Vermont Supreme Court order establishes Commission on Delivery of Legal Services to “advance the availability of legal and judicial services in underserved areas of the state.”

Tennessee Supreme Court order solicits “public comments on potential regulatory reforms to increase access to quality legal representation.”

The Courts Language Access Working Group of the Massachusetts Language Access Coalition issues new report titled: Justice Disrupted – Improving Language Access at the Massachusetts Trial Courts

ABA Governmental Affairs Office issues Government Shutdown Primer with Legal Focus, providing an overview of how the shutdown is affecting courts, legal services, and the broader legal profession alongside timelines and impacts.

News Headlines

ATJ Commissions & Related Developments

IL – Illinois Contingent Attends ABA Forum on Building Access to Justice For All

MA - Symposium to Look at Access to Justice, Tech Innovation

Legal Aid Funding & Service Delivery

Immigrants With Successful Habeas Cases Can Seek Attorneys’ Fees

CA – S.F. Nonprofit Just Began Offering Legal Aid to Trans Immigrants. Requests Are Pouring In.

CA – After Trump Surge Scare, SF Supervisors Race to Fund Immigrant Legal Defense

IL – Free Mobile Legal Aid Vans Travel Illinois Counties, Edwardsville, Belleville Stops Are Upcoming

IN – Free Legal Clinic Set for Next Week in Franklin

NC – Pisgah Legal Offering Health Insurance Aid in Midst of Changes

NC – NC Lawmakers Hamstring Access to Civil Legal Aid

NC – The Right’s War on the Poor Hits a New Low With Attack on Legal Aid

NC – State Lawmakers Put Funding for Nonprofit Legal Help on Ice

NC – Legal Aid of NC Shutters 2nd Office Amid $6M Funding Freeze

NC – Rural NC Legal Aid Offices Close After General Assembly Freezes Public Assistance Fund Over Politics

OH – Legal Aid’s Colleen Cotter is Making Justice Work for Everyone in Cleveland

OH – Owed Money By Your Employer? Here are Some Options for Fighting Back

SC – In South Carolina, Evictions Are the ‘Scarlet E’ That Never Go Away

TN – Law Firm Ownership Could Be Opened to Non-Lawyers in Tennessee

TX – Texas RioGrande Legal Aid Awarded $1.8 Million From Texas Access to Justice Foundation for Legal Aid for Flood Survivors

VT – ‘A Real Problem for Our Democracy:’ Vermont Supreme Court Forms Commission to Look at Legal Deserts

VT – Vermont Supreme Court Forms Commission to Look at Legal Deserts

WI – Ascendium: New Report Exposes Rural Legal Access Crisis, Highlights Community Solutions

Developments in the Courts

Judges See an Immigration Court Gutted From Inside

Pro Bono & Public Service

Many Trump Deal Firms Could Fulfill Pro Bono Pledges in Less Than a Year. But Will They?

TN – Tenn Bar Launches Pro Bono Portal to Connect Lawyers with Those in Need

Technology & Data

AI Won’t Replace Lawyers, But It Could Make Legal Services More Affordable

WashU Professor: AI Lawyers in the Future But Education Needs Mainstreaming Now

Legal Education

Blue States, Groups Sue Education Department Over Public Service Loan Forgiveness Rule Change

New Rule Limits Loan Forgiveness for Public Service Workers

New Trump Administration Rule Bars Student Loan Relief for Public Workers Tied to ‘Illegal’ Activity

Civil Right to Counsel

NY – Advocates Demand Overhaul of Struggling Right to Counsel Program

General Civil Justice

Trump Administration Will Partially Fund SNAP, But It Could Take Months

Are We Losing our Democracy?

Democratic-Led States Sue Trump Administration to Keep SNAP Food Assistance Funds Flowing

IL –Judge Grants Preliminary Injunction Against Bovino, Federal Agents Over Use of Force: “Shocks the Conscience”

IL – ‘Disturbing,’ ‘Disgusting,’ ‘Unconstitutional’: Judge Says of Chicago ICE Facility

California (Los Angeles) - Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County Seeks Litigation Associate Supervising Attorney; Director of Housing & Homelessness Prevention. Applications due by November 30, 2025.

Georgia (Morrow, Clayton County) – Atlanta Legal Aid Society Seeks Managing Attorney. Applications due by November 28, 2025.

Illinois (Chicago) – CARPLS Legal Aid Seeks to fill Knowledge Design & Management Position. Applications due by November 7, 2025.

Illinois (Chicago) – Legal Aid Chicago Seeks Staff Attorney – Consumer. Applications due by December 31, 2025.

Massachusetts (Worcester) - Community Legal Aid Seeks Staff Attorney - Medical-Legal Aid Partnership. Applications due by November 13, 2025.

Michigan (Saginaw) - Legal Services of Eastern Michigan Seeks Executive Director. Applications due by December 5, 2025.

Minnesota (St. Paul) – Gender Justice Seeks Legal Director. Applications due by November 28, 2025.

New York (Buffalo) – Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo Seeks Executive Director. Applicants selected to move forward for an initial screening call should expect to be contacted by November 2025.

New York (New York) - Lawyers Alliance for New York Seeks Pro Bono Counsel.

Nebraska (Various) - Legal Aid of Nebraska Seeks Staff Attorneys. Applications due by November 30, 2025.

New York (Syracuse, Utica, Binghamton, and Oswego) - legal Services of Central New York Seeks Staff Attorney (Multiple Positions). Applications due by December 31, 2025.

New York (Geneva) – Legal Assistance of Western New York Seeks Staff Attorney. Applications due by November 30, 2025.

Washington (Various) - Northwest Justice Project Seeks Staff Attorneys. Applications due by November 28, 2025.

The ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense and the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility are co-sponsoring a webinar entitled Collective Responsibility for Access to Justice: Lawyer Supervision of Allied Legal Professionals on November 10, 2025 at 1:00 pm EST.

The LSC Innovations in Technology Conference will take place on January 28-30, 2026 in San Antonio, Texas.

ABA Day 2026 will take place on March 24-26, 2026 in Washington, D.C.

The ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conference will take place on May 13-16, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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