Ronald W. Staudt
Professor of Law, Chicago-Kent College of Law
Director, Center for Access to Justice & Technology

Statewide Web Sites
• Internet Platforms for Transformation

National Public Automated Document Server- LHI
• Building a technical community of transformation agents

A2J Author
• A Surprising Success
Illinois Statewide
web site
National Web server
Collaboration!!
4
•Identify the major barriers to
access to justice by litigants
without lawyers
•Ethnographic research in 5
courts, California, Delaware,
Colorado & Illinois
•Employ the latest in system
design methodology to redesign
the process
•Design Factors, Function
Structure, Information Structure,
Solution Elements, System
Structure
5
The Prototype:
Joint Simplified Dissolution of
Marriage
6
A graphical user interface for data collection specifically designed by
Chicago-Kent & CALI for low-income, self-represented individuals.
Legal aid organizations & courts use A2J Author to create “Guided
Interviews” to collect data from end-users one piece at a time.
A2J Author has “just in time” learning features for the end-user
including: “Learn More” bubbles, definition pop-ups, audio, graphic and
video capabilities.
Stand-Alone
Info Guides
Benefits
Eligibility Screen
& Calculators
Triage
Document
Assembly
Online Intake
E-Filing
Child name TE
Child DOB DA
Child address TE
A2J Author Answer File
Child county TE
John Doe
01/22/2006
123 My Street
OurCounty
Current A2J Author
Creating Legal Aid Resources with A2J Author®

BYU: Computer-Based Practice Systems

Columbia: Lawyering in the Digital Age

NY Law School: Geeks for Wonks

Vermont: Digital Drafting

Chicago-Kent: Justice & Technology Practicum

Suffolk Law School: Lawyering in an Age of Smart Machines

Georgetown: technology, Innovation, and Law Practice: An
Experimental Seminar

Deep dive into law, procedure & heuristics

Exposure to policy/ethical issues raised by
legal services delivery & technology

Key competencies for emerging law
practice: e-lawyering, unbundling, web 2.0
& “cloud” practice”
Law Students:
 Field observation help desk
 Scope document
 Research memo
 Storyboard
 A2J Guided Interview &
HotDocs template
Legal Aid New Guided Interviews:
 Guardianship Petition
 Expungement Complaint
 IDOL Wage Theft Claim

Course materials and distance tools on
CALI & Google

clinic pilots with LSC

Matching students to legal aid projects

Marketing, evaluation and plan for
growth
Will
Produce