Jonathan Lippman, former chief judge of New York and a pioneer in addressing access to justice, will deliver the sixth annual John Paul Stevens Lecture. Hosted by the Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law at the University of Colorado Law School, Lippman’s talk will focus on “Changing the Dialogue on Access to Justice.”
The lecture will take place Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 5:30 p.m. at the Carr Judicial Center in Denver. The event is free and open to the public, but advance registration is required. To register, visit the RSVP page by Tuesday, Sept. 19.
“I am thrilled that Chief Judge Lippman will be joining us in Colorado to share his insights on how to address the justice gap,” said Melissa Hart, professor of law and director of the White Center. “Under his leadership, New York made enormous strides in increasing civil access to justice and making the courts work for people. The Colorado legal community is actively grappling with how we can do better in these areas, and Chief Judge Lippman’s experience and ideas will be an invaluable resource as we work together to close the justice gap in our own state.”
Lippman served as chief judge of the state of New York and chief judge of the Court of Appeals from Feb. 2009 through Dec. 2015. In these roles, he championed equal access to justice issues in New York and around the country and led the way in identifying permanent funding streams for civil legal services. His key accomplishments include leading New York to become the first state to require 50 hours of law-related pro bono work prior to bar admission and establishing the Pro Bono Scholars and Poverty Justice Solutions programs to help alleviate the crisis in civil legal services. He also strengthened the state's indigent criminal defense system, addressed the systemic causes of wrongful convictions, created human trafficking courts across New York, and led efforts to reform the state’s juvenile justice, bail and pre-trial justice systems. In 2008, Lippman received the William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence, presented each year by the chief justice of the United States to a state court judge who exemplifies the highest level of judicial excellence, integrity, fairness, and professional ethics.
The annual Stevens Lecture brings a distinguished jurist to Colorado to lead a public discussion of judging and the judicial system. On Sept. 2, 2016, Justice Sonia Sotomayor visited Boulder and participated in a Q&A conversation with more than 1,500 participants for the fifth annual Stevens Lecture. Past jurists have been Justices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sandra Day O’Connor and the late Antonin Scalia. Previous attendance numbers have exceeded 1,000 people, with additional audiences watching via live video stream at the Wolf Law Building on campus and satellite locations at other colleges and universities throughout Colorado.
For more information about the White Center and the Stevens Lecture, please visit colorado.edu/law/whitecenter.