Panel on Regional Collaborations in Mountain State Legal Aid Programs

Distinguished jurists and leaders from government and legal aid will gather on Monday, October 21, for the Legal Services Corporation’s (LSC) Forum on Increasing Access to Justice. LSC is hosting the event in conjunction with its Board of Directors’ quarterly meeting.

Chief Justice Matthew B. Durrant, Utah Supreme Court, will provide opening remarks. He will be joined by LSC Board Chair John G. Levi.

The first panel, “Regional Efforts in Managing Statewide Legal Services Programs in the Mountain West,” will feature a discussion among four legal aid leaders on meeting the civil legal services needs of low-income individuals in this region. The speakers will include Jim Cook, Executive Director, Idaho Legal Services; Annamarie Johnson, Executive Director, Nevada Legal Services; Eric Mittelstadt, Deputy Director, Utah Legal Services; and Alison Paul, Executive Director, Montana Legal Services. LSC President Jim Sandman will moderate the panel.

The second panel, “Civil Legal Services and Native American Communities,” will highlight the unique challenges of providing access to justice to these communities. The panelists will include Judge Dustin Jansen, Tribal Court of the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Tribe; Bertie Kee Lopez, Tribal Legal Advocate, Utah Legal Services; and Honor Keeler, Assistant Director, Utah Diné Bikéyah. LSC Board Member Gloria Valencia Weber, Professor Emerita at the University of New Mexico School of Law, will serve as the moderator. She is an expert on Indian Law and a member of the Southwest Intertribal Court of Appeals.

Prior to the forum, Former Utah Chief Justice Christine Durham, Appellate Attorney with Zimmerman Booher, will speak at a luncheon on the importance of ensuring access to justice.      

The forum will begin at 2:30 p.m. at the United States Courthouse for the District of Utah, 351 S West Temple. Members of the press are invited to attend.