2023 Technology Conference Day Two Agenda April 19, 2023

2A Agents of the SHIELD - Data Privacy and Security | Transcript | Slides | Resources 

Moderator: Amber Wilder, Associate Project Manager, Just-Tech

Speakers: Sandy Coyne, Deputy Director of Operations; Lori M. O'Brien, Esq., Deputy Director, Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc.; Ellen Samuel, Director of Consulting, Just-Tech

Description: The presenters will discuss practical steps to bring your organization into compliance with the New York State Shield Act and reduce the risk of confidential data compromise. Presenters will discuss the ethics of cybersecurity, including a lawyer’s duty of technological competence, protecting client confidentiality, and supervising third-party service providers. This session will include a discussion of security incidents involving legal aid organizations and how compliance with the Shield Act and other cybersecurity best practices would reduce the fall-out from such incidents.

2B Rural Justice and Remote Proceedings | Transcript | Resources

Moderator: Danielle Elyce Hirsch, Managing Director, National Center for State Courts

Panelists: Alicia Bannon, Director, Judiciary Program, Brennan Center for Justice; Hon. Craig J. Doran, NYS Supreme Court Justice and Chair of the NYS Pandemic Practices Working Group; Hon. Elizabeth A. Garry, Presiding Justice, State of New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department; Taier Perlman, Former Staff Attorney, Legal Services of the Hudson Valley

Description: Implementation of remote proceedings during the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed NYS court operations. Are remote proceedings a possible solution to the legal representation crisis in rural communities? Do remote proceedings increase access to justice for rural court users? This panel will discuss the rural justice crisis; benefits of remote proceedings; challenges of the digital divide and court system efforts to address them; lessons learned from the pandemic, and recommendations for the future.

2C 2023 Tech Conference: Leadership Panel | Transcript | Resources

Moderator: Christine M. Fecko, General Counsel, IOLA Fund of the State of New York

Speakers: Kristin Brown, President & CEO, Empire Justice Center; Nadine E. Patterson, Esq., Deputy Executive Director - Civil Practice of the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, Inc.; Raun Rasmussen, Executive Director, Legal Services NYC; Susan Shin, Legal Director, New Economy Project

Description: This moderated discussion brings together a cross-section of New York State civil legal services leaders, reflecting large, small, and statewide programs. The panelists will share how their staffing models and client service delivery have evolved in response to the pandemic. They will also discuss how they approach change management in general as well as describe the challenges and opportunities with their current workplace cultures. The session will highlight each program’s best technology change that has resulted from the pandemic.

2D Case Studies of Effective Tech Collaborations | Transcript | Slides 

Moderator: Christopher Schwartz, Community Empowerment Advisor, LegalServer; Libby Vazquez, Director of Legal Services, City Bar Justice Center

Speakers: Sal Curran, Executive Director, Volunteer Lawyers Project of CNY, Inc.; Sarah John, Program Manager, ACE Coordinated Intake System, Civil Justice, Inc.; Joseph Melo, Director of Engineering, Just-Tech; Lezlie Paulus, Intake Project Manager, A2J Tech

Description: By necessity, legal service providers have always had to find ways to increase the effectiveness of available resources through innovation and teamwork. Technology provides another venue for collaborative problem-solving. The presenters will describe work being done in New York to allow providers across multiple entities to secure access to documents during complex dilemmas like the Afghan refugee crisis, and in Maryland to design a collaborative intake routing project among legal and social service providers. 

3A AI and Access to Justice | Transcript | Slides 

Moderator: Glenn Baum, Data & Technology Training Manager at the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, Inc.

Speakers: Hon. Katherine B. Forrest (FRM), Partner, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, LLP; Catherine Nyarady, Partner, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, LLP

Description: This presentation explores how AI tools used in connection with human resources, healthcare, education, credit, lending and online search can incorporate algorithmic, training and other modeling biases that can lead to potential disparate impact. In addition, the use of these tools carries ethical implications regarding differences between fairness and accuracy, historical entrenchment of discrimination, and exploitation. We look at how these issues are being articulated and addressed by the companies licensing the tools, and in regulations at the state and federal levels. 

3B How the New York State Court System is Addressing the Access to Justice Crisis One Automated Form at a Time | Transcript | Slides 

Speakers: Jessica Frank, A2J Author Project Manager for the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI); Sun Kim, Associate Counsel, New York State Unified Court System - Division of Technology; Lisa C. Smith, Chief Counsel Gender and Family Violence Policy and Planning, NYS Office of Court Administration

Description: The ever-widening justice gap means that every year millions of Americans are forced to represent themselves in court. The New York State Court System has been a leader in the legal technology automated document space for over 15 years. Their DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Forms and Family Offense Petition Program have been used over 1.5 million times to draft and create court papers for a variety of case types including uncontested divorce, child support, guardianship, domestic violence, and small estate. The panelists will discuss the court's document assembly tools, how advocates and attorneys can use them to assist their clients, and how court operations, litigants, advocates, and attorneys can benefit from using these tools.  

3C Cybersecurity: Practical Considerations and Best Practices | Transcript | Slides | Resources 

Moderator: John Greiner, President, Just-Tech

Speakers: Courtney Kanopka, Deputy Chief Information Security Officer/SOC Manager for the NYS Court Unified Court System, Division of Technology and Court Research; Christine Sisario, Chief Information Officer, NYS Unified Court System; Division of Technology and Court Research

Description: Cybersecurity threats are increasing, and all organizations must adapt to the ever-changing cybersecurity landscape. This session will help legal services providers understand the technology and the threats related to cybersecurity, privacy, and data protection. Presenters will discuss how to prevent inadvertent disclosure of data; security measures for remote work; vetting vendors and other third parties; electronic data and communication policies; and more. Attendees will leave the session with sample policies; knowledge of practical tools and steps that can be implemented right away to prevent cyber-attacks; and a list of free and low-cost resources and funding opportunities to help assess risk and acquire valuable assistance.

3D Beyond Zoom: Building Long-Term Remote Legal Help Programs to Expand Legal Services to Patients | Transcript | Slides 

Moderator: Erin Riker, Technology-Based Legal Services Attorney, Center for Elder Law and Justice

Speakers: Kerlann L. Flowers, Esq., Legal Director, Hofstra/Northwell Medical Legal Partnership; Emily Manning, Hofstra Law-Northwell MLP; Jeanne Ortiz-Ortiz, Senior Program Manager, Pro Bono Net

Description: This session will highlight a new remote legal help program to provide legal care to patients across Long Island and New York City. Speakers will 1) explain how the Hofstra/Northwell Medical-Legal Partnership Program provides legal assistance for patients who screen positive for health harming legal needs; 2) describe the transition process to adopt a new technology platform, Remote Legal Connect, to continue and expand remote legal services to patients/clients; 3) discuss how a remote legal platform can increase client participation in case management; and 4) demonstrate the use of the technology through an attorney-client consultation scenario. 

LSC Technology Baselines | Transcript | Slides | Resources 

Moderator: Ellen Samuel, Director of Consulting, Just-Tech 

Speakers: Tony Lu, Senior Consultant, Just-Tech LLC; Jane Ribadeneyra, Program Analyst for Technology, Legal Services Corporation

Description: For the first time since 2015, The Legal Services Corporation is revising the technology baselines recommended to be in place within legal aid organizations. The presenters will share highlights about the baselines to help attendees understand the changing technology landscape and consider changes to improve their service delivery and operations.

25 Apps in 50 Minutes | Transcript | Slides 

Moderator: Tim Baran, Program Director, New York Justice Initiatives, Pro Bono Net

Speakers: Quisquella Addison, Assistant Teaching Professor, Northeastern University School of Law; Robert Ambrogi, Publisher, LawSites blog and LawNext podcast; Jeanne Ortiz-Ortiz, Senior Program Manager, Pro Bono Net; Shellie S. Reid, Manager, Legal Services National Technology Assistance Project (LSNTAP); Quinten Steenhuis, Practitioner in Residence, Suffolk University Law School

Description: 25 Apps in 50 minutes is a dynamic presentation of apps and tools to help attorneys manage their practice and clients. The presentation features five panelists, with each recommending five apps. The recommendations reflect innovative and practical tools to enhance attorneys' productivity, communications, well-being, efficiency and effectiveness in their day-to-day practice and client service. 

Closing Remarks and Announcements | Transcript

Speaker: Helaine M. Barnett, Chair, New York State Permanent Commission on Access to Justice