Technology Powers Access to Justice: A City Bar Justice Center Partnership with Fairfield University

Creativity and adaptability have long guided the City Bar Justice Center’s approach to advancing its mission. This past year, that spirit took shape through a partnership with eleven graduate students from Fairfield University’s School of Engineering and Computing, who pursued technology initiatives that strengthened both client services and organizational capacity — a clear example of what mission-driven innovation can achieve.

Over two semesters, the students tackled three capstone projects designed to help the Justice Center better serve New York City’s underserved communities:

• A Microsoft Teams-integrated chatbot powered by Copilot serves as an administrative resource. Connected to the Justice Center’s document library, the tool gives staff instant access to policies, guides, training manuals, and FAQs, reducing the routine inquiries that go to the operations team and thereby redirecting staff time to core program activity.
• A client-facing chatbot prototype for the Justice Center’s public website was built from the ground up. If we determine we have sufficient resources and necessary guardrails in place for a full launch, this tool will make legal self-help guides, information, and legal services referrals immediately accessible to community members who might not otherwise no where to turn.
• An integration of our case management system LegalServer with Microsoft Power BI delivers a dashboard that turns hours of manual data collection into just a few clicks — improving the organization’s ability to assess impact, track trends, and identify service gaps.

Together, these projects reflect themes central to the Justice Center’s mission:

Thoughtful technology can expand access to justice in ways that weren’t possible before. As demand for civil legal assistance continues outpacing available resources, service providers need ways to serve more people without sacrificing the quality and human-centered advocacy that access to justice requires. Thoughtful investment in technology is becoming essential to that solution. The technology and AI projects recently worked on translate directly into more time, insight, and access for the people the Justice Center serves.

Community building and partnership strengthen efforts. Lasting change requires shared resources, knowledge, and skills. We build this through partnerships with service providers, universities, and other community organizations and advocates. These collaborations deserve the same investment as our people and our tools. They are a pipeline for impact, and the Justice Center is committed to sustaining it.

Technology alone won’t solve the shortage of civil legal services, but paired with skilled advocates, it can significantly expand its reach and effectiveness. Sustaining investment in both human expertise and responsible innovation is essential to keeping access to justice in step with the needs of New Yorkers in an increasingly complex legal landscape.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to our collaborators who drove the City Bar Justice Center’s recent technology initiatives:

Fairfield University Student Team:
Adrian Gallant
Angus Chen
Anthony Crocco
Arshad Faraz Mirishkari
James Geib
John Stow
Josue Syvelsaint
Naqibahmed Kadri
Obedur Rahman
Sania Seyal
Venkatesh Nunna

Fairfield University Leadership & Advisors:
Danushka Bandara | Assistant Professor, Computer Science and Engineering
Ilhan Akbil | Director of Industry Relations, School of Engineering and Computing
Mirco Speretta | Associate Dean, Graduate Studies and Research

City Bar Justice Center Collaborators:
Kurt Denk | Executive Director
Cheryl Lopez | Director of Operations
Angie Chirino | Data & Program Associate
Helen Goro | Technology & Operations Specialist