Chief Justice Loretta Rush Joins Legal Community for Legal Services Corporation’s Access to Justice Forum

INDIANAPOLIS – Legal aid providers, health care experts, and leaders of the legal community will gather on Friday, October 19, to discuss ways of expanding access to justice for low-income Americans. The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is hosting two panel presentations in conjunction with its Board of Directors’ quarterly meeting.

The first panel, “Holistic Approaches to Serving Legal Aid Clients,” will include speakers from a variety of service settings discussing how best to meet client needs. The panelists are Carla James, Director of Financial Foundations, John Boner Neighborhood Centers; Cheryl Koch-Martinez, Consumer Advocacy Project Director, Indiana Legal Services; Nick Parker, Staff Attorney, Indiana Legal Services; and Peter Zubler, Director of Operations, Community, and Intake, Tangram. LSC President James J. Sandman will moderate the panel.

The second panel, “Access to Justice and the Opioid Epidemic,” will examine the role of legal aid in confronting the opioid crisis. The panelists are Jay Chaudhary, Managing Attorney and Director of Medical Legal Partnerships, Indiana Legal Services; Brandon George, Executive Director, Indiana Addictions Issues Coalition; Dr. Ashley M. Overley, Chief Executive Officer, Eskenazi Health Midtown Community Mental Health; and Chief Justice Loretta H. Rush, Indiana Supreme Court and Co-Chair, National Judicial Opioid Task Force.LSC Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel Ronald S. Flagg will serve as moderator.

LSC Chair John G. Levi will deliver opening remarks prior to the panels. Professor Victor D. Quintanilla, Indiana University Maurer School of Law, and Jennifer Thuma, Associate Director of Professional Development and Pro Bono, Indiana University McKinney School of Law, will also deliver remarks.

The forum will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Indiana Supreme Court, 200 W. Washington Street, Room 315. Members of the press are invited to attend.

The event will also be livestreamed via Facebook Live. To view it, visit LSC’s Facebook page.

Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is an independent nonprofit established by Congress in 1974. For 50 years, LSC has provided financial support for civil legal aid to low-income Americans. The Corporation currently provides funding to 131 independent nonprofit legal aid programs in every state, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.  