Across the United States, immigrants are facing profound barriers to accessing justice. At the same time, many attorneys, students, and community members are eager to help but are unsure how to get involved or cannot commit to full representation. Innovative volunteer models are emerging that allow supporters to contribute meaningfully through “light-touch” engagement that still produces powerful impact. This panel will highlight two initiatives - a court observation project and a legal screening hotline - that expand access to justice through creative volunteer engagement models.
Staff Attorney, American Bar Association Commission on Immigration
Stacy Kim (she/her/ella) is a Staff Attorney at the ABA Commission on Immigration (COI). Stacy has worked on various projects involving volunteer training, detention hotline work, asylum clinics, and materials development.
Prior to being at COI, Stacy was a fellow/staff attorney... Read More →
Across the country, most people face civil legal problems alone. Legal Hand, developed in New York and expanded to North Carolina, reimagines access to justice by training community volunteers—not lawyers—to provide free legal information and referrals. New York operates a virtual network of regional centers and North Carolina runs a statewide Call-In Center serving all 100 counties. Together, they demonstrate how community-driven innovation can expand reach, build trust, and deliver justice without walls.
Director, NC Pro Bono Resource Center, NC Equal Access to Justice Commission
Sylvia K. Novinsky
Director, NC Pro Bono Resource Center
Equal Access to Justice Commission
Bio:
Sylvia K. Novinsky is the director of the NC Pro Bono Resource Center, a program of theNorth Carolina Equal Access to Justice Commission. She has been in this role since 2016... Read More →
Joseph is the founder and CEO of A2J Tech. A2J Tech is a public benefit corporation that builds technology to improve access to justice.
Joseph holds a Master of Science in Business Administration from the University of Florida, and a Bachelor of Science from the United States Air Force Academy. Joseph enjoys exploring Colorado's outdoors and trail running... Read More →
Legal Action of Wisconsin’s Overdose Prevention Project has spent two years integrating outreach and civil legal aid into the harm reduction community, especially in Milwaukee. We especially focus on some of the most vulnerable and underserved communities. Learn about our three-pronged approach that incorporates outreach, education and advocacy (in legal proceedings and with appropriate officials and organizations) to address individual client needs and seek systemic change and support for persons and communities affected by substance use disorder.
Charlie Bowen is a staff attorney with Legal Action of Wisconsin and the primary attorney for their Overdose Prevention Project. This project is designed to meet clients where they are at and provide civil legal aid for people impacted by Substance Use Disorder (SUD). Entering its... Read More →
Karyn Rotker is a Staff Attorney for Legal Action of Wisconsin’s Milwaukee office. Her current work focuses on issues including consumer law, housing conditions and transportation justice. She previously worked for a civil rights organization for more than 20 years, and before... Read More →
Nicole Gorscak (she/her/hers) is a Paralegal with Legal Action of Wisconsin. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a specialization in Criminology and a Minor in Film from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, before obtaining a Post-Baccualaurette Certificate in in Paralegal... Read More →
Managing Attorney, Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc.
Malinda Eskra (she/her) is the Managing Attorney of Legal Action of Wisconsin’s Milwaukee office, the largest nonprofit provider of civil legal services in the state. She oversees teams working in housing stability, family law, public benefits, elder rights, and criminal records... Read More →
Saturday May 16, 2026 8:30am - 9:45am EDT Mecklenburg 3
With over 500 medical-legal partnerships (MLP) across the United States, MLP has emerged as a significant catalyst for building legal aid capacity, reach and impact. Over the past decade, health care systems, foundations, and public health entities across the US have invested millions of dollars in securing legal aid services to address legal problems—like housing and income—that directly and indirectly impact health.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the nation’s largest healthcare foundation, made early and significant investments in the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership to advance the MLP movement and highlight the role and impact of legal aid interventions on community and individual health. Since 2021, Kaiser Permanente (KP), the largest integrated health system in the US, has invested over $8 million dollars to build the capacity of legal aid organizations across 5 states in the Kaiser Permanente footprint to establish medical-legal partnerships, with a goal of helping people in KP communities avoid eviction and maintain housing stability.
Through additional investments in research, Kaiser Permanente has demonstrated that with proper training and funding, legal aid teams can swim upstream and help patients stabilize housing and focus on their health with as little as five hours of attorney time. Kaiser Permanente’s investment in civil legal aid infrastructure and research is not only a testament to their role as national leaders in the MLP movement, but as a catalyst for future health innovators committed to ensuring access to justice for all. Incorporating medical-legal partnership into civil legal practice is not only transforming the legal aid field, it is empowering health leaders and the health sector with a nuanced understanding of the role of civil legal aid, unleashing new resources, and building a broader base of advocates for justice. Health care sector leaders are now poised to amplify investments, framing and research that will usher in a new era of medical-legal partnership
