The White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable (WH-LAIR) has released their first annual report, entitled “Expanding Access to Justice, Strengthening Federal Programs”. The report exemplifies the ability and utility of including civil legal aid as one of the tools used by agencies, legal aid service providers, the U.S. Department of Justice and others to affect change in communities and for vulnerable peoples.

The following related publications are available online:
Expanding Access to Justice, Strengthening Federal Programs Report: https://www.justice.gov/atj/page/file/913981/download

White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable Issues First Annual Report to the President Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/white-house-legal-aid-interagency-roundtable-issues-first-annual-report-president

Fact Sheet: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/914066/download

Blog Post: WH-LAIR Designated Co-Chairs Announce First Annual Report to the President

In 2015, British Labour member of the House of Lords, Lord Willy Bach was tasked by several leading members of the United Kingdom’s Labour Party with conducting a review of the legal aid system. In response, Lord Bach created a commission with the larger goal of carrying out a review of access to justice in England and Wales. The first report on the Bach Commission’s findings was published in November, 2016 and is available here: http://www.fabians.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Access-to-Justice_final_web.pdf