Provision Of Legal Services Research Articles

Intimate Partner Violence: Access to Protection Beyond the Pandemic

Civil protection orders are the most common legal remedy victims pursue in response to intimate partner violence (“IPV”). They are more empowering for victims than the criminal legal system because victims themselves, instead of prosecutors, drive the process, and they offer more flexible and tailored relief. This Article argues that victims should be able to choose how they file petitions and participate in civil protection order hearings, and that judges should be required to honor those preferences absent good cause. This conclusion is driven by two new, original sets of empirical data collected from IPV survivors who have sought civil protection orders and legal services providers who assist victims with navigating the process. The data from legal services providers provide a picture of court protective order procedures in jurisdictions across the country from before, during, and in the late stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, once public health restrictions were generally lifted. This complements the rich data about the lived experiences of survivors who sought a protection order against their abuser during the pandemic in one of New York City’s five family courts. 85% of participants in this study are women of color, whose lived experiences are especially important to understand because they comprise a population that is disproportionately impacted by IPV. The data indicate that IPV victims have diverse preferences with respect to method of participation in hearings, based on their varying needs, concerns, priorities, and circumstances. The current landscape of procedures across the country largely fails to account for this diversity by mandating a particular participation method or by allowing individual judges to do so in accordance with their own preferences. Based on the research results, this Article argues for codifying “accessible process pluralism” in state protective order statutes. This statutory framework would give petitioners the opportunity to indicate their hearing participation preference on the petition itself and require judges to follow these choices absent good cause, among other accessibility-focused provisions. By harnessing the innovations and lessons from the pandemic, this proposal promotes survivor empowerment and access to justice for both petitioners and respondents.

Get Peace of Mind with Do-It-Yourself Living Wills: The Digitalisation of Medical-Legal Practice and the New Post-Covid 19 Approach

“The automatisation of the core tasks performed by legal practitioners […] is an ongoing and open-ended process” (Schäfke-Zell & Asmussen, 2019, p. 65). “A host of innovative legal-tech companies have entered the market of legal service providers, presently challenging the lawyers’ monopoly over the practice of the law, and ultimately, altering the mode of production in the legal field” (Caserta, 2020, p. 1). Beginning with these assumptions, this study draws on ongoing research on healthcare powers of attorney, living wills, and advance directives (Giordano, 2019, 2021) and will explore the current radical changes and restructuring of modalities of production in medical-legal documents and in the delivery of legal services. The legal websites in the corpus under investigation provide guidance in creating a personal living will according to well-established legal procedures that are pursuant to the laws and regulations of a particular state or country. Living wills and advance directives are signed documents in which the declarants state whether or not they wish to be kept alive using artificial means in the event a doctor declares their death to be imminent. Doctors and medical practitioners are legally bound to follow these directives. Following the increased digitalization of the legal field, these documents are now frequently drafted and completed online, thus embracing the full potential of the new technologies available today. Both verbal and visual rhetoric (Murray, 2014; Sherwin, Feigenson, & Spiesel, 2005) will be investigated to ascertain whether and to what extent digital transformation is redefining the ways in which this legal service is offered, thus promoting greater understanding and wider knowledge of a controversial issue such as making decisions regarding one’s end of life and the choices available among various life-prolonging measures and treatments. The research aims to determine whether the new digital genres can help translate the specific constraints and demands of legal argumentation into new popular, cultural and technological discourse which better appeals to peoples’ emotions and values. The legal sector’s increasing use of digital forms and templates embellished with visual and multimedia content may at once have a commodifying and democratizing effect. Legal meanings and services in the new legal market (Schäfke-Zell & Asmussen, 2019, p. 66) might be better understood and internalized, thus reinforcing and disseminating the emerging vernacular of digital culture along with law, regulations and legal institutes and instruments, which would otherwise be difficult for a layperson to comprehend or accept (Anesa, 2016; Calsamiglia, 2003; Calsamiglia & van Dijk, 2004). In addition to this process of democratization of new media, the Coronavirus pandemic also contributed to changing people’s approach to life (Garzone, 2023) and to living wills, triggered by an increased sense of precariousness of life and imminence of death. English-speaking countries, in particular, have seen a surge in people updating and altering advance directives as a result of the complications caused by the disease; different steps might be taken now, when current documents may be dangerously inadequate. The best ways to update existing texts to the new post-Covid 19 conditions therefore call for thorough investigation.

The Role of Financial Technology in Enhancing the Efficiency of Legal Services

With the rapid development of financial technology (FinTech), its application in the legal service sector is gradually becoming a key force in driving industry innovation. This paper uses both qualitative and quantitative research methods to explore the interaction and synergistic effects of financial technology, regulatory technology (RegTech), and intellectual property protection (IP Protection) in the legal service industry. The study analyzes the current status of financial technology in contract law, compliance checks, and dispute resolution, and evaluates its actual effect on improving the efficiency of legal services. The study found that financial technology has optimized the contract execution process through technologies such as smart contracts and blockchain, improved the level of automation in compliance work, and provided new ways for dispute resolution. Although facing challenges such as technology integration, data security, and legal regulation, these challenges can be effectively controlled through effective risk management and strategic response. The study proposes a series of strategic recommendations, including technological innovation, policy support, education, and training, to promote the collaborative development of financial technology, regulatory technology, and intellectual property protection in the legal service industry. (Beck, R., Bugnion, F., & Pohl, M., 2018) The conclusion of this paper emphasizes the positive role of financial technology in enhancing the efficiency of legal services and points out strategies to cope with challenges, providing valuable insights and suggestions for legal service providers, technology developers, and policy makers to promote the modernization and digital transformation of the legal service industry.

Breaking Down the Wall: The Effect of Immigration Enforcement and Nonprofit Services on Undocumented Student Academic Performance

Abstract Much of public administration and nonprofit research centers on issues of race and gender, but citizenship remains underdeveloped for a variety of reasons, especially due to a lack of data on the undocumented community. The first research aim of this study is to identify how immigration enforcement affects undocumented student performance. The second contribution is to understand the effect of how legal service provision by immigrant-serving nonprofits comes into play. Theoretically, these services work toward helping buffer the negative implications of community arrests and deportations on student performance. We test our theoretical arguments using a unique dataset comprised of student-level performance metrics of 2 million Latino students – including nearly 225,000 undocumented students – in Texas public schools. These data are merged with county and district-level data that reflect the level of immigrant deportations and the presence of immigrant-serving nonprofits (ISOs) in their communities. This research finds that immigration enforcement negatively impacts undocumented student performance. Furthermore, ISOs can help limit these effects and improve educational performance.

Trends of Global Legal AI Market and Factors of Its Russian Segment’s Development

From the perspective of applying a systems-evolutionary approach and studying the results of a number of modern research studies into the processes of formation and development of the Legal AI market (artificial intelligence system for the legal field) and LegalTech market (digital platforms, software products, and tools used to optimize the provision of legal services), the article reveals the growing potential of these market segments. The author takes into account the prospects for using their market objects for the technological (digital) modernization of the Russian companies that provide qualified legal support for the economic activities of business entities, and enhancing on this basis their competitiveness under evolving Industry 4.0, the economy’s digital transformation, and the unfavorable impact of the external environment. Given the limited open access to up-to-date statistics on the state of all studied market segments, this paper mainly focuses on the modern dynamics of the Legal AI market (more precisely, the Legal AI Software Market, the market for the AI software in the legal field), its subject and object, and geographical structure, along with the development trends and forecasts due to the profitability of the market participants’ activities, growing investment, and other factors that result in expanding this market value in the regions of the world and in Russia.

DESAFIO DO ADVOGADO COM O IMPACTO DA INTELIGÊNCIA ARTIFICIAL

This study investigates the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the practice of law, analyzing the challenges and opportunities faced by lawyers in the face of this technological transformation. By considering the growing integration of AI in legal research, document analysis, and decision-making, we examine how this technology affects the work of legal professionals. We observe that, while AI can save time and enablegreater efficiency in the provision of legal services, it also presents ethical, legal, and practical challenges, such as issues of confidentiality, transparency, and impartiality. We highlight the importance of the professional training and updating of lawyers so that they can adapt to technological changes and capitalize on the opportunities offered by AI. We conclude that AI is redefining legal practice, providing new tools for lawyers as they continue to play their fundamental role as defenders of individual rights and promoters of a more effective and accessible administration of justice.

The Institutional Hearing Program and the Incarceration-to-Deportation Pipeline

Through our study of the Institutional Hearing Program (IHP), we examine how immigration courts within prisons enforce immigration law over individuals serving criminal sentences. Drawing from interviews with legal services providers, community advocates, and impacted immigrants in New York City, we examine due process, inequality, and legal strategies in the context of the IHP. Findings demonstrate the disproportionate punishment of Black and Brown incarcerated immigrants, as well as restricted access to information, distant placement of IHP prisons, and scarce funding for representing incarcerated individuals in immigration proceedings, all of which create challenges for legal advocates' chances of success. We argue that sanctuary provisions in NYC exclude certain migrants by marking them with the stigma of criminal records in over-surveilled neighborhoods and physically exporting them outside city borders to state prisons, where specific policies toward their expedited deportation (such as the IHP) take place. The IHP is a key site on a pipeline from incarceration to deportation that must be drastically limited, or ultimately eradicated, to ensure justice for criminalized immigrants.

Legal Services for Veterans (LSV): Protocol for evaluating the grant-based LSV initiative supporting community organizations' delivery of legal services to veterans.

1.8 million Veterans are estimated to need legal services, such as for housing eviction prevention, discharge upgrades, and state and federal Veterans benefits. While having one's legal needs met is known to improve one's health and its social determinants, many Veterans' legal needs remain unmet. Public Law 116-315 enacted in 2021 authorizes VA to fund legal services for Veterans (LSV) by awarding grants to legal service providers including nonprofit organizations and law schools' legal assistance programs. This congressionally mandated LSV initiative will award grants to about 75 competitively selected entities providing legal services. This paper describes the protocol for evaluating the initiative. The evaluation will fulfill congressional reporting requirements, and inform continued implementation and sustainment of LSV over time. Our protocol calls for a prospective, mixed-methods observational study with a repeated measures design, aligning to the Reach Effectiveness Adoption Implementation Maintenance (RE-AIM) and Integrated Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (i-PARIHS) frameworks. In 2023, competitively selected legal services-providing organizations will be awarded grants to implement LSV. The primary outcome will be the number of Veterans served by LSV in the 12 months after the awarding of the grant. The evaluation has three Aims. Aim 1 will focus on measuring primary and secondary LSV implementation outcomes aligned to RE-AIM. Aim 2 will apply the mixed quantitative-qualitative Matrixed Multiple Case Study method to identify patterns in implementation barriers, enablers, and other i-PARIHS-aligned factors that relate to observed outcomes. Aim 3 involves a mixed-methods economic evaluation to understand the costs and benefits of LSV implementation. The LSV initiative is a new program that VA is implementing to help Veterans who need legal assistance. To optimize ongoing and future implementation of this program, it is important to rigorously evaluate LSV's outcomes, barriers and enablers, and costs and benefits. We have outlined the protocol for such an evaluation, which will lead to recommending strategies and resource allocation for VA's LSV implementation.

Platform for Legal Service Providers using AI

This paper explores the emergence and importance of systems for criminal carrier providers, which act as digital bridges connecting customers with legal professionals in an increasingly virtual world. By leveraging technology, those systems provide streamlined entry to criminal expertise, improving performance and accessibility for people and agencies alike

The Legal Industry of the Future and Teaching English to Law Students

In many countries of the world, the legal industry is undergoing profound transformations. The changes concern the way lawyers design their products and deliver services to clients. The providers of legal services have to respond to the «more for less» challenge.The article deals with the impact of technology on the legal profession. Analysing the present-day trends on the market, the forecasts made by legal scholars and law practitioners, the author describes the law firm of the future. Based on the study of the set of skills required of lawyers today, the author gives recommendations on how to prepare law-students to work in a constantly changing environment.

JUDICIAL ANALYSIS OF PROVIDING LEGAL ASSISTANCE TO THE POOR IN REALIZING ACCESS TO JUSTICE

This study focuses on the implementation of free legal services for individuals by the Legal Aid Office (LBS) and the Ministry of Justice, in accordance with Law No. 16 of 2011 on Legal Aid. According to Article 1 paragraph 3 of the Law, the Legal Aid Office is a legal entity or a community organization that provides legal services. The aim of this study is to understand the function and role of the Human Rights Commission as law enforcement officers and to comprehend issues related to the implementation of legal services. The research method employed in this study is normative legal research, utilizing primary and secondary legal sources. Material analysis in this research involves committee work that systematically categorizes legal materials to facilitate the analysis of the research work. The study reveals that the primary authority for legal services lies with LBS/Orkemas, which is authorized to verify and accredit the Human Rights Commission as a legal service provider. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the importance of understanding the function and role of the Human Rights Commission as law enforcement officers and underscores their crucial involvement in the implementation of legal services. The research also highlights that the main authority for legal services is vested in LBS/Orkemas, which has been verified and accredited by the Human Rights Commission as a legal service provider.

SPATIAL AND REGRESSION ANALYSIS OF PROVISION OF COMMERCIAL LEGAL SERVICES IN RUSSIAN CITIES

The article examines the relationship between the number of employees at law firms, or lawyers, and the provision of legal services in Russian cities. It aims to identify whether the increase in the number of lawyers leads to an enhanced level of legal services provision. In addition, it attempts to discern geographical patterns in the provision of legal services in Russia. To achieve these objectives, open data from the Federal Tax Service of Russia is utilized as the primary source of information. Linear regression is employed to estimate the hypothesized relationship, and data plotting and mapping are used to visualize it. The study demonstrates an overall positive square root relationship between the number of lawyers and the provision of legal services in cities, as well as a linear relationship between these variables in distinct city population size groups. It supports a widely held proposition about the pivotal role of the largest cities in the provision of services and also offers partial confirmation of the commonly accepted view about the positive impact of service concentration on their delivery. However, the study argues that there are multiple approaches to achieving a high level of legal services provision, with an increase in the number of lawyers being only one of the potential options. The findings of this research may serve to inform data-driven policymaking decisions of governmental bodies.

Moshennichestvo, sovershaemoe pri okazanii yuridicheskoj pomoshchi: istoriya i sovremennost'

In this article, the historical formation of fraud in the provision of legal services as a criminal offense is analyzed. Currently, such crimes are a serious problem in terms of their prevention and disclosure. Considering that references to unscrupulous lawyers are found long before the appearance of the bar, an attempt has been made to consider the designated criminal manifestations in the pre-revolutionary, Soviet and modern period of Russia's development.

The role of notaries in a modern legal system in the Western Balkans

The research problem and purpose are the importance of scientific theories in the scientific study (Haliti-Mustafa et al., 2023) of the system in the Western Balkans. In a modern legal system, in harmony with the criteria and directives of the European Union (EU), the faster provision of legal services and the expansion of the forms of protection of interest rights in the current conditions are almost impossible to realize without the existence of a segment new law — Institute of the Notary Service in the Western Balkans. The methods used in the paper to achieve the objectives are alternative methods and analysis of results as well as comparative and inductive, and deductive methods. The main findings of the paper are notarial systems, which analyze and present an overview of the role of notaries and their impact on issues and changes in notarial acts, and an overview of high-impact research for young researchers in the field of notarial systems. As a conclusion, the research results show the effectiveness of notaries in dealing with legal issues (Sariyev, 2022).

​​EXPLORING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LAW CLINICS IN ENHANCING ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR LOW-INCOME INDIVIDUALS IN MALAYSIA​

Law clinics are legal service providers that offer free or low-cost legal assistance to lowincome individuals, typically through the participation of law students who are supervised by legal professionals. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of law clinics in providing legal assistance to low-income individuals in Malaysia and improving their access to justice. Using a mixedmethods approach, the study first analyzed data on the utilization of law clinics in Malaysia, including the number of clients served, types of legal issues addressed, and success rates in resolving cases. The study also conducted in-depth interviews with law clinic staff, clients, and legal professionals to gather qualitative data on the challenges and successes of law clinics in assisting low-income individuals. The findings indicate that law clinics have been successful in providing legal assistance to a significant number of low-income individuals in Malaysia, but face challenges in terms of funding and capacity. Despite these challenges, law clinics have been able to make a positive impact on access to justice for low-income individuals through the provision of free legal services and the development of legal literacy among clients. The study concludes that law clinics have the potential to play a vital role in addressing the legal needs of low-income individuals in Malaysia and recommends measures to further enhance their effectiveness.

Unstructuring for insight: the legal profession in an age of AI and social change

ABSTRACT While the capacity to solve ill-structured, messy problems has always been essential for lawyers, its importance and centrality are growing. On one hand, technology and alternative legal service providers are encroaching on much of the other work that was once considered to be at the core of legal professional practice. At the same time, ill-structured problems are proliferating as a result of the novel legal questions posed by new technologies and a renewed sense of urgency to address the access to justice gap as well as broader systemic inequality. To prepare law students for this kind of professional practice, law schools should teach students how to engage in a process I call “unstructuring” in which they seek a richer understanding of the details and context of an apparently well-defined problem in order to discover ways to see it in a new light.

ENHANCING COLLABORATION FROM ADULT PROTECTIVE SERVICES TO PROVIDERS WORKING WITH MISTREATMENT VICTIMS/SURVIVORS

Abstract Adult Protective Services (APS) is the frontline agency that receives, investigates, and provides services and/or referrals to victims/survivors of adult abuse, neglect, and exploitation. However, APS cannot resolve adult mistreatment alone, and must collaborate with healthcare, social, legal, and other community-based providers to address the needs of victims/survivors. Partnering with Montana APS and healthcare, legal, social and aging services providers, AARP, American Indian Health, local law enforcement, judge, attorneys, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, ombudsman, and Certification and Licensing Bureaus, our goal is to examine how state agencies can work together to reduce mistreatment and systems burden. Twenty-two interviews were conducted with state agencies to inquire about collaboration challenges and strategies, what has worked well with APS, and what can be improved. Thematic analysis was used to characterize barriers and solutions for collaboration, and social network analysis was used to map out the collaboration network. We found that information sharing is a boon for collaboration among agencies using integrated information systems, but becomes a barrier when information sharing is limited by statute. State agencies also identified other agencies they have worked with to address mistreatment and reflected on challenges and strategies in working with these other professionals. Challenges for state agencies to work together center around lack of funding and service shortages, especially during the pandemic. Strategies to improve collaboration involve agency cross-training to remove silos. These interviews offer rich insight to guide practitioners across agencies to work together at the state-level to reduce mistreatment and its recurrence.

Knowledge, attitude, and practice patterns of Indian ophthalmologists regarding medicolegal issues.

To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice patterns (KAPP) of Indian ophthalmologists regarding medicolegal issues using an initial survey. An online form was circulated among Indian ophthalmologists of all ages over social media and email by the Young Ophthalmologists Society of India (YOSI) and its medicolegal working group. Anonymous responses were obtained and analyzed for each question. The questionnaire comprised questions about demographic details, KAPP of medicolegal issues including how to deal with medicolegal issues (if faced), medical indemnity insurance, deviation from the recommended minimum sum assured (Rs. 1 crore for Indian ophthalmologists), and legal service providers. A total of 109 responses were obtained. The majority of the respondents were male (60, 55%). More than 50% of respondents (58, 53.2%) were younger than 35 years. More than one-fourth of the respondents were private practitioners (29, 27%), and the majority were of senior consultant designation (45, 41%). Around 80% of respondents (89, 81.6%) were aware of professional indemnity insurance; however, only 54% (n = 59) bought the insurance cover. A majority of the respondents (38, 64.4%) had an indemnity cover of a maximum of Rs. 50 lacs. Only 20% of respondents were aware of the expert body at the state/national level that deals with medicolegal cases. Thirty percent of respondents recommended the ideal cover amount to be more than Rs. 1 crore. The current survey highlights the dismally low rate of awareness of medicolegal issues among ophthalmologists. Specifically, a majority of Indian ophthalmologists surveyed did not have recommended minimum insured cover for professional indemnity insurance. Larger studies are needed to further explore KAPP of Indian ophthalmologists in various medicolegal issues.

Legal and Housing Service Providers’ Perspectives on Clients’ Experiences with Foreclosure

Although the foreclosure crisis is considered over, some areas of the U.S. continue to suffer from high foreclosure rates. This research presents findings from in-depth interviews conducted with 18 service providers who worked with families to prevent their foreclosures in Cleveland, Ohio. The research focused on better understanding the landscape of the Cleveland foreclosure experience. Service providers provided insight into families’ experiences with the foreclosure process. The three main themes developed from the interviews included: (1) clients lacked knowledge about the mortgage process; (2) lenders exploited clients’ lack of knowledge, setting them up to fail with predatory mortgages and targeting specific groups; and (3) mortgage servicers were inflexible, inconsistent, incompetent, and lacked regard for clients, except for local servicers. The findings provide implications for housing research, policy, and practice.

Independensi Penuntutan Perkara Koneksitas Ditinjau dari Peraturan Presiden Nomor 15 Tahun 2021 Tentang Organisasi dan Tata Kerja Kejaksaan

In Article 89 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Procedure Code it is stated that "criminal acts committed jointly by those belonging to the general court environment and the military court environment, are examined and tried by courts within the general court environment unless according to the decision of the Minister of Defense and Security with the approval of the Minister of Justice, the case must be examined and tried by a court within the military court environment”. In this case, it is necessary to increase the effectiveness of the implementation of the duties and powers of the Attorney General's Office of the Republic of Indonesia in carrying out technical coordination of prosecutorial prosecution and handling of connected cases and the application of the principles of embodiment of bureaucratic reform and the acceleration of the provision of legal services to the public by appointing a Junior Attorney General for Military Crime in the structure the Attorney General's Office. the existence of Presidential Decree Number 15 of 2021 is intended to accelerate the handling of connectivity cases. However, competent human resources are needed to run this structure as well as budget allocations for military members who fill these positions.