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Claudia Johnson

Claudia Johnson

Lecturer in Law

Claudia manages LawHelp Interactive, an award winning document assembly platform and training program at Pro Bono Net. In this role, Claudia made online forms a trusted go to innovation to increase access for those without lawyers and works with hundreds of non-profits and courts to use online forms to increase the quantity and quality of services to those underserved.

Claudia has worked on access to justice through technology for 16 years, starting at Bay Area Legal Aid in Oakland to design and created the Legal Advice Line. Claudia has been an innovator for 23 years starting the lawyer of the day project in eviction court in San Francisco, the Language Access Project at CLS, Philadelphia. Claudia helped draft the LEP Court Standards approved by the ABA. Claudia served on the working group that released the Best Practices on E-filing for SRLs published by LSC. She is a member of the WA State ATJ Commission Technology group, and was named Promoter of Justice by the Commission in 2018. She blogs with Pro Bono Net’s Connecting Justice Communities blog, http://www.connectingjusticecommunities.com/.

Claudia participated in the workgroup that rewrote the Access to Justice Principles recently approved by the Washington State Supreme Court (June 2020). courts.wa.gov/court_rules/pdf/AM/AM_ATJ_ATJTechnologyPrinciples.pdf

Her work on online forms was highlighted by the NY Times in 2016: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/01/opinion/legal-aid-with-a-digital-twist.html?_r=0  . In 2018 Claudia was recognized in the fastcase50 http://www.fastcase.com/fastcase50/?class=2018 and as one of LTRC’s Women of Legal Tech 2018 https://www.lawtechnologytoday.org/2018/04/ltrcs-women-of-legal-tech-2018/

Claudia is a frequent panelist and contributor to legal conferences doing more than 200 workshops in multiple conferences, including the NLADA Annual Conference, the Equal Justice NLADA/ABA conference, and the Innovation and Technology Conference sponsored by LSC, since 2001. She has served on conference planning groups, and is currently part of the bi-annual Access to Justice Conference for Washington State that will happen in August 2021.

Claudia has been interviewed for national and international blogs and podcasts including:
NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/01/opinion/legal-aid-with-a-digital-twist.html?_r=0  . In 2018 Claudia was recognized in the fastcase50 http://www.fastcase.com/fastcase50/?class=2018 and as one of LTRC’s Women of Legal Tech 2018 https://www.lawtechnologytoday.org/2018/04/ltrcs-women-of-legal-tech-2018/
Claudia Johnson’s Experience at the Innovations in Technology Conference, March 5, 2020 Connecting Justice Communities https://www.connectingjusticecommunities.com/claudia-johnson-itc-2020/2020/03/
Using Tech to magnify the goodness of inclusive legal services with Claudia Johnson, Andrea Perry Petersen, Reimagine Justice Podcast Interview 2020 http://www.andreaperrypetersen.com.au/podcast/
The Legal Advice Line: A Link to Clients and Communities Every Day in Times of Crisis, Bay Area Legal Aid Blog, 20th Anniversary Series, March 2020
https://baylegal.org/the-legal-advice-line-a-link-to-clients-and-communities-every-day-and-in-times-of-crisis/

She is currently serving in the select working group that is rewriting the legal standards for civil legal aid groups with the ABA/SCLAID Committee, focusing on technology and privacy. In addition, she serves on the Board of the Future of the Profession Initiative at Penn Carey Law, Toll Center at Penn Carey Law, Washington ACLU Board of Directors, and ATJ Tech Fellow Board of Advisors, and the Internet Legal Steering Committee at Stanford University. She serves as a reviewer for the National Center for State Courts magazine, Future Trends in State Courts. Claudia started her legal career as a Skadden Fellow in Philadelphia. She is has 3 degrees from UC Berkeley, a BA, and an MPP form the Goldman School, and an MPH from the School of Public health. Her law degree from University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School L’97.  She is an immigrant, tri lingual, and bi-coastal residing in Eastern WA and Columbia Maryland.