Technola

Public Counsel Launches "Force for Good" Mobile Phone App

Matthew Burnett — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:53:19 -0800

Public Counsel today launched the first ever mobile phone app that connects clients in need with pro bono attorneys. The app provides three ways for users to connect with Public Counsel:

Refer a case - send Public Counsel information about a person who needs legal help;
Take a case - find pro bono opportunities and email Public Counsel for more information or to take a case; and
Provide an update on an existing case - current Public Counsel pro bono attorneys can provide a case update.

The Public Counsel Force for Good app is available free for download for iPhone and iPad. More information is available here. -M

Idealware Releases Updated Donor Management System Report

Kate Bladow — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:11:04 -0800

An updated version of Idealware's A Consumers' Guide to Low Cost Donor Management Systems has been released. It compares 29 donor management systems that cost $4,000 or less in their first year and dives in deep for what they consider the top ten systems.

Why might you need a donor management system? Because these systems help you to track the people who care enough about your organization to give money and to retain them as donors. They are much more powerful than spreadsheets, which, as the report explains, quickly become a nightmare to manage.

For example, a tool like Microsoft Excel can’t usefully link pieces of information together, so as soon as someone gives more than once, you have a tracking problem. If you have 10 donors who have each given between one and five times, the spreadsheet becomes complicated and ugly, making it difficult to figure out your total giving for the year. Add in the fact that two of those donors are married, and they should only get one mailing, and it’s suddenly completely unmanageable.

Are you using a donor management system to track your donors? If so, is your donor management system one of Idealware's top ten? Or do you use a system that Idealware didn't cover? Let us know in the comments. - K

Legal Aid Advocates Using Online Resources More Than Ever Before

Matthew Burnett — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 18:35:09 -0800

[Editor's Note: The following post is by the Shriver Center’s Web and e-Communications Director, Michelle Nicolet. It shares data from a recent survey by editors of the Clearinghouse Review on the use of online tools and resources by legal aid advocates. We asked Michelle if she would write up the results of the survey in a guest blog post for technola, and she was kind enough to agree. We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. –M]

Legal aid advocates have an array of online resources at their fingertips. Moreover, the growth of social media offers new ways for advocates to connect with and learn from one another. But which resources are advocates using? A recent survey conducted by the Editorial Team of Clearinghouse Review: Journal of Poverty Law and Policy attempted to learn more about poverty lawyers’ current use of online resources.

The survey, conducted in April and May 2011, received 285 responses from legal services and other advocates working in 43 states. By a wide margin, the most popular online resource used for legal research or professional development is listservs, which are used by 81% of respondents. Other popular resources include government websites (72.9%), webinars and webinar recordings (64.4%), Westlaw (53.5%), statewide websites (53.5%), and the respondents’ own programs’ websites or intranets (48.9%). Lesser used resources include podcasts (7%) and law-related blogs or “blawgs” (25.1%).

Respondents show more willingness to read online than ever before. When asked how an online-only version of Clearinghouse Review would affect their use of the journal, 38% said they would be more likely to read the Review, and 48% said their use of the Review would not be affected. Only 14% of respondents said that they would be less likely to read the Review if it were only available online. This is a significant shift from just a few years ago. In a 2007 survey, 81% of respondents reported that they did not regularly read Clearinghouse Review online.

Some of the increased willingness to use online resources may be traced to the availability of content on mobile devices. Over 45% of respondents to the survey reported reading web content on a mobile phone or tablet device, with 73% of those reporting that they read content on a mobile device daily. Clearly, the next generation of legal aid websites should be mobile-friendly to ensure the broadest accessibility by advocates.

Only 29.1% of respondents indicated that they use RSS newsfeeds to stay on top of relevant news and information. Although this is a slightly higher percentage than reported in a similar 2007 survey, it still seems surprisingly low and possibly presents an opportunity for training.

In addition, although more respondents reported using social media than in earlier surveys, professional use of social media is still quite limited. The most popular network for professional use, LinkedIn, is still not used by a majority of respondents. Even Facebook and YouTube, which a majority of respondents reported using for personal reasons, are scarcely used by respondents to connect with one another professionally. The potential impact of social networking to support communication and collaboration around poor people’s issues remains largely unrealized in the legal services community.

The editors of Clearinghouse Review are grateful to the survey respondents for their input. Through the Review and related content, we seek to promote coordinated affirmative advocacy efforts, support an emerging generation of advocates for social and economic justice, and foster a sense of community among legal aid and poverty lawyers. The information collected in this and other surveys will be extraordinarily helpful as we plan future content for Clearinghouse Review.

Second Issue of NTEN:Change Available to Nonprofit Leaders

Kate Bladow — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 14:24:05 -0800

If you are looking for an easy way to keep up with current technology trends, subscribe to NTEN:Change, a new quarterly journal intended to help nonprofit leaders and their programs use technology wisely.

The most recent issue includes many useful articles, including

Facebook for Volunteers - Jayne Cravens, a virtual volunteering expert, and several nonprofit organizations detail what has worked to recruit volunteers on Facebook.
Show Me the World: Video Storytelling for Your Cause - This feature outlines how a program can and should begin integrating videos into their communications.
Social Media Nightmare: Errant Post from Your Org's Official Profile Online - Wendy Harman from the American Red Cross shares how a potential nightmare can be transformed into a fundraising opportunity.

To subscribe and read NTEN:Change, visit nten.org/ntenchange. - K

Ignite Your Community

Kate Bladow — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:12:00 -0800

Last week, LSNTAP's Brian Rowe posted an article about videos that use visuals. In it, he pointed to Ignite as an example and encouraged everyone to attend a local Ignite event.

I wholeheartedly second his suggestion and want to encourage you to take it a step further. If your city doesn't have it's own Ignite event, be the one in your community to start it. With the help of O'Reilly's guide and some planning, it's not difficult and is an excellent way to bring your community together to discuss interesting ideas and, possibly, raise a little money for a good cause.

For example, Ignite for a Better Baltimore was recently held to bring together Baltimore's social enterprise community and featured 16 speakers who are working to change the community for the better. Money received from ticket sales will fund an Ignition Grant. Videos from this event are available online.

A Work in Progress/Progress in Work by John Herron

(I'll admit I'm horribly biased about the Ignite for a Better Baltimore event. Together with Alex Rinsler and the support of Mike Subelsky and Heather Sarkissian, the people behind Ignite Baltimore, I helped coordinate this event.)

Skeptical about starting up an Ignite event or need a few ideas? What about having an Ignite event at a bar association conference and invite people to speak about their pro bono practice? Or have a training event that has family law experts talk about the law or share moments from their practice? - K

2011 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study

Matthew Burnett — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 06:35:14 -0800

Every year M+R Strategic Services and NTEN publish the eNonprofit Benchmarks Study, which analyzes data from small, medium and large nonprofits in a range of sectors (including "rights"). This year’s report culls data on email messaging, online fundraising and advocacy, social media, and text messaging from 40 nonprofits. The Study also includes a helpful glossary of terms. You can download a copy of the 2011 study here (your name and email are required, but you can opt out of receiving emails from M+R and NTEN if you like). -M

CALI Lessons on Plain Language

Matthew Burnett — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 10:34:28 -0800

Jeff Hogue at Legal Assistance of Western New York (LAWNY) and Maria Mindlin of Transcend Translations have created three free CALI lessons on plain language for legal advocates:

LAWNY and Transcend are also behind the Plain Language Library, which includes an online library of plain language resources and a plain language gadget to help you write more clearly. -M

Transforming Advocacy for the 21st Century

Matthew Burnett — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 10:16:47 -0800

Nonprofit techies will be gathering in D.C. this week for the 2011 Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC). If you’re planning to attend, be sure to check out “Transforming Advocacy for the 21st Century,” a panel that includes Tony Lu (Pro Bono Net), Adam Stofsky (New Media Advocacy Project), Jane Ribadeneyra (LSC), and Glenn Rawdon (LSC) on March 19 from 3:30pm to 5:00pm. Kate will also be leading a session with Dawn Crawford called “Beginner Social Media - Where Do I Start?” on March 18th from 7:00am to 8:00am. More information about the NTC, including details about the online conference for those that can’t make it to D.C., is available here. - M

Non-Profit Organization Websites: Increasing Donations and Volunteering

Matthew Burnett — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 12:58:40 -0800

Jakob Nielsen wrote an interesting piece for his Alertbox feature this week that shares some data from a study of 60 nonprofit websites. The findings suggest that completing the donation process on nonprofit websites took users 7% more time on average than it took to complete an e-commerce checkout process, that making non-monetary donations is difficult, and that people don’t use social networking tools to research non-profits or make donations. There’s good news, however, for those in the legal aid community who use the web to recruit pro bono attorneys: users gave a “stellar rating” for finding how to volunteer at a nonprofit organization. –M

LSC Announces 2011 TIG Funding Cycle

Matthew Burnett — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 11:34:18 -0800

The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) has issued a notice of request for letters of intent to apply for 2011 TIG funding. TIG will also be holding a webinar on Wednesday, February 16 at 1 pm Eastern to discuss program eligibility, areas of interest, and the application process. Approximately $3.4 million in grants is anticipated to be available for the 2011 cycle. The deadline to submit an LOI is March 7, 2011. To register for the webinar, click here. Additional information about the TIG program and grants process is available here. -M

Upcoming Webinar on Debt Collection and Arbitration Resources for Pro Se and Pro Bono Cases

Matthew Burnett — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:43:55 -0800

The Atlanta Legal Aid Society and the National Consumer Law Center are offering a webinar on debt collection and arbitration resources for pro se and pro bono cases on Friday, February 11, 2011 at 12 pm Eastern. The resources presented during this webinar will include “brochures and videos designed for consumers and pleadings and case development materials designed for attorneys, particularly pro bono attorneys who may not have experience in debt collection or arbitration cases.” Developed under a Technology Initiative Grant from the Legal Services Corporation, the presenters for this webinar include Kristin Verrill of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society and Arielle Cohen of the National Consumer Law Center. Registration for this free webinar is available here. -M

ABA Center for Pro Bono Launches New Blog

Matthew Burnett — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:31:11 -0800

The ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service and its project, the Center for Pro Bono, recently launched the Pro Bono Exchange, a new blog covering pro bono legal services delivery.

Our intent is for this blog to be a venue where people interested in the expansion of the pro bono legal services delivery system can discuss of and reflect on how that might be accomplished. Together we can exchange ideas about exciting new models, what’s happening in various practice settings, approaches for changing the culture of pro bono, the role of leadership and much more.

More on the work of the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service is available here. The website for the ABA Center for Pro Bono, which inlcudes a wealth of information and resources to support, facilitate, and expand the delivery of pro bono legal assistance, is available here. -M

New MPI Report on Using Translation and Interpretation Technology to Serve LEP Individuals

Matthew Burnett — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 13:41:42 -0800

The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) just released a new report on using translation and interpretation technology to serve Limited English Proficient (EP) individuals. The report breaks down both interpreter-based technologies and automated technologies, addresses advances in translation technology, and includes a section on using technology for in-house translation/interpretation management. – M

2011 TIG Conference Highlights

Kate Bladow — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:11:09 -0800

Kudos to Glenn Rawdon, Jane Ribadeneyra, David Bonebrake, and the other Legal Services Corporation staff who made last week's Technology Initiative Conference in Albuquerque happen. The agenda was packed with terrific sessions, including a keynote by Steven B. Levy, author of Legal Project Management: Control Costs, Meet Schedules, Manage Risks, and Maintain Sanity; discussions about cloud computing; and two opportunities to "Ask the Experts."

A few things I took away from the conference:

Stop playing the "Bring me a rock" game. If you want something from another staff member or volunteer, give them details and don't expect them to read your mind. (From Steven B. Levy's keynote "What's Standing Between Attorneys and Their Clients? It's About Time.")
Programs must regularly train staff and volunteers on information security. Opportunities to train staff and volunteers are everywhere: initial orientation, monthly or yearly staff meetings, when problems happen, and so on. Also, you should give staff and volunteers written instructions to follow when they need to secure their cell phones, Wi-Fi networks, or home computers, if they are using them for work. (From the "Ask the Experts" session with Donald Carder and William Guyton.)
People are curious about mobile applications, but few programs have invested resources in mobile applications. One exception is FrontlineSMS:Legal, which uses text messaging to deliver legal information.

I've posted materials from the two sessions that I participated in. Materials from the first session, "Conversing Online: Using Social Media to Engage with Your Community," which I presented with Joyce Raby, include the slides, a website disclaimer, a listening checklist, and a planning checklist. In my "5 Easy Things Law Firm Staff & Volunteers Can Do to Improve Information Security" Ignite slides, you'll find the resources I pointed out. A huge thank you to William Guyton, Donald Carder, and Ken Montenegro for inspiring this presentation

If you are looking for additional information and reflection on the TIG Conference, check out Joyce Raby's Notes from TIG Conference 2011 in ABQ and Richard Zorza's Celebrating the Access to Justice Technology Community — Thoughts for Next year TIG Grants and Direction. - K

2010's Best Public Interest Law Blog Posts

Kate Bladow — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 07:36:10 -0800

Mike Monahan asked me what the public interest "Tweet of 2010" was, but I have no idea. The community has posted too many for me to remember the one that should be the Tweet of 2010. That said, a tweet this week from the Legal Counsel for the Elderly seemed to wrap up the year nicely.

Mike didn't ask for a blog or blog post of 2010, but I did look back and put together a short list of what I consider the year's best.

PSLawNet's Public Interest News Bulletins - At the top of my list is PSLawNet's weekly summary of the community's top news stories.
Jessica Stuart's The Beauty of Connection - Written for the National Pro Bono Celebration, Jessica expresses her appreciation for the work of pro bono and public interest lawyers and makes it easy to understand why she does the work she does.
AVLF's Pro Bono Briefs' The Face of Unexpected Homelessness - The Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation blog posted the heart-wrenching story of a staff member's childhood experience being homeless.
State Bar of Texas' Pro Bono Profiles - During the National Pro Bono Celebration, the State Bar of Texas posted nine profiles of pro bono attorneys: Robert Black, Quanah Parker, Lyla Malolepszy, Nancy Hui, Michelle Reed, Michael Stukenberg, Prof. Larry Spain, Starlett Carter, and Naomi J. Bang.
Mike Monahan's Lawscape - Mike's posts are great reads because he isn't afraid to talk about the not-so-public side of pro bono program coordination, like in Just waiting for bread and Ennui.
LASDC's Making Justice Real and TRLA's Press Room - Blogging regularly takes a lot of time and effort. Both the Legal Aid Society of DC and Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid produce a lot of thoughtful content and show how legal aid programs change their clients' lives.

So what did I miss? Looking back, what blogs or blog posts do you think should make this list? - K

RECOP Releases Court Opinions With No Reuse Restriction

Kate Bladow — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 07:00:00 -0800

Starting in 2011, the Report of Current Opinions (RECOP) will be released by Public.Resource.Org. RECOP will contain the slip and final opinions from all of the federal and state appellate and supreme courts. These opinions will be formatted, have full star pagination, and will not have any restriction on reuse.

Public.Resource.Org, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is undertaking this project for at most two years with the help of its Law.Gov partners, including Fastcase, Justia, Stanford, Princeton, and Cornell. By 2013, Public.Resource.Org wants the government to step up and "provide the basic primary legal materials in a way that meets the strong consensus arrived at in the Law.Gov Principles."

Most self-represented litigants and legal aid clients won't be dramatically affected by RECOP, but it should have some impact. Legal research will potentially be less expensive for legal and pro bono attorneys, and in the long-term, a legal system that functions better and is more transparent, which are the aims of RECOP and Law.Gov, benefits everyone.

If you want more information about RECOP, check out these articles:

The Report of Current Opinions - Carl Malamud
Public Domain Group to Begin Weekly Release of all Federal and State Appellate Cases - Robert Ambrogi
More Details on RECOP from Fastcase’s Ed Walters - Robert Ambrogi

Also, additional information about RECOP will be sent to the Law.Gov email list in the middle of January. - K

technola's Blogroll Updated

Kate Bladow — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 19:47:35 -0800

Several new blogs have been added to technola's Blogroll under "General Legal Aid and Public Interest Law Blogs," including the Pro Bono Institute's The PBEye and Richard Zorza's Access to Justice Blog. This brings the total number of blogs covering public interest law to forty-three. Am I missing any? - K

Give Your Co-Workers a Free Holiday Gift of Technology

Kate Bladow — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 07:00:00 -0800

Want to wish your co-workers "Happy Holidays!" with a little something but don't have any money to spend? Here comes Google to your rescue again.

Recently, they released Teach Parents Tech, a site that helps you put together a tech support care package for your parents and other people who may need computer help. Quickly, you can draft a personalized email and add videos that cover everything from adjusting the time on your computer's clock to browsing the web with tabs to resizing a picture.

So take a couple of minutes to create a care package for a co-worker who would appreciate it. Perhaps, you'll even find a video or two to incorporate into a care package for yourself. - K

Materials from LSNTAP Social Media Webinar Now Available

Kate Bladow — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 10:34:05 -0800

On behalf of LSNTAP, Joyce Raby and I presented the webinar "Using Social Media to Engage Your Supporters" in early November. The recording and materials from that session are now available online, and Joyce has a short summary on her blog, Bits, Bytes, & Bikes.

If the webinar doesn't answer all of your questions, don't worry. Joyce and I will be presenting a second, more in-depth session, "Conversing Online: Using Social Media to Engage with Your Community" at the LSC TIG Conference, Come prepared to see how legal aid and pro bono programs are using social media, to find where people are talking about your organization and issues online, and to walk away with ideas for how your organization can start experimenting with social media. - K