Justice Jorge Labarga will continue his leadership role as chair of the newly formed Workgroup on Access to Justice. This group, consisting of nine members including four judges and five representatives from the legal community and justice partners, succeeds the Access Commission, which Labarga established in 2014 during his tenure as Chief Justice.
Chief Justice Canady's administrative order emphasizes a shift towards a project-based approach to address specific challenges in accessing justice within the State Courts System. The Workgroup is tasked with focusing on improvements for self-represented litigants and supporting effective access to justice.
The initial directive for the Workgroup includes developing educational materials to assist self-represented litigants in court proceedings using remote technology. Additionally, it aims to address electronic filing by these litigants. Although electronic filing is not mandatory for self-represented individuals, it offers benefits such as access to Do-It-Yourself Florida interviews, an initiative supported by the Judicial Management Council and the E-Filing Portal.
The former Access Commission played a significant role in raising public awareness about access to justice issues through statewide broadcasts of public meetings, media briefings, and various initiatives. These included public outreach presentations, contributions to creating the Florida Courts Help mobile app, production of animated videos for self-represented litigants, and resource pages for veterans and COVID-19 legal matters.
"The Access Commission has successfully raised awareness about the important issue of access to civil justice in Florida’s courts," said Justice Labarga. "I am so thankful for the contributions of so many around our state and I look forward to the constructive work ahead for the Workgroup."
Members of this new Workgroup include Honorable Stacy M. Butterfield from Polk County, attorneys Gregory W. Coleman and Thomas S. Edwards Jr., Judge Jonathan D. Gerber from Fourth District Court of Appeal, Judge Nina Ashenafi Richardson from Leon County, Circuit Judge Linda L. Nobles from First Judicial Circuit, Leslie Powell-Boudreaux from Legal Services of North Florida, and John A. Tomasino from Florida Supreme Court.