Court, signed September 17, 2015, the Louisiana Access to Justice Commission was created and continues the work of the long-standing LSBA ATJ Committee to pursue a coordinated and systemic approach to ensuring the public’s access to the legal system. Its mission is to “assure continuity of policy and purpose in the collaboration between the private bar, the courts, and the civil justice community so as to further the goal of assuring that Louisianans, regardless of their economic circumstance, have access to equal justice under the law.” Upon consultation with the Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, the LSBA President appoints twenty-one members with diverse backgrounds with a proven commitment to access to justice in Louisiana. The representative membership of Louisiana’s Justice Community stakeholders brings an increased involvement by judges, clerks of court, the business community, and others to nearly two decades of collaboration between the LSBA and the Louisiana Supreme Court on Access to Justice efforts.
Page 1 and 2: Southeast Louisiana Legal Services
Page 3 and 4: WELCOME TO THE “Justice is Golden
Page 5 and 6: SLLS 50t h ANNIVERSARY YEAR COMMITT
Page 7 and 8: The War on Poverty & Legal Aid “T
Page 9 and 10: Social Justice Victories Lead to Ba
Page 11 and 12: LOUIS A. MARTINET LEGAL SOCIETY Civ
Page 13: Southern University Law Center - NI
Page 17 and 18: Funding Challenges (2010-2017) Nati
Page 19 and 20: Disasters & Civil Legal Aid “Firs
Page 21 and 22: Strategic Collaborations for Collec
Page 23 and 24: Hub for Justices and Judges NOLAC/S
Page 25 and 26: SLLS Today Since 1967, SLLS has gro
Page 27 and 28: Making a Difference for the People

SLLS 50th Anniversary Justice is Golden Exhibit Program Book

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