By: Julie Park, Director of Pro Bono, Fenwick & West LLP
Crowdsourcing has galvanized large numbers of activists and enthusiasts around everything from artisanal businesses to urban planning to climate change.
It’s no surprise that innovative thinkers in the legal community are applying the concept to help address the needs of the underrepresented. Lawyers gathering this month at the 2017 South by Southwest® (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas, say the potential of crowdsourcing to expand access to justice to vulnerable communities is immense.
Fenwick-sponsored Equal Justice Fellow Renée Schomp, who runs OneJustice’s Rural Immigrant Connect project, is one of the panelists slated to share their experience with pioneering collaborative, crowd-driven approaches to legal advocacy.
Schomp’s Rural Immigrant Connect project connects immigrants in California’s Central Valley with ongoing legal representation from Bay Area-based pro bono attorneys through in-person and virtual technology communication.
California, with its sizable immigrant population and significant number of working lawyers, has a particular need. The state is home to the largest immigrant population in the United States (10.3 million people) and leads the nation in the number of immigrants who are eligible to become citizens (an estimated 2.5 million).
California also has the country’s largest lawyer population. With over 166,000 licensed, active lawyers, the state’s legal system should be uniquely positioned to meet the legal needs of immigrants through a robust and proactive pro bono system.
However, the vast majority of California’s lawyers work in urban and metropolitan areas, making it challenging for them to connect with immigrants in isolated and rural areas of the state.
At SXSW, the panelists will discuss the challenges and promise of disruptive, crowdsourced models for providing legal assistance to vulnerable populations throughout the global community.
Part of the "Social Impact" track of SXSW, the panel showcases the future of advocacy and new approaches to making justice accessible to all.
Panelists include:
- Jennifer Gonzalez, Torchlight Legal
- Renée Schomp, OneJustice, Fenwick & West LLP Equal Justice Works Fellow
- Rafael Baca, R. Baca Law Firm PLLC
- Stephen Manning, Immigrant Law Group PC
The “Crowdsourcing Justice” panel takes place at SXSW in Austin, Texas, on March 13, 2017, from 2-3 p.m. PT.
Follow via RSS
