When I went to the Chinatown Pro Bono Legal Clinic in Chicago, I always wished that I could speak Cantonese! A large portion of Chinese immigrants who came to the United States in the last century spoke only Cantonese since Mandarin at that time had not been populated yet. However, in comparison to the big crowd of Cantonese-speaking people who are in need of legal help, most of the law students who come from China today speak little Cantonese unless they are from Cantonese-speaking areas in the Southern China. Whether it is an English-teaching program or a pro bono clinic held at the Chinatown Pro Bono Legal Clinic, it is always the Cantonese-speaking students who are in shortage. I am trying to think if there is anyway that we can expand the volunteer group so as to include more Cantonese-speaking interpreters. Here is what I have thought of.

I first thought that we can teach Mandarin-speaking students Cantonese. However, this is not a practical idea since language is not something that you can learn in a short time. A lot of law students only stay here in Chicago for one year. And the legal clinic is held only once a month. The low frequency of the clinic and the short time of students’ stay makes it hard to teach students Cantonese and then let them volunteer.

Then I thought that a lot of those old people have children who can speak fluent English. So the problem can be solved if the old people bring their children together with them. But this idea is not good since some people come here to consult about wills and distribution of estate, which they might hope to hide from their children before death. Also, as I know, many of those children do not live in Chicago, which put a second hinder on the idea.

So then I thought we could expand the interpreter group by including more college students. It is possible that the Chinatown legal clinic contact the Asian-Pacific student organizations or Chinese student associations in each college to recruit interested Cantonese-speaking students and sign them up in a Google group. We can then send those students emails when they are needed. It might be a potential problem associated with legal terms when people have no idea how to translate. However, in most circumstances, no complicated legal term is involved since student/interpreter’s job is mainly to intake information, and lay people do not describe their daily life using legal terms. Also, the legal clinic can create a list of common legal terms that might be used in the volunteer work.

From a long-standing point, if this group of volunteer is established, the court system can use the same group of volunteers as well for interpretation in court.

 

Aloha and welcome back to my blog,

This blog entry will be talking less about my projects here at Legal Aid Society of Hawaii and more on a greater problem the legal profession is experiencing. Legal disparities that are based on race and ethnicity. Out of that disparity was born “Race-Based Advocacy”, an activity that actively challenges both current and historical barriers that impede equal access to opportunity and advancement by minorities.

Camille Holmes and her team at the Center for Law and Social Policy identified two strategies which race-based advocacy encompasses. The first is antidiscrimination statutes that prohibit discrimination in substantive areas of law like housing, lending, contracts, property, employment, and federally funded programs. The second is advocacy that identifies and prioritizes the concerns of minority groups and develops strategies which address discriminatory practices.

The full article can be found at http://www.povertylaw.org/files/docs/article/chr_2002_may_june_holmes.pdf

Here in Hawaii, we have been seen as the melting pot of the Pacific. LIFE Magazine declared in 1945 that “there are so many races, pure and mixed, that prejudice for or against any one of them is simply impractical.” However, we at LASH are seeing that one group of citizens come face to face with more prejudice and more barriers to legal help than the rest.

The Micronesian population, which includes a wide range of populations and hundreds of more dialects that have emigrated from Micronesia exceed 20,000 and more than 8,000 have come to Hawaii. With limited access to health care, housing, government assistance, and legal services, obtaining basic necessities can be a mountainous challenge.

Map of the Federated States of Micronesia

In observance of such disparities, Legal Aid Society of Hawaii has taken major steps to guarantee justice for all and has come out with self-help brochures, online videos in two of the major Micronesian languages (Chuukes and Marshallese). On top of that, the organization has developed an outreach unit that visits communities that have high populations of Micronesians to help with government benefits, secure housing and more.

As I have touched upon in earlier weeks, we have been utilizing design thinking to help solve problems and bridge the gaps in the justice system.

Design thinking utilizes seven basic principles: 1) visualize ideas; 2) rapidly prototype possible solutions; 3) figure out the needs, action themes, and values; 4) observe users; 5) be open to change; 6) don’t seek perfection, seek “enough”; and 7) work in interdisciplinary teams.

How would I approach a task to shrink the gaps of legal aid for Micronesian communities? How would you approach this problem? The easy outcome would, of course, be equal access to all with the goal being able to help everyone that walks through our doors. The journey from step A to step Z, however, remains uneasy to articulate beyond having more native speakers join the LASH team.

The low-hanging fruit would be to remove barriers like language and cultural differences and to increases usage and efficiency. But maybe I am just at a mental block right now.

Any food for thought? Perhaps one of you can find the solution.

Mahalo for reading and see you next week where I will update you on my progress with my projects here at Legal Aid Society of Hawaii.

This video may be a hint as to what it might be.

Until then,

Surfs up!

Chad Au

I can admit it. I am not the most organized person on the planet. But then again, who is? In the legal field (and in life), there can be a lot piled on your plate…at one time. Sometimes you may wonder how you will accomplish all of your tasks. Well, there is a simple solution that has worked wonders for me this summer- Agile Planning Methodology (also referred to as the Agile Movement). Agile development consists of three simple steps: 1) develop the items in your queue, which can be a list of goals or ideas for implementation of your project 2) develop your release backlog (this will include the projects or steps you will focus on during your first cycle); 3) determine a sprint cycle time (e.g. two weeks into the project you will meet with your team or supervisors to review what you have completed in your release backlog and what still needs to be worked on). This third step also includes iteration, which is pretty much repeating the process (steps 1-3) until your project goals are met. One way you can manage your progress is with a visual board (can be physical) or you can manage your progress by using a virtual board. There are several free web-based project planning boards such as Trello (https://trello.com).

This summer, I have found the third phase provides the opportunity to implement necessary changes. The sprint cycle review process is really a brainstorming session of sorts. This part of the process consists of meeting with your team (or client) to discuss goals, possible barriers, and tactical solutions. As such, the weekly meetings with colleagues and supervisors have been quite insightful. For instance, we have weekly case review to discuss cases (or projects) we may be working on. We give a brief synopsis of a current case (or project) and possible strategies to achieve the client (or project) goals. We then open up the time for other legal staff to weigh in. They may bring up applicable case law, pertinent resources, and other strategies for success. This process is very useful, not only for new attorneys, but also as a general collaborative effort between experienced legal professionals. The meeting need not be three or four hours. A lot can be done during the course of an hour (depending on the size of the group and the amount of matters to be discussed). I have received immense feedback and strategies from my supervising attorneys regarding the recent Adoption CLE-certified webinar I was assigned to create. Aside from logistics and strategic planning, opportunities arise during these meetings. As such, during a recent team meeting with other interns and our supervising attorneys, I was offered an incredible opportunity to assist with a special project that will essentially provide access to vital resources which are needed for Alaskan families, low-income residents, and those with disabilities. This is exactly the type of project I am passionate about; this is why I decided to immerse myself in the legal field in the first place

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Agile Movement for Life…Literally
Project management skills are not just limited to law offices or business practices. Agile Methodology can become a way of life. I have been using this process to manage my daily tasks outside of the office. I still use a day planner, (along with Trello). I find that using a day planner, a calendar, and a web-based planner allow me to be more efficient, accountable, and plan accordingly. I even schedule “me time” on my board, because it is imperative to have a work-life balance, especially with so much knowledge about mental health being just as significant as physical health (we will delve deeper into this topic at a later time). It is imperative to take care of ourselves in “real life” in order to be productive in our “work life”. Efficient planning, prioritizing responsibilities, and brainstorming with others in your area of expertise can lead to success. It is time to be productive. It is time to embrace agility. It is time to get with the movement. The winds of change are blowing.

“Agility is the ability to adapt and respond to change…agile organizations view change as an opportunity, not a threat.“ -Jim Highsmith

Artificial intelligence and autonomous weapons are two potentially very different technologies, which raises many complexities. AI is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines. These processes include “learning (the acquisition of information and rules for using the information), reasoning (using the rules to reach approximate or definite conclusions), and self-correction”[1] AI can perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as: visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.

Autonomous Weapons Systems (AWS) are defined by the U.S. Department of Defense (D.O.D.) as “a weapon system(s) that, once activated, can select and engage targets without further intervention by a human operator.”[2] AWS are interesting because unlike the material and technologies necessary for guided missiles or nuclear weapons, right now AI is only as powerful as what the Pentagon seeks to harness and it is already deeply woven into our brains and used in everyday life. The D.O.D.’s science research division reinforces the concept that AI within autonomous robotic systems will be a critical part of the United States’ ongoing defense strategy. The D.O.D.’s report perceives tactical advantages from purely self-driven machines and humans working together in the field. For example, in one scenario (figure 2), a group of drones with AI would congregate above a combat zone to autonomously fire against the enemy, provide real-time surveillance of the area and jam enemy communications.

Fully autonomous weapons can be empowered to assess the situational context on a battleground and to decide on the necessary attack according to the information processed; this is where AI is introduced. Since the vital unique standard of human reasoning is the capability to set ends and goals, the AWS proposes for the first time the likelihood of eradicating the human operator from the battleground. A Pentagon executive says that weapons with AI must employ “appropriate levels of human judgment.” Yet scientists and human rights experts argue that the standard is far too broad and have urged that such weapons be subject to “meaningful human control.”[3] The development of AWS technology signifies the potential for a conversion in the structure of war that qualitatively differs from previous military technological innovations.

Today, drones with the ability to operate on their own can be effortlessly be armed, but the drone’s behavior is not yet predictable enough for highly fluid situations to be deployed safely. Once the AI is advanced enough to do that, telling it whom or what to shoot is simple as weapons programmed to strike only specific kinds of targets already exist. Yet the cognitive technology, when successfully developed, is improbable to remain solely in American hands as technologies constructed do not normally remain secret, and numerous are now universal, operating everything from the internet to self-driving cars. Right now, our concern should be more focused on ensuring the public’s safety, rather than mongering fear and opposing such new technologies.

 

Until next time,

ASW
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[1] Rouse, Margaret. “What Is AI (Artificial Intelligence)? – Definition from WhatIs.com.” SearchCIO. TechTarget, n.d.

[2] “The Ethics of Autonomous Weapons Systems.” Penn Law. University of Pennsylvania Law School, Nov. 2014.

[3] Roff, Heather M. “Meaningful Human Control or Appropriate Human Judgment? The Necessary Limits on Autonomous Weapons.” (2015): 2. Global Security. Arizona State University.

One of the most important parts to putting together Michigan Legal Help is user testing. We get so familiar with the website that we are hyper-sensitive to any changes, and because we know how we want it to work it always works, even if it doesn’t work for others. As we build triage we have to get feedback from those who will use our site in order to have the most effective and easiest to use site possible. So what does user testing mean for us at Michigan Legal Help?

User testing means staying out in the sun for eight hours on the two hottest days of the summer, recruiting sometimes unwilling testers from the library patrons, and for one of us it meant getting hit on by an overly zealous tester.

User testing means eating ice cream (only after we’re done testing!) and getting to know your co-workers in ways that perhaps you never imagined. User testing is trial and error – learning that testers hate testing online intake so much that it might not be worth that $20 Kroger gift card we drew them in with. User testing is also trial and error with our own equipment. As in figuring out the quirks of technology in the middle of user testing, like when you guide a user to a place in the website only to find that the popup you expected doesn’t actually pop up when it’s supposed to! So it goes…  

Oh, and user testing is of course about improving Michigan Legal Help! The website is meant to be accessible from the way the articles are written to how people find help for their legal issues. After all, we’re designing the website for our users so it needs to work for them, not us. Finally, just because we’re working doesn’t mean that user testing can’t be any fun. Yes, I’m talking about the picture from the Coney display…

IMG_39581

In a job where we are researching, writing, and working with technology all day, user testing is the one place where we can interact with those who actually use our product; the people who are the closest thing that we have to clients for the summer. That in itself makes user testing fun for me. I have a passion for helping people and I am enjoying what I’m doing this summer because of how much I know it helps people. But seeing the product in users hands and seeing people light up when they learn how good the website is (yes, that happens), is a joy in itself that can’t be matched by any other work we’re doing.    

Project management swing

The Project

One project that LaDierdre and I are working on throughout the summer is the new system for Michigan Legal Help called triage. It is designed to guide people through the site to get the most relevant information for them without them having to manually search for all of it. This is a summer-long project because the new version of the website is due to go live in September! It makes for a very exciting time indeed at Michigan Legal Help.    

Triage:

 

  • The process of sorting victims, as of a battle or disaster, to determine medical priority in order to increase the number of survivors.
  • the determination of priorities for action:

             she began her workday with a triage of emails

 

Clearly, dictionary definition number one is not applicable here unless we want to refer to our website users as “victims,” which probably isn’t the best idea. So in our case triage refers more accurately to the second definition. Specifically, the triage technology prioritizes certain articles and references for the user based on information the user puts into triage.

 

Kanban

For visualization of our work we have two kanban boards that are conveniently located right in the middle of our workspace! One is for general work on the website and the other is for triage. They were previously color coordinated for each attorney in the office, so we put our work on the board with an unused color of sticky note. Some of the attorneys here also use Trello, but we decided to stick with the board because we’ve never done it before and we see it every day regardless of if we’re using it or not. It’s useful for me because I quickly compiled a list of things to work on every day, and when I walk into the office I can take a glance at the boards and see what I need to do without having to think about it. Below you’ll see what they look like.

 

IMG_39841

– photo by Dierdre

SCRUM

We have planned meetings for triage every other week, along with extra meetings before our user testing events. We also have a monthly meeting where we all check in and let Angela (our boss) know what we accomplished in the last month and what is on the table for the next month. The monthly meeting also functions as our sprint retrospective by providing a time to reflect and ask questions on what everyone has been able to do.

Scrum

Our scrums are effective for triage because of how often we must pivot our thinking. It was especially effective during user testing because we always learned new things during that time period.

For example, on our first day of user testing we learned that testing triage was a good use of our time, but testing our new online intake was not a good idea. A lot of people didn’t have their glasses (even though they were at the library), or they didn’t have very many computer skills, which made the intake test particularly hard. Our testers were usually agitated by the time they got through intake. The next day our team met to talk about what worked and what didn’t, and we decided to cut out intake testing for our next user test.

Bottlenecks

One bottleneck that I noticed in our process is actually our lack of user testing. We did user testing basically all week last week, but in the weeks that I was here before that we never did. We spent a lot of time talking about, for example, the best way to guide users to triage. Is it through a banner at the bottom or is it through a pop up right in your face? Along with that we discussed how each should look and what exactly they should say to get people to know that by clicking there they would get help.

When we user tested we found that people didn’t notice the banner at the bottom and didn’t like the popup. Those were results that we Now-That-You-Have-That-Feature-Done-I-Want-It-To-Do-Something-Else-Instead-Web-Developer-Memecould have discovered weeks ago even without all the time spent debating exactly how the banner needed to look, because users didn’t notice the banner at all, let alone the diligence that we had put into designing it. Given those results, it seems that user testing earlier on would have been a more efficient use of our time, rather than trying to design a perfect banner and popup even when we knew that one of them ultimately wouldn’t be used.

Reflection

I think that one of the great challenges with working on the technology side of the law is how disconnected we are from the people who we are serving. We have to think of them every day while trying to write articles that they will understand, or how to make the website appealing and easy to use. Despite that, it’s pretty rare that we can actually ask our users what they think of our creation. We always have to keep perspective on what we’re doing, and hopefully the process that we use will invite us to maintain that perspective. Our project management techniques insure that every time we come together we’re testing each other on what’s good and what’s bad about the website.

Starting a new internship can bring about deep feelings of anxiety. You want to make a good first impression, get things right on the first try, and not seem like a nag with all your questions. But one of the most important things we often forget about is building relationships with our colleagues.  

It is very important to cultivate good working relationships with your colleagues. I know you’re thinking… “I don’t need to make friends at work.” But face it, YOU DO! Learning the ins and outs of a new job is difficult, especially when you don’t have someone showing you the ropes.

So here’s my advice. MAKE CONNECTIONS!

Now, I know you’re thinking “easier said than done.” Don’t be afraid.  Just reach out to people. I’ll be honest there is a SLIGHT chance certain people won’t be responsive. But for the most part, people will be happy to talk to you and admire your assertiveness. So how do you make these so-called connections?

Simple, start a conversation. I don’t mean a generic conversation that ends with “I’m fine. Thanks for asking.” So what should you talk about? You have to talk about something general because you don’t know the person that well. Yet you need something of substance because you want the conversation to be organic. The answer is easy…..

NoParking

Parking, especially in Ann Arbor, is such a pain. It’s a common struggle that people can relate to and love to complain about. You can use the horrors of parking to initiate a conversation with just about anyone in your office. 

 

 

 

 

                                                           eLearning-Agile-Project-Management

Step One: Define Project Scope and Timeline

The project I am talking about today is to create default judgement forms for a divorce case. After one has filed a case for divorce, a default divorce comes into play when the respondent is either never served in person (can’t be found), or is served but does not file an answer/appearance. However, the petitioner would like to proceed with the divorce anyway. A default judgment will generally grant only part of the requested relief and reserve some issues until later when the respondent appears or participates. The forms packet would include:
1) Motion for Default Judgement for Dissolution of Marriage
2) Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage/Civil Union
3) Notice of Motion

The work I need to do includes: review the statewide divorce forms, the ILAO’s divorce content, the IICLE chapter on the IMDMA (Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act) and some of our automated documents (divorce with children and divorce without children); set up a meeting with an LAF family law attorney to confirm what forms we need and what instructions we should give; draft new forms or revise on existing forms to make two versions of this–one with minor children and one without.

I think this project will last at least two weeks. For this week, I will review all those materials to get a basic understanding of divorce forms and default judgment of divorce. Next week, my supervisor and me will discuss what we have with the LAF attorney and make revisions accordingly.

Step Two: Kanban – Visualize your work in Production

 

CLEVERISM.COM-magazine-Kanban-board11

To visualize my work, my supervisor created the issue for me on Kanban board and I dragged it from “To do” to “In progress/Bundling.”

Before I began working on the issue:

kanban capture-before

After I dealt with the issue:

kanban capture-after

Step Three: SCRUM

I went through this process on my own. Here are some of my reflections.

I reviewed the statewide form and the ILAO content on divorce yesterday. I tested our divorce with children program this morning and found that when the petitioner knows that their spouse/partner can not be served or will not show up, the program will automatically help them prepare a Certificate and Motion for Default and an Order of Default. Also, I discussed with my supervisor what our current program already includes and identify it might be the case that only petitioners whose spouse is served but do not file an appearance/answer would need this separate program.

I will work on what questions we would like to ask during an interview for the default judgment divorce packet and what qualifications those petitioners should have. In addition, we will discuss with an LAF attorney to further confirm where we are going is right.

For similar projects, I would suggest myself go through our existing interviews first (since we have a rich content and interviews and the answer may already be there) and then identify what we need to add or revise. I hope the future me would not spend time on random Google search because content provided by family law attorneys could not be easily verified and is not as reliable as content from Illinois Courts and ILAO.

Step Four: Identify Bottlenecks and Iterate

Since the default judgment does not exist in every divorce case, one problem we need to address is to clearly define the qualifications. What we have thought of right now is that the spouse/partner of the petitioner is served but does not file an appearance/answer. Petitioners who thought their spouse/partner would be served but in reality was not might also qualify for this program.

Step Five: Self Reflection

Agile Project Management is especially helpful when I have multiple assignments throughout this summer. The visualization shows me what I need to do every day and all the developments and updates on one project.

Aloha kakou,

There is a ‘ōlelo no‘eau (Hawaiian proverb) that reads “‘Ike aku, ‘ike mai. Kōkua aku, kōkua mai. Pēlā ka nohona ‘ohana.” This translates into “Watch, observe. Help others and accept help. That is the family way.” In a way the ancient Hawaiians had implemented a very modern project management system commonly known as “agile” into their everyday lives.

(In these stressful times, feel free to play the relaxing sounds of waves while you read today’s entry.)

Agile embraces change, even when it comes later in the development stage. There is a strong belief that improvement at any stage leads to a better product. Agile also encourages cooperation between interdisciplinary fields, observing the successes of certain projects and learning from the downfalls from others. The process produces efficiency and quality product. The core principles from the Agile Manifesto can be found at https://www.agilealliance.org/agile101/12-principles-behind-the-agile-manifesto/.

The scope of my project includes three main goals. First, to create a portal that will encourage pro bono activity at Legal Aid Society of Hawaii (LASH). Second, to create a program that can help navigate users on the website get to their resources without leaving the homepage. Third, to help the in-take workers increase efficiency by digitizing all of their resources into one easily accessibly location.

Each of these goals cannot be met without meeting with the key players that they will effect. This means working with the staff and volunteers at LASH on a daily basis. I also meet with my amazing supervisor Sergio once a week to update him on my process and to bounce ideas back on how to improve my results.

These weekly meetings are called SCRUM, another popular framework of Agile in which fixed-length iterations called sprints are used to monitor progress. During SCRUM we evaluate what works, what does not, and how to improve from there. This step is crucial to producing a quality product.

I am sure you are asking yourself, “How does Chad do it all? There is so much going on.” Good question. I would be lost had it not been for “Kanban.” Kanban is a Japanese manufacturing system in which the supply of components is regulated through the use of an instruction card sent along the production line. An example of what Kanban might look like will be posted bellow. Of course this is not going to be my actual Kanban board as that would contain tons of confidential information that will remain as such.

I have been using Kanban, sometimes referred to as a task board, to organize my thoughts by reducing complex projects into a simple set of discrete steps. This allows me to track my progress and increases my moral by displaying incremental milestones. If you wanted to check out how you could use Kanban in your own daily life you can check out https://trello.com/ for some inspiration.

The one coconut hanging over my head at this point is the calendar. There is so much to do with so little time.

Now that you have reached the end of my entry, take a minute to close your eyes and continue listening to the sounds of the ocean wash over problems and take them out to sea.

Until next time!

Mahalo nui loa,

Chad Au