A2JC Dispatch – October 2026 Issue
In this month’s Dispatch, we highlight our #KeepACE public awareness campaign to protect vital funding for Maryland’s Access to Counsel in Evictions program, announce the launch of our AI & A2J Community of Practice, and share key takeaways from the 2026 ABA National Access to Justice Forum. At a local level, we cover Maryland Legal Aid’s new statewide initiative to safeguard essential public benefits, MVLS’s newly released Transfer-on-Death Deed guide, and advocacy efforts surrounding DHS’s punitive green card denial of a local pastor. Nationally, we examine the World Justice Project’s latest Rule of Law Index, Texas’s landmark $26.7M investment in rural justice, and insights on how AI tools can help close the civil justice gap. You can find all these stories and more in this month’s Dispatch.
A2J Commission News
- A2JC Coordinates Public Awareness Campaign for ACE Funding The Access to Counsel in Evictions Program has reached full implementation in Maryland, helping tens of thousands of Marylanders stay housed. With 88% of the people wanting to remain in their homes able to do so and with over $46M returning to the state due to saved costs, the ACE law has proven itself to be both effective at keeping Marylanders housed and at saving the state money. Expecting a challenging budget environment to renew funding for this transformational law, A2JC is helping coordinate a public awareness #KeepACE social media campaign to educate candidates and elected officials about the impact of ACE and the need to continue funding it.
- A2JC Launches AI & A2J Community of Practice After a successful AI & A2J Summit, A2JC joins justice partners to launch an AI & A2J Community of Practice. The Community of Practice will allow Maryland’s access to justice community to learn and innovate together. The first monthly deep-dive session focused on Crafting an AI Policy for Civil Legal Aid Organizations. Presented by Leland Sampson of the People’s Law Library who serves on multiple AI committees in the Judiciary and serves as the co-chair of the MSBA’s AI Task Force, the session educated attendees on the components of an effective AI policy and shared practical resources and tools.
- National A2J Conference Inspires States to Do More The 2026 ABA Forum on Building Access to Justice for All took place in Indianapolis, IN from Oct 7-9, 2026. Key areas of focus included civil legal aid funding, legal first aid, community justice workers, AI, data mapping and visualization, alternative pathways to bar licensure, effective messaging, greening legal deserts and more. A2JC ED, Reena Shah, facilitated the final session with A2J Chairs and Staff that shared key takeaways and models for continued collaboration.
A2J Insights
A2JC Executive Director Reena Shah Joins Podcast to Discuss AI and Access to Justice Reena Shah, Executive Director of the Maryland Access to Justice Commission, joined Ron Drescher and Heather Gardner on their podcast AI Tools for Practicing Lawyers to ask what happens when technology breaks through that ceiling, and what happens when the general-purpose chatbots break through it first.
MSBA and A2JC Join Governor to Call on Attorneys to Defend Due Process in Immigration Cases In a joint op-ed for The Daily Record, Governor Wes Moore, Maryland Access to Justice Commission Chair Erek L. Barron, and Maryland State Bar Association President Natasha M. Dartigue urge Maryland attorneys to protect due process by serving as habeas corpus counsel in immigration matters.
Tips from Maryland Judiciary’s Access to Justice Department We are pleased to offer recurring content from the Maryland Judiciary’s Access to Justice Department as part of the A2J Dispatch.
- Maryland Court Forms and New Mandamus Form The Maryland Judiciary creates and maintains a plethora of court forms to assist court users, primarily self-represented litigants. Most recently, the Judiciary has created a new form for a Complaint for Writ of Mandamus to be used when the filer seeks an order to title a vehicle, watercraft, or other property. For assistance with locating and completing a form, the public can use the Court Forms Finder and Guide & File. The Forms Finder guides the user to the right form for their situation through a series of questions. Guide & File assists the user in filling out court forms through a guided interview. The answers to the interview questions are auto-populated into the form, and the user can then print the completed form or e-file it.
Local A2J News
- MVLS Provides Maryland Transfer-on-Death Deed User Guide MVLS recently released a transfer-on-death user guide. The guide offers information, sample Deeds, resources and other insights that may be helpful to your clients, to you, and to your friends and family.
- DHS Denies Pastor Molis Augustave’s Green Card Application — A Punitive Denial That Rewards Silence and Punishes Advocacy The Department of Homeland Security has denied York Pastor Molis Augustave’s pending I-485 application for lawful permanent residence, depriving him of the fair, thorough, and impartial review his case deserves.
- Maryland Legal Aid Launches Statewide Initiative to Protect Access to Essential Benefits Maryland Legal Aid has launched Benefits Justice Maryland, a statewide initiative to help Marylanders understand changing SNAP and Medical Assistance rules, take steps to protect their benefits, and get legal help when benefits are denied, reduced, delayed, or terminated.
- A Thousand Acts of Kindness: SLA Celebrates its Extraordinary Volunteers October is National Celebrate Pro Bono Month, when Shore Legal Access honors those who give their time to change lives. Initiated by the ABA’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service, the Celebration highlights the increased need for pro bono civil legal services nationally while commending grassroots efforts locally, like those undertaken by Shore Legal Access.
- Court Blocks SNAP Penalties, Clarifies Eligibility, But Advocates Still Worried A recent court ruling may have saved states from potentially ruinous financial penalties related to changes in SNAP rules, but advocates worry that thousands of Maryland families may still lose coverage as they try to navigate the changes.
National A2J News
- The World Justice Project Launches its Flagship Publication The World Justice Project (WJP) launched its flagship publication, the WJP Rule of Law Index. This year’s Index highlights a fundamental point: respect for the rule of law provides the predictability and confidence that investment, job creation, and economic growth depend on. Reliable evidence is essential to understanding where institutions are strengthening or weakening, and to informing an effective response.
- Texas Is Investing in Rural Justice. Better Data Can Grow Access The Texas Access to Justice Foundation in September announced a multiyear initiative funded with $26.7 million from the Supreme Court of Texas.
- Equal Justice Under the Law: Why Access to Justice Must Include the Ability to Wait for Justice As the United States Supreme Court begins a new term, the words carved above the entrance to the Supreme Court Building deserve renewed attention: Equal Justice Under Law.
- AI Tools Can Help Americans Meet Their Civil Legal Needs Studies show that low-income Americans receive insufficient or no legal help for 92% of their civil legal problems. Nonprofit legal aid organizations fill some of this justice gap.
- Florida Lawyers Report Nearly 1.7 Million Hours of Pro Bono Work The 1.7 million hours of pro bono work amounts to more than $85 million in free services, when calculated according to an estimate of $50 per hour in fees (based on doubling the $25-consultation fee charged by lawyers involved in the Bar’s Lawyer Referral Service).
- NCAJ Files Proposed Amicus Brief Urging NY High Court to Uphold Catalyst Theory of Attorneys’ Fees Recovery Under the catalyst theory, a party may claim and recover attorneys’ fees under EAJA when the filing of a lawsuit serves as the catalyst that prompts the government to correct an agency error before a court reaches and decides the case on the merits.
- UMass Law Named Among Nation’s Most Innovative Law Schools The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s School of Law has been named one of the nation’s 20 most innovative law schools by preLaw magazine, a publication of The National Jurist, recognizing the school’s Justice Bridge Legal Center and its innovative approach to expanding access to justice.