Minnesota Chief Justice to Speak at LSC Minneapolis Forum on Increasing Access to Justice

Contact
Carl Rauscher        
Director of Communications and Media Relations        
[email protected]
202-295-1615        

Contact Us

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) will welcome Chief Justice Natalie Hudson of the Minnesota Supreme Court and members of the Minnesota legal community to a forum on Tuesday, July 23, at the Minneapolis Central Library. The forum will focus on increasing access to justice with an emphasis on pressing issues in the North Star State.

Other speakers will include John Keller, Chief Deputy Attorney General of Minnesota; Rob Vischer, President of St. Thomas University; Abdulaziz Muhammad, Government Affairs and Public Policy Coordinator for the Minnesota Attorney General's Office; and John Levi, Chairman of the Board of LSC. U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar will deliver pre-recorded video remarks.

The forum comes two days before LSC's 50th Anniversary. To commemorate the milestone, LSC has worked to raise awareness of the civil justice crisis and promote solutions that can expand access to justice for low-income Americans everywhere. The Minneapolis event is presented in partnership with LSC's local grantee organizations: AnishinabeLegal Services, Central Minnesota Legal Services, Justice North, Legal Services of Northwest Minnesota and Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services.

The forum will include three panel discussions on pressing access to justice issues. The first panel will focus on relieving Minnesotans' debt burden, an increasingly relevant topic given that debt suits increasingly dominate civil court dockets. The discussion will be moderated by LSC President Ron Flagg and feature the following participants:

• Katy Drahos: Director of Pro Bono and Community Service, Fredrikson & Byron, P.A.

• John Buhta: Staff Attorney, Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services

• Kim Miller: Senior Program Manager, Partnerships and Financial Education, LSS Financial Counseling

The second panel, "Looking Beyond Lawyers to Close the Justice Gap," will be moderated by Dori Rapaport, Executive Director of Justice North, and will share lessons learned from Minnesota's Legal Paraprofessionals Pilot Project and other opportunities for non-attorneys to help individuals navigate legal processes. The panel will feature the following members of the Minnesota legal aid community:

• Jenna Finn: Paralegal and Community Justice Worker, AnishinabeLegal Services

• Cody Nelson: Executive Director, AnishinabeLegal Services

• Rachel Albertson: Development and Communications Manager, Justice North

• Jim Long: Member, Standing Committee for the Legal Paraprofessional Pilot Project

The final panel will examine business and civic leaders' perspective on access to justice. It will be moderated by LSC Board member Laurie Mikvaand will feature the following participants:

• Ivan Fong: Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Medtronic

• Jim Chosy: Executive Vice President and General Counsel, U.S. Bancorp

• Tim Flynn: Former Chairman and CEO, KPMG

The July 23 forum is from 2:30 - 5:30 p.m. CDT and will be livestreamed on LSC's YouTube channel. For information about the in-person event, contact [email protected]. Following the conclusion of the event, guests will proceed to the Royal Sonesta Minneapolis Downtown Hotel for a reception where LSC will honor six members of the Minnesota legal community.Information about the awardees is available here.