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The Justices of the Louisiana Supreme Court congratulate the Louisiana State Bar Association (LSBA) on being selected to receive the 2023 Harrison Tweed Award presented by the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense (SCLAID) and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA). The award, which will be presented at the ABA Annual Meeting in Denver Colorado on August 4, 2023, recognizes the extraordinary achievements of state and local bar associations that develop or significantly expand projects or programs to increase access to civil legal services to persons living in poverty or criminal defense services to indigents.
The LSBA is being recognized with the Harrison Tweed Award for its creation of innovative Legal Help Access Points. Made possible through a National Center for State Courts (NCSC) Justice for All (JFA) grant, the Legal Help Access Points provide access to legal services in underserved areas of the state where civil legal in-person services and resources are further than a 45-minute drive. (The Louisiana Bar Foundation was the fiscal agent for the grant.) With assistance from local courts, public libraries, and non-profit community agencies, Harrisonburg, Lake Providence and Vidalia currently have access points. The LSBA’s Access to Justice Commission hopes to continue beyond the grant to establish access points throughout the state.
“The Justices of the Louisiana Supreme Court and I congratulate the Louisiana State Bar Association on being selected as the recipient of the 2023 Harrison Tweed Award,” said Chief Justice John L. Weimer. “I am immensely proud that the attorneys and staff of the Louisiana State Bar Association received this richly deserved significant national recognition. By establishing Legal Help Access Points in underserved areas of Louisiana, the LSBA continues to rightly and positively address access to justice issues faced by certain of our state’s citizens, utilizing technology and available resources to assist in ‘civil legal deserts’ to provide a starting point for legal help in those communities. This award appropriately publicly recognizes that Louisiana attorneys are dedicated to assisting the needy and less fortunate and ensuring that all have access to justice. This recognition underscores that our state’s attorneys voluntarily devote that which is irreplaceable, namely their time, training and talent, plus their financial support in doing so much for so many who have so little but such great needs,” Chief Justice Weimer added.
“The Legal Help Access Points are the most recent demonstration of the LSBA’s promise to ensure access to justice. The ABA’s recognition of our access to justice work with the Harrison Tweed Award reassures us that these efforts are important and should continue,” said 2023-24 LSBA President Shayna L. Sonnier.
The award was created in 1956 and was named for Harrison Tweed, an outstanding leader in the promotion of free legal services to the poor.
