2017 NLADA Annual Conference

Public interest lawyers often measure their clients' outcomes to understand the effectiveness of their services. But answering questions with those data is surprisingly hard. Does representation affect judges’ decisions? Does representation improve experiences both in the courtroom and beyond its doors? Responses to these questions in turn lead to even more difficult ones about how best to allocate scarce legal resources. This panel will introduce participants to the best method of addressing these issues: randomized field studies. The Access to Justice Lab at Harvard Law School works with legal aid organizations and government entities to test innovative practices in the profession. Hearing from Lab researchers and its long-term partners, attendees will better understand how to evaluate whether programs actually improve service provision and, ultimately, access to justice. As the evidence-based practice revolution sweeps through the civil legal aid and the public defense bar, this panel will help lawyers internalize its lessons and potentially engage in their own rigorous studies.