Weblinks: Access to Justice Commissions (ABA 2015)

Access to Justice Commissions are collaborative entitites that bring together courts, the bar, civil legal aid providers, and other stakeholders in an effort to remove barriers to civil justice for low-income and disadvantaged people. Beginning with the first ATJ Commission in 1994 (Washington State), such entities have been developing all over the country, engaging in a full range of activities and strategies to accomplish their goals and objectives. A major strength of the Commission model is its ability to address the state's often-fragmented system for providing access to civil justice as a whole.

The ABA has fostered the launching and development of ATJ Commissions via the Access to Justice Expansion Project (americanbar.org), an initiative funded with generous support from the Public Welfare Foundation (publicwelfare.org) and Kresge Foundation (kresge.org). The ABA also maintains a complete list of Commissions (americanbar.org) and their websites that can be accessed at http://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_aid_indigent_defendants/initiati...