ABA President Linda Klein has reaffirmed her commitment help fight for the endangerment of Legal Services Corporation (LSC). She is calling ABA Techshow attendees to help persuade Congress by any means, to fund the non-profit corporation.
During the Friday evening plenary session at ABA Techshow event, Klein called forth the fight to restore funding for the LSC as a marking point for the legal profession. "This is an outrage, it is vitally important that every American have equal access to justice," Klein said.
A day before, the Trump administration announced that its proposed budget provides no funding for the Legal Services Corporation. Klein, taken aback by the announcement, explained that the elimination of LSC funding would have an adverse effect on legal technology.
She also highlighted the impact LSC is making in the lives of nearly 2 million people annually, with women making up nearly 70 percent of it. Without funding for the LSC, Klein feared that courthouse doors will not provide the rightful access to justice for millions of Americans in need.
Klein called on the tech-savvy professionals in attendance to step into the potential void that is threatening LSC. She called the LSC a leader in developing and deploying technology to allow people to access the judicial system.
"We need your leadership and technology skills to help defend the Constitution and the rule of law it embodies," Klein said, according to ABA Journal. "That's our obligation as citizens and lawyers," she continued.
She hoped that the Tech For Justice Hackathon+Veterans event which kicked off Techshow on Wednesday would produce legal technology to help veterans access the justice system. She also applauded the fact that this year's Techshow faculty consisted of more women than men, pointing out that 41 out of 78 Techshow speakers were women, for the first time ever.
