Webinar 3

Closing the Justice Gap: Expanding Legal Services in Rural Communities

Delivered on Wednesday, October 14, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET

Rural communities across the country face persistent challenges in accessing legal services. This webinar explores the barriers that contribute to these gaps and highlights innovative approaches to strengthening the rural legal workforce, modernizing service delivery, and expanding access to justice through policy, regulatory, and community-based solutions. Learn more about Rural Access to Justice.

Moderator:

  • Verna Williams, CEO, Equal Justice Works

Speakers:

  • Hannah Haksgaard, University of South Dakota
  • Chief Justice Steven R. Jensen, South Dakota Supreme Court
  • Nikole Nelson, CEO, Frontline Justice
  • Robby Southers, Policy and Justice Initiatives Counsel, Ohio Access to Justice Foundation
  • Michelle Paxton, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Nebraska College of Law; Director & Founder, Nebraska Children's Justice and Legal Advocacy Center
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Speaker Bios

Verna Williams

Verna Williams
CEO, Equal Justice Works

Verna L. Williams (she/her) is the CEO of Equal Justice Works. In her role as CEO, Verna has continued to advance the mission of Equal Justice Works to create opportunities for leaders to transform their passion for equal justice into a lifelong commitment to public service.

Verna brings with her an extensive background of experience teaching and practicing law, as well as researching civil and women’s rights. Verna previously served as the dean of the University of Cincinnati College of Law, where she was a professor prior to becoming dean, and taught courses on family law, gender discrimination, and constitutional law. Additionally, she founded and co-directed the Judge Nathaniel Jones Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice at the University of Cincinnati.

Before her work at the University of Cincinnati, Verna was the vice president and director of educational opportunities at the National Women’s Law Center, where she focused on gender disparity in education. In this role, she was the lead counsel and successfully argued before the United States Supreme Court Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, which established that educational institutions have a duty to respond to and address complaints of student-to-student sexual harassment.

Verna clerked for the Honorable David S. Nelson, U.S. District Judge for the District of Massachusetts. After the clerkship, she practiced law at Sidley Austin LLP and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Verna also has a background in research, which examines the intersection of race, gender, and class in law and policy. She has authored and co-authored many articles and essays on her area of expertise.

Among her other achievements, Verna has presented papers at meetings of the Association of Law, Culture, and the Humanities. She also served as a consultant for the Ford Foundation, where she chaired the convening of a national conference at UC entitled Women Coming Together: Claiming the Law for Social Change.

Verna received the Goldman Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 2004 and 2011. She was recently honored by the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati, the Black Lawyers Association of Cincinnati, and the Cincinnati Bar Association, which presented her with the Themis Award for exemplary service to the law and the community.

Verna is a cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School and Georgetown University.

Hannah Haksgaard

Hannah Haksgaard
Professor, University of South Dakota

Professor Haksgaard currently teaches Property, Family Law, Reproduction & the Law, and a Law Review Writing Seminar. She previously taught Employment Discrimination and Modern Real Estate Transactions. At the law school Professor Haksgaard also advises the South Dakota Law Review, the Family Law and Children's Advocacy, and Women in Law. She writes on those topics as well as the rural lawyer shortage. Her most recent project is a book called The Rural Lawyer: How To Incentivize Rural Law Practice and Help Small Communities Thrive (Cambridge University Press; 2025).

In addition to her law school teaching and advising, Professor Haksgaard is affiliated faculty with three other departments on campus. She serves on student committees for the Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies Department, the Department of History, and the Department of Music.

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Chief Justice Steven R. Jensen

Chief Justice Steven R. Jensen
South Dakota Supreme Court

Chief Justice Steven R. Jensen was appointed to the South Dakota Supreme Court by Gov. Dennis Daugaard and sworn in on Nov. 3, 2017. He represents the Supreme Court Fourth District, which consists of Aurora, Bon Homme, Charles Mix, Clay, Davison, Douglas, Gregory, Hanson, Hutchinson, Lincoln, McCook, Turner, Union and Yankton counties. He was selected by his colleagues on the Supreme Court to serve as Chief Justice in 2021. He was reselected to a second, four-year term as Chief Justice beginning Jan. 6, 2025.

Chief Justice Jensen grew up on a farm near Wakonda, S.D. He received his undergraduate degree from Bethel University in St. Paul, Minn., in 1985 and his juris doctor from the University of South Dakota School of Law in 1988. He clerked for Justice Richard W. Sabers on the South Dakota Supreme Court before entering private law practice in 1989. In 2003, Chief Justice Jensen was appointed as a First Judicial Circuit judge by Gov. Mike Rounds. He became presiding judge of the First Judicial Circuit in 2011.

Chief Justice Jensen served as chair of the Unified Judicial System’s Presiding Judges Council, president of the South Dakota Judges Association, and has served on other boards and commissions. In 2009, Chief Justice Jensen was appointed as a Judicial Fellow to the Advanced Science and Technology Adjudication Resource Center in Washington, D.C.

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Nikole Nelson

Nikole Nelson
CEO, Frontline Justice 

Nikole Nelson is the founding CEO of Frontline Justice. Prior to joining our team, Nikole was the Executive Director of Alaska Legal Services Corporation, Alaska’s only statewide provider of free civil aid. During her 25 years in the field, she worked to build community-led, people-centered justice models and expand the scope of who can provide legal help. One of these models is a groundbreaking launch of Partnering for Native Health, a medical-legal partnership involving non-lawyer justice workers, which won the 2019 World Justice Challenge. She also spearheaded the reform of restrictions on the unauthorized practice of law for justice workers in Alaska; these reforms were approved in 2022 by both the Alaska Supreme Court and the State Bar Board of Governors. Nikole is a special advisor to the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense (SCLAID) and is a member of the Legal Services Corporation’s Rural Justice Task Force.

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Robby Southers

Robby Southers
Policy and Justice Initiatives Counsel, Ohio Access to Justice Foundation

Robby Southers serves as Policy and Justice Initiatives Counsel for the Ohio Access to Justice Foundation, where he supports efforts to strengthen Ohio’s civil justice system and expand access and participation for low-income Ohioans and those facing barriers to legal services.

Robby brings significant experience in advancing access to justice initiatives. Prior to joining the Foundation, he served as Director of the Franklin County Municipal Court Self-Help Center and Dispute Resolution Department. During his tenure, he led the transformation and expansion of services, growing the center’s reach from assisting hundreds of individuals annually to supporting approximately 35,000 people each year. He has extensive experience managing multidisciplinary teams, advising judges and policymakers, and developing innovative approaches to better serve self-represented litigants.

In addition to his court leadership, Robby serves as an Adjunct Professor at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, where he teaches on dispute resolution and technology. He is also a national leader in access to justice efforts through his role as Co-Chair of the Access to Justice Network’s Court-Based Assistance Working Group, helping to advance programs that expand legal assistance nationwide.

Robby has been widely recognized for his leadership and impact, including receiving the 2025 Alli Gerkman Legal Visionary Award from the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System.

He holds a Juris Doctor and a Master of Public Administration from The Ohio State University, along with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Political Science.

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Michelle Paxton

Michelle Paxton
University of Nebraska School of Law; Assistant Professor of Law, University of Nebraska College of Law; Director & Founder, Nebraska Children's Justice and Legal Advocacy Center

Michelle Paxton is an Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska College of Law and the founding Director of the Nebraska Children’s Justice and Legal Advocacy Center (NCJC), a nationally recognized initiative transforming juvenile court advocacy through integrated legal education, rural attorney training, and trauma-informed support. She created NCJC to ensure that every child, youth, and family in juvenile court—especially in underserved communities—has access to skilled, supported legal advocacy.

Michelle teaches juvenile law and leads all NCJC programs, including the Children’s Justice Clinic, the Children’s Justice Attorney Education Fellowship, and statewide training initiatives for attorneys at various stages of their careers. Her work bridges legal education and real-world practice and is driven by a commitment to reflective supervision, attorney well-being, and expanding access to justice. She is a frequent presenter at national conferences and a published author on topics such as rural legal deserts, clinical education, and child welfare representation.

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