Save the Dates for the Legal Services Statewide Conference!

Legal Services State Support is excited to announce that plans are underway for the 2022 Legal Services Statewide Conference — our first community conference in three years! Mental Health and Legal Practice: A Holistic View will be held at Arrowwood Resort and Conference Center in Alexandria, MN from Wednesday, November 2 to Friday, November 4, 2022.

Conference participants will learn about personal and community mental health, especially for Black, marginalized, and underserved communities; how to really listen to your clients and colleagues; and emerging mental health paradigms and practices in the workplace. We'll also be joined by trainers from the Shriver Racial Justice Institute, and offer sessions and practice groups across a range of poverty law topics.

Stay tuned to State Support’s blog for a monthly peek at our special guests, session details, COVID protocols, as well as a full conference schedule later this summer.

Equal Justice Conference Comes to Minneapolis in May

***Update 4/8/2022: Registration is now waitlist only. Join the waitlist.***
Registration is underway for the 2022 Equal Justice Conference (EJC) in Minneapolis next month. A project of the American Bar Association (ABA) Standing Committee on Pro Bono and and Public Service and the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA), EJC 2022 will be held at the Hilton Minneapolis, May 12-14. The conference will bring together legal aid program staff, access-to-justice organizations, the courts, and private practice attorneys from across the country to share and learn about developments and innovations in the provision of legal services to people with low-incomes.

Featuring over 75 workshops on topics ranging from technology improvements to maximizing pro bono impact to examining equity in legal services systems, Minnesota will have presenters in at least 17 the offered workshops. The April edition of Bench and Bar highlights some of the Minnesota sessions, including Building Up In-House Pro Bono Partnerships and Opportunities with Alyson Cauchy (US Bank) and Jeffrey Proulx (Target); Community Coming Together to Respond to Civil Unrest with a full panel of Minnesotans discussing the coordinated legal and social service response to civil unrest after the murder of George Floyd; and The Afghanistan Humanitarian Crisis and Collaborative Responses, with Sarah Brenes of Advocates for Human Rights and Rachele King from the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

The conference will also feature video remarks from Senator Amy Klobuchar and a keynote address from Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Anne McKeig. A full list of the workshops and conference offerings can be found on the EJC website.

Minnesota host committee co-chairs Tom Walsh of Volunteer Lawyers Network and Caryn Boisen of Larson King have been working for nearly a year to help plan local content, scholarships for legal services staff, and other opportunities. The last time Minnesota hosted the EJC was in 2008, and the conference has been held virtually for the past two years.

On the significance of the upcoming conference, NLADA President and CEO April Frazier Camara said “NLADA is grateful for our longstanding partnership with the ABA on the Equal Justice Conference. For more than 20 years, EJC has provided a space for advocates representing the full array of legal services and pro bono providers, partners, and supporters in the movement for access to justice. We are honored to join everyone in Minneapolis this year and recognize the work of Minnesota’s access to justice community and that of our colleagues across the country.” Find out more about the EJC and register to attend here. ***Update 4/8/2022: Registration is now waitlist only. Join the waitlist.***

Statewide Legal Services Staff Featured at LSC's Innovations in Technology Conference

Staff from across the state will represent Minnesota at LSC's 2022 Innovations in Technology Conference (ITC2022) this week. ITC 2022 brings together a broad range of professionals to showcase technology projects and tools being implemented across the country and internationally to promote access to justice and high-quality legal representation for people with low incomes. The conference will be presented virtually again this year with pre-recorded presentations, podcasts to spark live discussions, engaging speakers, live interactive sessions, and networking opportunities.

Lending their expertise on panels demonstrating technological innovations in legal services delivery and pro se assistance are staff from Legal Aid Service of Northeastern Minnesota (LASNEM), Legal Services of Northwest Minnesota (LSNM), Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid (MMLA) and Legal Services State Support.

Beginning Wednesday January 12, at 2:30 p.m., Dori Rapaport, executive director of LASNEM, will co-present the session “Relationships and Tech: Rural Remote Services.” Panelists will discuss the gulf between urban and rural legal access and how to overcome geographical, cultural and digital divides to ensure access to justice. They will cover innovative approaches that integrate technology solutions with relationship-building.

On Thursday, January 13 at 2:30 p.m., State Support’s program manager, J. Singleton, will co-present “COVID-19 Data Trends and Response: Lessons from Four Legal Help Portals.” The session will explore the COVID-19 response and data trends discovered by four legal help portals in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Minnesota. The leaders from each organization will walk through processes, strategies and tools for adapting to challenges with a focus on utilizing data to determine areas of need.

Then, on Thursday, January 20 at 12:30 p.m. (the second week of the virtual conference), staff from three legal aid programs, along with A2J Tech staff, will co-present the session “Deploying a Statewide Network of Legal Kiosks.” Rachel Albertson (LASNEM), Lisa Cohen (MMLA), Dori Rapaport (LASNEM) and Kelly Wencl (LSNM) will discuss the creation of a statewide network of nearly 280 legal kiosks stationed in a variety of court, agency, non-profit and other community locations. The panel will walk participants through the project development process from grant management and project ideation, to research and design, partner and stakeholder navigation, and the iterative implementation of technology.

Find our more about the conference and view the full agenda: 2022 Innovations in Technology Conference Schedule | LSC - Legal Services Corporation: America's Partner for Equal Justice.

Early Bird Registration Now Open for Equal Justice Conference in Minneapolis

It may be cold outside now, but for those already thinking spring, it’s time to save the dates for the American Bar Association’s 2022 Equal Justice Conference (EJC) to be held in Minneapolis, May 12 - 14. Early bird registration is currently open and continues until February 4, 2022.

Presented by the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service and the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA), the Equal Justice Conference is an annual gathering of legal services and pro bono advocates to share and learn about developments and innovations in providing legal services to people with low incomes. The emphasis of EJC is on strengthening partnerships among the key players in the civil justice system. Through plenary sessions, workshops, networking opportunities and special programming, the conference provides a wide range of learning and sharing experiences for all attendees. Pre-conference sessions will take place on May 11, 2022 and the conference will be held at the Hilton Minneapolis. Read more details about the conference and pre-conference sessions.

Recognized Expert to Train on Understanding & Managing High Conflict Personalities

On November 2, Legal Services State Support will present a special training opportunity with Bill Eddy, LCSW, attorney, author, recognized expert and co-founder of the High Conflict Institute in San Diego, California. Eddy will bring his prodigious knowledge and experience to a two-hour session via Zoom for the statewide legal services community.

In the session, Eddy will give an overview of five high conflict personality disorders, traits of which drive most high conflict cases. Common conflict behaviors of these personality types and some related brain research will be presented, including what not to do when working with these clients. He will also discuss the skills needed to work with individual clients, including using the EAR approach, responding to hostility and misinformation, and setting limits on misbehavior with clients and others. The session will cover practical options for managing high conflict behavior in litigation, negotiation and mediation.

Bill Eddy is a family mediator, lawyer and therapist, and the Chief Innovation Officer of the High Conflict Institute. He has provided training to mediators, lawyers, judges, mental health professionals and others on the subject of managing high-conflict personalities in over 35 states, 9 provinces in Canada, and eight other countries. He obtained his JD law degree in 1992 from the University of San Diego, a Master of Social Work degree in 1981 from San Diego State University, and a Bachelors degree in Psychology in 1970 from Case Western Reserve University.

As a lawyer, Mr. Eddy was a Certified Family Law Specialist (CFLS) in California for 15 years, where he represented clients in family court. Prior to that, he provided psychotherapy for 12 years to children and families in psychiatric hospitals and outpatient clinics as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). Throughout his forty-year career he has provided divorce mediation services, including the past 15 years as the Senior Family Mediator at the National Conflict Resolution Center in San Diego, California. Mr. Eddy is the author of several books, including Mediating High Conflict Disputes, High Conflict People in Legal Disputes, Splitting: Protecting Yourself While Divorcing Someone with Borderline or Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Calming Upset People with EAR, and BIFF: Quick Responses to High Conflict People.

Register here for Understanding & Managing High Conflict Personalities With Bill Eddy. Space is limited.