In a pilot program announced today, Legal Aid Chicago, the largest legal services organization in the Chicago area, is launching an integration pilot program between LegalServer, a case management system for civil legal aid and public defender organizations, and Paladin, the pro bono management program.

Funded by a Legal Services Corporation Technology Initiative Grant (TIG), this is the first integration between LegalServer and Paladin.

The integration will streamline pro bono volunteer recruiting and ultimately help to provide free legal services to a greater population of people living in poverty, Legal Aid Chicago said in an announcement. 

 “Integrating our case management system with Paladin’s pro bono placement platform will allow us to increase efficiency when placing pro bono cases,” said Melissa Picciola, Legal Aid Chicago’s director of pro bono and community partnerships. “The more efficient we can be, the more clients we can serve to help increase access to justice.”

Through the integration, users within Legal Aid Chicago will be able to click a button in Legal Server’s pro bono module to send specific case data to Paladin’s system in real time. As volunteers discover and apply for pro bono matters on Paladin, their information will be available for review by Legal Aid Chicago. When the case is placed, it will transfer back to LegalServer automatically.

Interoperability between systems is an important step in streamlining pro bono workflows across the ecosystem, and the infrastructure built through this project will pave the way for other legal aid organizations to complete similar integrations, according to those involved in developing this integration.

“Legal services organizations are the backbone of our legal aid system,” said Kristen Sonday, Paladin CEO. “Working with their existing infrastructure will maximize the number of people we can serve, so we appreciate how forward thinking both Legal Aid Chicago and LSC have been in supporting this work.”

The LegalServer and Paladin integration will be available to other legal services organizations beginning in early 2023, Sonday said. Any legal aid organizations interested in being part of a beta testing group ahead of launch can reach out to support@joinpaladin.com.

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.