TEXAS ACCESS TO JUSTICE COMMISSION STRATEGIC PLANNING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE STRATEGIC PLANNING COMMITTEE INTRODUCTION
The Texas Access to Justice Commission’s strategic planning process is designed to identify the most critical needs that the Commission with its partner institutions has the capacity to affect and to develop strategies that the Commission can undertake to address those needs. Its goal is to achieve the highest level of access to justice for low-income individuals and families in Texas. On February 22, 2024, the Commission discussed in depth the Fact-Finding And Research Report and Recommendations of the planning consultants. On March 19, 2024, the Commission’s Strategic Planning Committee1 discussed a revised Report and Recommendations that reflected the February discussion of the Commission. The purpose of the March 19 meeting was to develop recommendations for the full Commission on what specific initiatives should be the focus of the Commission’s strategic planning efforts moving forward.
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Attending the meeting were: Harriet Miers, Chair of the Texas Access to Justice Commission, Hon. Deborah Hankinson (Retired Justice of the Texas Supreme Court and Chair of the Texas Access to Justice Foundation) Hon. Michael Massengale (Commissioner and retired Justice on the State of Texas First Court of Appeals) Hon. Roy Ferguson (Commissioner and Judge of the 394 th District Court of the State of Texas) Alistair Dawson (Commissioner) Brad Toben (Commissioner and Dean Emeritus of Baylor Law School) Roland Johnson (Commissioner) Tom Leatherbury (Commissioner) Col. Thomas Palladino (U.S. Army Ret., Executive Director of the Texas Veterans Commission) Betty Balli Torres (Executive Director of the Texas Access to Justice Foundation) Roosevelt Terry (President of the Houston Area Clients Council of Lone Star Legal Aid) Maria Thomas-Jones (Executive Director of Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas) Karen Miller (Executive Director of Texas Legal Services Center) Richard LaVallo (Former Commissioner, current Legal Director at Disability Rights Texas) Jennifer Morris (Vice President and Associate General Counsel at AT&T) Chris Ritter (Chief Legal Counsel of the State Bar of Texas) Hon. Lora Livingston (Interim Executive Director of the Texas Access to Justice Commission) Allison Neal (Deputy Executive Director of the Texas Access to Justice Commission, David Bristow (Project Manager, Texas Access to Justice Commission, Dominga Titus (Office Manager, Texas Access to Justice Commission), John Tull (Consultant), and Bruce Bower (Consultant).