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Access to justice challenge will award up to $15,000

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Got any ideas to make the justice system work more equitably? Here’s good news. The Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) wants to hear them and you could earn a cool $15,000 if the concepts are honored. 

LSAC’s Justice Innovation Challenge will award up to that amount in seed funding and mentorship to law students with compelling ideas for addressing access to justice issues.

Open to all current law students in the U.S., the challenge requires individuals and teams of up to four members to collaborate with a nonprofit legal services organization to assist low-income people in need of legal support. Issues the teams will focus on include domestic violence, consumer debt, evictions, business entity formation, foreclosures, and access to government benefits. Participants will present their best ideas to a panel of judges, who will award three winners $15,000, $10,000, and $5,000 respectively to bring their ideas to fruition.

“Advancing access to justice by building a more diverse pipeline of future law students is a vital part of LSAC’s mission to work toward a more just and prosperous world,” said LSAC President and CEO Kellye Testy. “The spirited determination to confront inequality with innovative solutions inspired us to develop the Justice Innovation Challenge as a platform that supports the next generation of leaders as they turn their ideas for furthering equity and access into action and, ultimately, results. I look forward to seeing the creativity of law students who want to change the world by furthering equity and access.”

“The Justice Innovation Challenge is one of the ways we’re galvanizing and mobilizing the next generation of law students who are passionate about addressing various inequalities in our justice system with truly bold solutions,” said Miguel Willis, LSAC Presidential Innovation Fellow, whose role in part is to show prospective students the pathways to serve that do not necessarily depend upon traditional legal employment.

Willis is also director of the Access to Justice Tech Fellows program, which was initially catalyzed through a similar pitch competition. “Today’s law students are articulating incredibly sophisticated, powerful, and profound ideas about ways that we can expand access to justice, and it’s an honor to support them.”

The deadline for submissions is July 19. Interested participants can apply at atjtechfellows.org/justiceinnovationchallenge.

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