2022 Oklahoma Access to Justice Summit A Celebration of Innovation

The 3rd statewide Oklahoma Access to Justice Summit was held virtually on October 21 this fall, hosted by the Oklahoma Access to Justice Foundation in partnership with the Oklahoma Access to Justice Commission and the Oklahoma Bar Association. The free, full-day event featured over 45 speakers on a wide range of access to justice topics, and inspired the more than 200 attendees to explore new ways to ensure meaningful access for all to the civil justice system.

The day opened with remarks from Professor Carla Pratt, of the University of Oklahoma College of Law, who spoke on the critical importance of diversifying the legal profession. She highlighted challenges, like the ever-increasing cost of legal education, and opportunities, such as alternatives to the bar exam for admission to practice like apprenticeship and diploma privilege.

The Summit featured 8 breakout panels on a wide range of topics including how lawyers and judges can ensure procedural fairness for pro se litigants, how attorneys in practices of all sizes can incorporate pro bono into their lives, the current state (and future potential) of online dispute resolution, innovations and opportunities in rural legal access, the importance of interdisciplinary and holistic legal practices for vulnerable populations, how standardized forms and templates can increase court access for unrepresented litigants, lessons for Oklahoma from three recent studies on the justice gap, and how attorneys can build profitable legal practices that are also affordable to those who need services. These panels highlighted the expertise and experience of attorneys and judges across Oklahoma, as well as guest speakers from Minnesota, Colorado, Washington, DC, Texas, and Illinois. A few interesting Tulsa-area highlights included Tulsa’s Pansy Moore-Shrier discussing how she currently uses online dispute resolution through her Two Goats Solutions platform, and how she sees it offering an equitable path to conflict resolution outside the courtroom. Gwendolyn Clegg, with the Parent Representation Defense Program at Legal Aid, discussed how lawyers can have a greater impact on the lives of their clients when they work hand-in-hand with social workers and peer coaches for parents facing the potential removal of their children. Kevinn Matthews was part of the panel discussing the importance of pro bono – a natural fit for him as he won the 2021 Solo Firm Pro Bono Challenge last year.

Speakers also heard from outgoing House Minority Leader Representative Emily Virgin and State Senator Brent Howard on the critical role lawyers play in our state legislature. Their honest conversation about the challenges of maintaining a practice while serving was appreciated, and the impact legal training plays in helping ensure laws are passed in a way that can stand up to judicial scrutiny was made clear.

The OK Access to Justice Foundation celebrated the winners of the 2022 Summer Pro Bono Challenge over the lunch hour, with several Tulsa-area winners:

• Solo – Pansy Moore-Shrier

• Small Firm – Eller & Detrich

• Mid-sized Firm – Doerner, Saunders, Daniel &

Anderson

• Large Firm – Conner & Winters

Also recognized were the first winners of the new Outstanding Student Pro Bono Award, an annual recognition of a law student who has gone above and beyond in their commitment to public service and their community:

• Shawnee Arrington, 3L, University of Tulsa

• Addison Butler, 3L, University of Oklahoma

• Hailee Frazier, 3L, Oklahoma City University

All three student winners will be celebrated on their respective campus later in the year as well.

The day concluded with a candid and inspiring panel discussion on the role a diverse profession plays in ensuring access to justice. Facilitated by Professor Danne Johnson of Oklahoma City University College of Law, the panel included Judge Loretta Radford, Veronica Laizure (Deputy Director for CAIR Oklahoma), Eduardo Gonzalez (Program Office for Civil Justice at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences), and Javier Hernandez (private practitioner in Oklahoma City). They spoke of the importance of supporting law students from diverse backgrounds, as well as steps lawyers, judges, and institutions can take to make the legal profession one which welcomes the authentic experiences of all its members.

The Oklahoma Access to Justice Foundation offers the ATJ Summit to highlight both the critical unmet need for legal services for low- and moderate-income families across Oklahoma, but also the many solutions that are available to us and how they’re being implemented both here and across the country. While we still have a long way to go to ensure that all Oklahomans can meaningfully participate in a fair and accessible civil justice system, the work celebrated at the Summit and engaged in daily by nonprofit, law school, law firm, judicial, and community partners helps bring that vision closer to reality.

The National Center for Access to Justice recommends 10 legal aid lawyers for every 10,000 eligible people. Oklahoma has less than one.

Over 800,000 Oklahomans are eligible for Legal Aid’s services – 1 in 5 people across the state.

38 states require courts to accept standardized statewide forms for common issue areas, including uncontested divorce. Oklahoma does not.

The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) found that 92% of the legal needs faced by low-income Americans received insufficient or no legal help.

LSC also found that nearly 50% of Americans, across income levels, did not believe lawyers can help them with their legal issues. And at no income level did a majority agree with the statement “People like me are treated fairly in the [legal] system.”

We can do better.