The Artificial Intelligence & Access to Justice Conference

Tuesday, April 21, 2026
12:30 - 1:00 pm EST | Registration, Coffee, Light Snacks
1:00 - 5:15 pm EST | Program

In-Person and on Zoom
Fordham Law School
Costantino Room (Second Floor)
150 West 62nd Street
New York, NY 10023

CLE credit will be available.

About the Program

Tens of millions of civil legal problems go unaddressed each year in the United States, while AI technologies are rapidly finding applications across virtually every domain of human endeavor. In this high velocity moment, the conference will examine how AI is being summoned to close the civil justice gap. Scholars, practitioners, reformers, and technologists will convene for public conversation and debate around three core questions: What is the access to justice movement? What is the potential of emerging AI technologies to address the civil justice crisis? And what safeguards should shape increased reliance on proposed AI solutions?

Program Agenda

12:30 - 1:00 pm | Registration, Coffee, Light Snacks

1:00 - 2:15 pm | Panel 1: The Access to Justice Movement (1.5 CLE) The access to justice crisis in high-volume courts (housing, family, debt), leading reform initiatives, and the place of AI tools in the landscape.

Housing – Sateesh Nori, Senior Research Fellow, Center on Civil Justice, NYU Law

Family – Hon. Liberty Aldrich (ret.), Executive Director, Children’s Law Center

Debt – Carolyn Coffey, Director of Litigation for Economic Justice, Mobilization for Justice

Looking to the future – Neil Steinkamp, Managing Director, Stout

Moderator: David Udell, Executive Director, National Center for Access to Justice, Fordham Law

2:15 - 2:30 pm | Break

2:30 - 3:45 pm |  Panel 2: AI Interventions for Access to Justice
(1.5 CLE) AI applications being rolled out to help people resolve legal problems.

What AI Apps Do at Civil Legal Aid – Alexander Horwitz, Chief Operating Officer, Legal Services for New York City

Creating Legal Tech that Works – Sam Flynn, CEO, Josef

AI and Online Dispute Resolution – Greg Kochansky, American Arbitration Association

Moderator: Sateesh Nori, Senior Research Fellow, Center on Civil Justice, NYU Law

3:45 - 4:00 pm | Break

4:00 - 5:15 pm |  Panel 3:  AI Risks and Safeguards (1.5 CLE) Ways AI goes awry, perspectives of the judiciary, unauthorized practice of law rules, and the new regulatory approaches.

Ways AI Goes Awry – Prof. Milan Markovic, Texas A&M Law

Procurement, Contracting, and Risk Management for AI in Courts.– Zach Zarnow, Executive Director, Scale Justice

UPL Rules v. AI & AtJ – Prof. Ellen Murphy, Wake Forest Law

Regulatory Goals for AI, Pertinent to AtJ – Kate Brennan, AI Now

Moderator:  Prof. Olivier Sylvain, Fordham Law

5:15 - 5:30 pm | Closing Remarks

CLE Credit: CLE credits are pending in accordance with the requirements of the New York and New Jersey State CLE Boards for a maximum of 4.5 transitional and nontransitional credits.

This program is presented in conjunction with