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PRESS RELEASE
For more information, please contact: Gwen Osborne, director of public affairs, (312) 906-5251
Chicago-Kent Center for Access to Justice & Technology A2J Author™ 2.0
Upgrade of award-winning software improves access to justice for low-income and self-represented litigants
CHICAGO–April 11, 2008--Chicago-Kent College of Law’s Center for Access to Justice & Technology (CAJT) has announced the much anticipated release of A2J Author™ 2.0, a unique software tool that empowers those from the courts, legal services organizations and educational institutions to provide low-income individuals who are not represented by attorneys with the tools to defend themselves in court in certain legal matters.
This new release is an updated version of software developed in 2004 by CAJT in partnership with the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction. A2JAuthor™, through its audio and visual interview cues, uses a step-by-step approach to filing legal documents. The software includes document assembly, e-filing capabilities and programmed templates to help users prepare legal documents for filing the necessary papers. The further users get in the online interview process, the closer they get to resolving their legal issues.
The upgraded version of A2JAuthor™ helps non-technical personnel from the courts, clerk’s offices, legal services programs, and Web site editors quickly create and implement customer friendly Web-based legal assistance. A2JAuthor™ 2.0 software is available at no charge to anyone using the software for non-commercial purposes on the A2J Author community Web site (www.a2jauthor.org).
CAJT kicked off the release of the upgrade April 5 via a Web-based advertising campaign that encourages users to download the new version and attend a video conference that highlights improvements to the software. The campaign also will reflect the innovative new ways A2J Author™ 2.0 can help to improve the delivery of legal services to self-represented litigants.
A2JAuthor™ currently is used in 22 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Ontario, Canada. With the increasing popularity of the program as a means to conduct online Web intake, users are able to designate a graphic that is more in line with the purpose of the A2J Guided Interview™. The 2.0 version of A2JAuthor™ software also delivers the capability to exchange the traditional courthouse graphic for an alternative graphic designated by the user.
“We are excited by the improvements in A2J Author™ 2.0 – many of which were suggested by users of the first version,” said CAJT director Ronald J. Staudt, a Chicago-Kent professor and IIT associate vice president for law, business and technology. “For example, new menu enhancements allow developers to move much more easily between development screens in the program. In addition, the new software adds power tools for authors to build new A2J Guided Interviews™ based on prior work.”
A2J Author ™ 2.0 allows A2J Guided Interview™ authors to add live chat support for their interviews using a Live Help™ selection mechanism that links to the National Public Automated Document Server. Live Help™ allows A2J Guided Interview™ users to receive personalized help from their local legal aid organization while completing the A2J Guided Interview™.
The Center for Access to Justice & Technology was established by Chicago-Kent to make justice more accessible to the public by promoting the use of the Internet. The Center conducts research, builds software tools, teaches classes and supports faculty, staff and student projects that promote access to justice and technology. CAJT currently manages and promotes three law and technology initiatives: A2J Author™, the Access to Justice Student Editorial Board, and the Self-Help Web Center. The Center’s work has been honored by the American Bar Association, the Legal Services Corporation and the State Justice Institute.
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