Washington Lawyer - November/December 2024 - 17

FEATURE
Created in collaboration with Youtopian and the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center,
the site allows visitors - especially unrepresented litigants - to navigate
Superior Court, helping to ease their anxiety of the unknown. For
greater accessibility, the virtual tour is available in English, Spanish, Amharic,
and American Sign Language.
An exploration of the Moultrie Courthouse takes online visitors to Superior
Court's information desk, clerks' offices, Pro Bono Center's intake
and resource centers, self-help centers, and courtrooms, where they can
make virtual stops to find out more information. For example, a stop
at the Domestic Violence Intake Center allows visitors to interact with
Nicole Walter, representative for DC SAFE (Survivors and Advocates for
Empowerment), who talks about her role as an advocate in the court's
Domestic Violence Division and the legal support and resources available
to survivors.
" People are walking into a space to talk to somebody they've never met
before ... a complete stranger. The biggest thing is just being a listener
[and] letting people tell you what they are ready to tell you, " Walter says.
" The team that we have at DC SAFE are just great people. We can all talk
to each other about a moment that was really hard for us when we're
working with somebody without really bringing a burden to anyone else. "
At the Family Court Self-Help Center, Richard Mervis talks about how
family law facilitators like him try to make the process as easy as possible
for visitors by breaking down what they need from the court, including
language support. " Everybody [who] comes into the [center] is there for
something that is usually stressful or very emotional, " such as divorce,
child support, custody, or adoption, Mervis says. " So, being able to be
sympathetic with customers, [letting] them know that we're there to
help in any way, " is key.
" I try to understand that [people] are coming from a place that's maybe
rock bottom in their lives, " he adds.
Virtual visitors to the Central Intake Center will also meet Dwanda Jones,
deputy clerk. The intake center provides various Family Court-related
forms, assistance filling out those forms, and additional support and services,
including emotional support.
Jones recognizes that a lot of people who seek help from the intake center
are going through a difficult time, and sometimes emotions take over. In
the virtual tour, she recounts helping a woman with divorce paperwork,
although the latter didn't really want a divorce. " I pulled her aside and ...
[said], 'OK, if you really don't want the divorce, maybe you and your husband
can find an alternative, like go to mediation to try to see if you can
talk it out before coming to this point of getting a divorce, " Jones says.
THE HUMAN ELEMENT
The Virtual District of Columbia Court Interactive Website is the brainchild
of Kelli Neptune, executive director of the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center,
and Lisa Sibilia, president and CEO of Youtopian.
When Neptune arrived at the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center in 2022, one of her
major goals was to embrace technology that could narrow the access to
justice gap for self-represented litigants at the D.C. Courts. In January 2023,
she met Sibilia at the Legal Services Corporation's Innovations in Technology
Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, where Sibilia presented the immersive
metaverse project that Youtopian created for Penn State Law, allowing law
students to interact with military veterans in securing their benefits.
" We worked with Penn State Law's Family Law Clinic, veterans' clinic, and
some of their clients to design it so that [veterans] could share their stories
without being overwhelmed, " Sibilia explains. " We had to make sure
that there were no hills or mountains " in the the metaverse that veterans
would feel the need to scan for threats.
Neptune was impressed with the metaverse design's purposeful consideration
of the trauma that veterans experienced and ways to avoid triggering
it. At the conference, Neptune also found inspiration in the Colorado
Virtual Courthouse Tour and wanted to bring something similar to
the District.
Neptune shared her vision with
Sibilia, and the project was
born. " A virtual resource is useful
for litigants, practitioners,
and members of the public to
navigate the court, " Neptune
says. " This digital tool bridges
the divide and makes the courthouse
user-friendly and accessible
to everyone. "
In developing the interactive
website, Youtopian considered
the various languages that D.C.
residents speak, different access
points to the website, the multitude
of information about the
courts' services and resources,
and the ways visitors can take the tour using different platforms. " You
could even hop into a VR headset and walk through [the courthouse], "
Sibilia says. " We were very intentional with all the design elements to really
make it more comprehensive. "
KELLI NEPTUNE and LISA SIBILIA
More importantly, the website highlights personal stories of court staff
that visitors will encounter. " Court can be full of unknowns and uncertainties, "
Neptune says. " Understanding more about the judges, clerks,
and personnel can help make the court experience less daunting. " Last
year, while filming the videos of the various court staff members, Neptune
was struck by their willingness to be vulnerable. " Some participants
were brought to tears as they revealed the personal motivations behind
their work. This level of openness helps humanize their roles and makes
their positions more relatable, " she adds.
Youtopian and the Pro Bono Center continue to work on the website,
gathering feedback and other metrics on how users are interacting with
it. " We are going to be collecting a lot of data to make sure that we are
presenting a full and rich experience, " Neptune says. " It's important that
people be able to easily navigate the site and access information that will
be the most helpful to them. "
For Geraldo, the personal injury attorney, the virtual tour will help facilitate
access to justice on so many levels. " At a minimum, [it will] ease the
anxiety of the unknown by permitting pro se litigants and attorneys the
opportunity to familiarize themselves with the courthouse before they
even set foot within, " he says.
Reach D.C. Bar staff writer John Murph at jmurph@dcbar.org.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2024 * WASHINGTON LAWYER 17
Patrice Gilbert Photography
Washington Lawyer - November/December 2024

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