AI & Access to Justice Committee (9/22/25)

Topic: Closing the Justice Gap: Can AI Really Expand Access?

Speakers: Mark Marquardt, Executive Director, Lawyers Trust Fund
Lisa Colpoys, Senior Consultant-AI Initiative, Lawyers Trust Fund

Description: Mark Marquardt and Lisa Colpoys, leaders in tech driven access to justice, will discuss the innovative strategies being pursued to close the justice gap, including AI tools for low-income litigants, legal aid organizations, and self-represented litigants.

Speaker Bios: Mark Marquardt has been the executive director of the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois since 2015. He previously served as the organization’s deputy director, a role he assumed in 1991. Mark has had a leadership role in a broad range of innovative efforts to improve the legal aid system in Illinois, including the creation of CARPLS Legal Aid, Illinois Legal Aid Online, and the Rentervention chatbot. Mark served as the research coordinator for the 1989 Illinois Legal Needs Study and was the research director and principal author of the 2005 Legal Aid Safety Net study.

 Lisa Colpoys is an experienced public service leader and innovator who has spent her career working to create and deliver new ways for people to solve their legal problems. She is passionate about transforming our courts and the practice of law through innovative ideas and the use of technology and improving and simplifying processes and systems. Currently she serves as Senior Consultant to the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois' AI Initiative, where she works to introduce and encourage the exploration and use of Generative AI by legal aid organizations and professionals. Highlights of her career include launching and leading both Illinois Legal Aid Online, a ground-breaking legal services technology nonprofit, and Illinois Court Help, a tech-enabled service of the Illinois Courts that helps people navigate complex court processes.

(IL MCLE credit for live webcast only. No MCLE credit for on demand webcast.)

To confirm you are ready to participate in an on demand webcast, please take the browser test here: http://eventcenter.commpartner...

Live CBA Committee meetings and seminars will take place via Zoom webinar.  You will click on "view video" and be directly connected to the meeting/seminar on Zoom.  (You will not receive a Zoom link.)

You MUST have Zoom Desktop Client on your Mac or PC to view a live program. If using a mobile device, you must have the Zoom App (available in the App Store or Google Play).

System requirements for Mac & PC can be found here. System requirements for mobile devices can be here.  

Please note that audience members do not need video or audio access.  Audience members are able to submit questions via the chat or Q & A features of Zoom. 

Chat: Open in-meeting chat, allowing you to send chat messages to and send a message to the host, panelists, and attendees (if permitted). Question & Answer: Open the Q&A window, allowing you to ask questions to the host and panelists. They can either reply back to you via text in the Q&A window or answer your question live.