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Center for Access to Justice & Technology

CAJT Home Page
Spring 2014

Chicago-Kent College of Law established the Center for Access to Justice & Technology (CAJT) to make justice more accessible to the public by promoting the use of the Internet in the teaching, practice and public access to the law.

Summer fellowship positions available

Looking for summer employment? Apply for the summer fellowship with the Center for Access to Justice & Technology

The Center for Access to Justice & Technology invites students to apply for a 10-week paid fellowship for the summer of 2014. This position requires 30 hours per week.

The recipients of this fellowship will work on acclaimed projects of national scope that lie at the crossroads of public interest law and technology. The selected fellows will gain legal research experience; exposure to new, innovative technologies; and a unique understanding of an increasingly important area of law. The main responsibilities of this fellowship will include conducting legal research, staffing the Self-Help Web Center at Chicago’s Daley Center, working with Chicago-Kent’s A2J Author software to create online document assembly tools, creating and editing web content, and assisting in the management and marketing of the national Access to Justice Clinical Course Project.

The ideal candidates will possess:

  • Excellent oral and written communication skills
  • A high level of comfort with learning and working with technology-based tools
  • Ability to take direction and work independently
  • Advanced organizational skills and attention to detail
  • Devotion to social justice issues

CAJT is approved to accept students with federal work-study funding and may have additional positions available accordingly.

Application deadline: Students are encouraged to apply by March 14, 2014. First-round interviews will begin shortly after.

To apply for this fellowship opportunity, please send a résumé and cover letter to Jessica Bolack Frank at jbolack@kentlaw.iit.edu or stop by the CAJT office in room 775.

Looking for legal experience? Sign up now to get a position at the Self-Help Web Center

Are you interested in directly interacting with people in need of legal assistance? The Self-Help Web Center (SHWC) is now recruiting student volunteers for this spring. Don't miss out on this valuable experience; sign up now! Even 1L students can gain real legal experience at the SHWC.

The Center for Access to Justice & Technology asks volunteers to donate a minimum of two hours of time per week at the Self-Help Web Center in the Cook County Clerk's Office for the Civil Division at the Daley Center. The SHWC is staffed by Chicago-Kent student volunteers who help pro se litigants complete online interviews resulting in completely assembled court documents. Volunteers also help litigants navigate the Daley Center and available public interest legal services around Chicago. Volunteering at the SHWC is a great way to learn about the Daley Center and the small claims legal process, and to get some experience interacting with people in need of legal help.

Please note: Students with federal work study awards may be compensated for this position if working a minimum of 4 hours per week.

More Information

For more information or to sign up for a shift, e-mail shwc@kentlaw.iit.edu or stop by room 775.

Standardized Court Forms come to Illinois!

On November 28, the Illinois Supreme Court promulgated Supreme Court Rule 10-101, "Standardized Forms." Paragraph (a) of the new rule reads as follows: "The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice shall establish a process to develop and approve standardized, legally sufficient forms for areas of law and practice where the Commission determines that there is a high volume of self-represented litigants and that standardized forms will enhance access to justice."
http://iln.isba.org/blog/2012/11/28/standardized-court-forms-come-illinois

CALI & CAJT unveil new course project

The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI®) and the Center for Access to Justice & Technology (CAJT) at IIT Chicago-Kent unveiled the Access to Justice Clinical Course (A2J Clinic) Project to clinical professors on October 16. This new initiative exports clinical courses modeled off Professor Ronald W. Staudt's innovative Justice & Technology Practicum course to other law schools. The Justice & Technology Practicum teaches Chicago-Kent students how to develop document assembly tools for self-represented litigants using A2J Author® and explores access-to-justice issues, including the use of technology in law practice and legal services, alternative legal services delivery models, e-lawyering, unbundling and pro se litigant assistance.

Faculty members participating in the A2J Clinic Project will modify the curriculum to suit their school's needs, creating new course kits that CALI will offer to its member schools as a way of establishing A2J Clinics as a permanent part of the national law school curriculum. To learn more about the project and to view a model of Professor Staudt's Practicum course, visit a2jclinic.classcaster.net.


J.D. Certificate in Public Interest Law

Chicago-Kent's Public Interest Certificate Program is currently accepting Letters of Intent. The J.D. Certificate in Public Interest Law requires:

  1. Curriculum Planning Meeting
  2. Public Interest Career Planning Meeting
  3. Public Interest Law and Policy (3 credits)
  4. Legal Writing IV - Public Interest (3 credits)
  5. 6 additional credit hours of public interest-related course work, including a public interest clinic, public interest internship or public interest seminar
  6. Completion of the Dean's Certificate of Service (50 hours of community service)
  7. The Letter of Intent form is available on the Certificate in Public Interest Law section of the Chicago-Kent website and in the CAJT office in room 775.


More Information

For more information about any of our projects please email cajt@kentlaw.iit.edu, or visit www.kentlaw.iit.edu/cajt.

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