Virginia Access to Justice Commission Annual Report to the Supreme Court of Virginia 2022 Revised April 2023
- Meetings
The Commission met four times in 2022: March 10th, June 15th, September 21st, and December 1st. All meetings were held in person with a remote attendance option, signaling a shift to a new post-pandemic meeting format.
- Leadership Transition
Chief Justice Bernard Goodwyn announced his resignation as Commission Co-Chair at the June 15th meeting. Justice Steve McCullough was subsequently appointed to that seat.
- Membership
Chief Justice Bernard Goodwyn reappointed four members of the Commission to serve three-year terms (from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2025): Andrea Bridgeman, Chip Nunley, Steve Otero, and Ray White.
Karl Doss resigned from the Commission in August, and was replaced by Mark Braley, Executive Director of Legal Services Corporation of Virginia, who served an interim term.
Tim Freilich, Executive Director of the Legal Services Corporation of Virginia, accepted a three-year term (December 1, 2022- November 30, 2025), replacing Mr. Braley.
- Initiatives and Accomplishments
With the support of the Pro Bono Committee, the Commission in January 2022 proposed to the Supreme Court of Virginia that it amend the Limited Scope Representation Rule to refine the process and make the Rule permanent. The Court acted favorably on this proposal and an amended Limited Scope Representation Rule was approved effective November 13, 2022.
In addition, outside of the work of its committees, in March 2022 the Commission proposed to the Supreme Court of Virginia that it amend its recently adopted Canons of Judicial
Conduct to restore key language from the prior Canons that were apparently inadvertently omitted. This language included explicit approval for judges to inform unrepresented persons of free legal aid and similar assistance, and further approved judges explaining the judicial process. The Court acted favorably on this proposal and the omitted language was restored to the Canons effective June 1, 2022.
Finally, the Pro Bono Committee had a major accomplishment this year when it implemented the multi-year Pro Bono Recognition Project for the first time. This project recognized over 1100 lawyers who either contributed substantial amounts of time to pro bono service or provided donations in kind. These lawyers were recognized at the June Pro Bono Summit, in the Virginia Lawyer magazine, and have since received individual certificates. The Commission intends to repeat this project on at least a biennial basis, as a feature of future Pro Bono Summits.
Regarding other initiatives, the Commission continued to operate primarily through its committees and consortium.
- Access for Self-Represented Litigants Committee
The Access for Self-Represented Litigants Committee met six times in 2022: January 28th, March 8th, May 17th, July 12th, September 8th, and November 2nd. The Committee established and significantly worked through several subcommittees, including subcommittees on legal information products, forms and efiling, and self-help centers. The Commission considered two Initial Project Descriptions (IPDs) advanced by the Committee.
The first IPD concerned encouragement of pilot self-help centers and safe-harbor language regarding information given by court employees or volunteers in those self -help centers. The Commission approved this IPD in December 2021. A judicial member of the SRL Committee formed a planning committee to create such a center in her courthouse. That committee met twice.
The Commission approved a second IPD and the accompanying resolution concerned court forms, e-filing, and plain language at its September 2022 meeting.
At its September meeting, the Commission recommended the Office of the Executive Secretary consider implementing a series of recommendations on data collection included in the National Center for State Courts’ 2017 Self-Represented Litigants Study. The Commission submitted these recommendations to Karl Hade, the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia, in October 2022. - Funding Committee
The Funding Committee was formed at the March Commission meeting for the purpose of exploring whether Commission projects could benefit from outside funding, particularly block grants. The Committee formally met on June 8th.
The Committee strategized about funding sources and polled committee chairs to explore whether and what Commission work might benefit from funding. This work is ongoing.
- Governance Committee
The Governance Committee met three times in 2022: February 10th, April 18th, and November 3rd.
The Governance Committee continued work on the Orientation packet for Commission members, which was updated and expanded throughout the year. The Committee also undertook a substantial revision of the Commission’s Rules of Operation, bringing several sections more in line with Commission practice and revising the section on Project Development and Implementation to facilitate Commission work. - Judicial Education Committee
The Judicial Education Committee met three times in 2022: January 27th, March 30th, and July 26th.
The Judicial Education Committee continued to work closely with the Department of Education to propose conference topics for judicial trainings. Judges Tonya HendersonStith and Stacey Moreau presented on various access to justice topics and updated judicial audiences about the Commission’s work. Their presentations were also valuable recruiting tools, resulting in new members of several committees and even more interested future members. The Committee also updated its Digital Page, and the materials to circulate to all attendees at judicial conferences.
- Local Access to Justice Committees Committee
The Local Access to Justice Committees Committee was founded at the March Commission meeting for the purpose of exploring feasibility of a proposal that the Commission encourage and support local and/or regional access to justice groups throughout the Commonwealth.
The Committee met three times in 2022: June 1st, September 6th, and November 17th. At these meetings, the Committee discussed what local committees might look like and how to best support grassroots work. The Committee involved a UR Law student in research and reached out to other state access to justice leaders as part of an information gathering process that is ongoing. The Committee expects to present a detailed proposal to the Commission in the first half of 2023.
- Outreach & Education Committee
The Outreach & Education Committee met three times in 2022: February 8th, March 28th, and August 1st.
Thanks to the work of this committee, the Commission officially launched its website, www.vaatj.org in the summer of 2022.
The Committee continues to maintain the website, working with Commission staff to incorporate updates and consult on possible changes. The Committee also discussed ideas for increasing partnerships with educational institutions in the future.
- Pro Bono Committee
The Pro Bono Committee met four times in 2022: February 2nd, March 14th, August 31st, and October 31st.
As part of its ongoing communications with the Commonwealth’s Legal Aid organizations, the Commission learned that their lawyers desire – and would benefit from – increased trial practice training. Due to the vision and hard work of Chip Nunley, and the generosity of the Virginia Law Foundation, the Pro Bono Committee led an effort to provide scholarships for Legal Aid attorneys to attend the National Trial Advocacy College. There were nominations from seven Legal Aid programs across the Commonwealth, and five Legal Aid lawyers were invited to attend the College’s Summer 2022 session with tuition waived. This project will continue on an ongoing basis. This project proceeded from inception to fruition in just a couple of months.
- Pro Bono Consortium
The Pro Bono Consortium met three times in 2022: February 4th, May 17th, and October 3rd. In 2022, the Pro Bono Coordinating Consortium focused on building membership to include representation from all legal aid programs and qualified legal service providers to ensure collaboration between the access to justice organizations empowering pro bono engagement by Virginia lawyers. The Consortium is also working on developing tailored training for Virginia pro bono professionals, including a Pro Bono Coordinators Retreat, which the group hopes to launch in October of 2023.
- Access for Self-Represented Litigants Committee
- Conclusion
The Commission has two meetings scheduled for next year: March 7th and June 22nd, 2023. The Commission anticipates another exciting and productive year.