New research by LLL and the Louisiana Justice for All Project shows that as many as one-third of income-eligible Louisianans live where civil legal help is out of reach.
In May 2020, LLL hosted a “geodata hackathon” in support of the Louisiana Justice for All Project. With support from the LSBA’s 2020 class of ATJ Developing Leadership Interns, the team was able to gather thousands of data points that help us map the network of existing legal services in Louisiana and identify opportunities for collaboration and expansion of those services.
The conclusion of the research revealed that over 600,000 Louisianans live in “civil legal resource deserts,” putting them more than 45 minutes away by car to the nearest civil legal service offering. In many cases, the most underserved parishes were also the most impoverished, and were paired with low rates of broadband coverage.
To learn more, view the Story Map (hit “Cancel” if prompted to sign in).
UPDATE: Read the article featured in the April/May 2021 Louisiana Bar Journal.
Lagniappe Law Lab is a proud grantee of the Louisiana Bar Foundation.