The Coalition for Court Access (CCA) was created to provide a focused and comprehensive organizational structure for Indiana’s civil legal aid programs. One of the CCA’s goals is the improvement of access to and delivery of civil legal services to persons of limited means and low to moderate income.
The CCA is developing a website to provide legal resources, court forms, and self-help tools. Set to launch in Summer 2018, the website will also include an opportunity to link people with limited scope representation and mediation/alternative dispute resolution resources.
In 2016, the Indiana Supreme Court began collecting information from attorneys during annual registration on their pro bono practices. While providing pro bono services is not required in Indiana, it is encouraged.
The data collection was designed to capture baseline information to allow the Court to put together a roadmap for areas of service that need improvement. Collected for two consecutive years, the data assists the CCA with their mission.
Most recent pro bono data shows 54% of non-exempt* Indiana attorneys contributed time and/or money in 2016, an 8% increase from the previous year. In addition, nearly 450,000 hours of time was contributed, and financial contributions totaled more than $1M.
* Over 6,000 of the nearly 22,000 attorneys in Indiana are exempt because they are retired/inactive, employed by the government, or members of the judiciary.