White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable Releases Access to Justice in the Age of COVID-19

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Harry Seidman 
202.480.2085 
hseidman@acus.gov 

White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable Releases Access to Justice in the Age of COVID-19 

The Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) is pleased to join the White House and Department of Justice in announcing the release of the 2021 Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable Report, Access to Justice in the Age of COVID-19.  

The report describes the adverse impact of the pandemic on access to government programs, identifies key lessons learned since March 2020, and highlights innovation strategies adopted to advance access to government programs including expanding virtual services. Among the creative innovations the report highlights is ACUS Recommendation 2021-4, Virtual Hearings in Agency Adjudication, which provides “access-to-justice recommendations for all virtual Federal agency adjudications.” 

ACUS is one of 28 member agencies of the Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable named in President Biden’s May 18, 2021 Memorandum on Restoring the Department of Justice’s Access-to-Justice Function and Reinvigorating the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable. Chaired by White House Counsel Dana Remus and Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Roundtable develops policy recommendations and best practices to improve access to justice and facilitate coordination among federal programs on access-to-justice issues. 

“ACUS will continue and expand upon its critical work in improving the access to federal programs by unrepresented parties in agency adjudications and other legal proceedings,” said Matthew Lee Wiener, the Acting Chair, Vice Chair, and Executive Director of ACUS. 

About ACUS 

The Administrative Conference of the United States is an independent federal agency within the executive branch dedicated to improving the administrative process through consensus-driven applied research and providing nonpartisan expert advice and recommendations for federal agency procedures. Its membership is composed of senior federal officials, academics, and other experts from the private sector. Except for the Chairman, all Conference Members are unpaid.   

The Conference is committed to promoting effective public participation and efficiency in the rulemaking process by leveraging interactive technologies and encouraging open communication with the public as well as making improvements to the regulatory process by reducing unnecessary litigation and improving the use of science and the effectiveness of applicable laws. Learn more at www.acus.gov.