access to justice
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Report: Colorado Access to Justice Commission developing legal self-help website, addressing ‘legal deserts’
Colorado’s Access to Justice Commission has begun creating a legal self-help portal and secured a grant to help address “legal deserts” in rural Colorado, the commission recently announced in its 2023 year-end report. The commission, which started in 2003 and advocates for removing barriers to access in the civil justice system, also scored a victory…
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‘Hold us accountable’: Justice Melissa Hart warns of access-to-justice barriers
Justice Melissa Hart on Wednesday warned a gathering of attorneys about the numerous barriers people face in accessing the justice system in Colorado, only some of which the courts can solve without the aid of others from inside and outside the legal profession. “A number of our courts are in places where people have to…
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Colorado Supreme Court releases official guidance for virtual proceedings, giving judges wide discretion
The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday released its official guidance for when trial judges should permit litigants, victims, witnesses and attorneys to attend proceedings virtually. However, some members of the legal community warned that judges will continue to have too much discretion to allow or disallow remote participation. The policy, known as a chief justice…
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Colorado Supreme Court enacts groundbreaking framework for legal representation by paraprofessionals
With large numbers of Coloradans lacking legal representation in civil cases, the state Supreme Court enacted a new framework last week to create a category of professionals who can represent clients in limited circumstances without a law degree – and likely without the high costs of traditional lawyers. “Licensed legal paraprofessionals” will soon be allowed to…
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State Supreme Court takes unusual step of soliciting public comment for virtual hearings policies
In an atypical move not afforded to most judicial policymaking, the Colorado Supreme Court has invited the public to comment on a pair of proposals that aim to preserve access to live streamed court proceedings across the state and lay down uniform guidance for virtual hearings. The policies, known as chief justice directives, reflect the…
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Q&A with Elisa Overall | Helming Colorado’s access to justice project in the face of persistent barriers
FAST FACTS: Elisa “Emo” Overall is the first executive director of the Colorado Access to Justice Commission, taking on that role in March 2021 Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, she grew up between Arizona and Mexico and graduated from the University of Denver’s law school Worked in private practice representing indigent defendants and prior to…