First and foremost, welcome to the community! ASC - the acronym we use for our Annual Statewide Legal Aid Conference - is a multi-day event hosted by the Virginia Poverty Law Center that provides comprehensive training on poverty law issues to the legal community. ASC also gives attendees the opportunity to discuss the most recent case developments and collaborate on creative ways to address the civil legal needs of low-income Virginians. This year marks the 42nd conference, and the first ever hybrid one.

This year, ASC begins on Tuesday, October 18th, and ends on Friday, October 21st. Below is a quick breakdown of timing on those four days:

• Tuesday: This is an all virtual, non-CLE conference day designed to help attendees to become familiar with Whova (our conference platform) and prepare for our conference. It will include video tutorials and open office hours with conference planners to ask any last-minute questions you may have.
• Wednesday: First "official" day of the conference, occurring virtually and in-person. Registration begins at 8:30am, and the first conference sessions - including CLE-eligible sessions - begin at 10:00am and end at 4:30pm.
• Thursday: Sessions begin at 8:30am and end at 4:00pm.
• Friday: Sessions begin at 8:30am and end at 12:00pm, marking the end of the conference. Our Ethics CLE session will be 10:00am-12:00pm this day.

Yes – each year, we have an all-encompassing theme both for the conference and for VPLC’s work as a whole. This year’s is, “Creating a Just Commonwealth Together.” The past few years have separated and siloed people in a variety of ways. It’s time for us to regain our footing and learn how to connect and create change with one another again, no matter where we are.

There are many reasons we believe you should attend! In a nutshell, attendees will gain access to over 40 high-quality sessions on a wide range of legal issues, both continuing legal education (CLE) and non-CLE. Nearly all sessions will be recorded and available on-demand, so you don’t have to worry about missing anything! Another big reason to attend is for the invaluable networking. Attendees include both legal aid and private attorneys and paralegals, management professionals, community advocates, government employees, military personnel, and clients. The connections are endless!

Yes, the conference will be happening in-person at the Sheraton Oceanfront hotel in Virginia Beach, along with being livestreamed and recorded for virtual attendees. Below you will find our COVID-19 policy (last updated 9/13/22):

• Mandatory testing or proof of vaccination: Only one of these is required. If choosing mandatory testing, your test results must be within 48 hours of the start of the conference (or the first day you plan to attend in-person).
• Masking is required for those who are unvaccinated. It is still strongly recommended for vaccinated individuals, though not required. Unvaccinated attendees, faculty, and staff shall always wear properly fitting masks, covering the mouth and nose, while indoors except while in the actual act of presenting, eating, and drinking. We will consider requests for accommodation to the masking requirements due to an attendee’s disability. If you would like to request an accommodation to these requirements due to a disability, please send an email to [email protected] with details of your request.
• Illness: Any attendee, presenter, or staff member exhibiting symptoms including but not limited to apparent cold or flu-like symptoms, feverish, digestive discomfort, or any other symptom that might be linked to typical COVID-19 symptoms - anytime between 24 hours before the start of the conference through the final day - shall not attend any portion of ASC in-person.
• By attending the conference in-person, you acknowledge the health risks associated with COVID-19 and that you MUST follow all ASC COVID-19 policies. You may NOT attend ASC in-person if you have tested positive for COVID-19 48 hours before the start of the conference, if you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, or if you are under any self-quarantine orders per CDC guidelines.

Please revisit this FAQ routinely for updates, as we are monitoring the evolving COVID-19 situation. THIS GUIDANCE MAY CHANGE AT ANY TIME AND BE EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. All updates to this policy will be emailed to registrants in a timely manner. Any questions or concerns regarding ASC’s COVID-19 policy may be directed to [email protected].

*Not available virtually and/or not as comprehensive as will be for in-person attendees.
**See next FAQ for more information.

The registration fee depends on what attendee category you fall under. Please see the following table for different categories and rates:

*As in previous years, legal aid organization covers hotel and food and beverage fees for their employees to attend. If attending virtually, legal aid organization covers registration fee.

The registration fee covers virtual access to all ASC content, conversations, and networking opportunities. The educational content itself, along with all supplemental materials and CLE credits, are free to all attendees thanks to our generous sponsors (check them out below the FAQ!).

For additional information on this new fee, read a more in-depth response here.

Whova is an event management website and app that we are using to hold all conference information, including the schedule, access to handouts from the presenters, livestreaming and recording access, and much, much more. You will be able to directly chat and network with other attendees, share resources with your colleagues, and organize in-person or virtual social events, no matter how attendees choose to attend. Even if you are attending the conference in-person, you must have a Whova account to fully participate and gain access to all conference material.

On Tuesday, October 18th, we will be holding various tutorials and open office hours to answer any questions you have about Whova and ASC as a whole. Before then, we recommend you review some of Whova’s user guides and FAQ on their website here: https://whova.com/faq/

You now can! Click here to view the current conference agenda. Please note that there will likely be some edits made as we get closer to the conference. This link, along with inside the Whova desktop or mobile app, will update automatically when changes are saved.

While not every session is CLE-eligible, most are and will be marked as such in Whova. This year, we plan to offer 12 credits available either as live webcast or on demand recorded credits, plus 2.0 hours of Ethics credits. The CLE forms will be made available to all registrants in Whova and via email.

We are committed to making ASC as accessible as possible for all those interested and eligible to attend, whether that is in-person or virtually. Please let us know your accessibility needs on the registration page so that we can make sure you have a great experience.

All cancellation or attendance location change requests received by 11:59pm on Friday, September 30th will be honored for a full refund if applicable, minus a $20 administrative fee. After this date, a $500 administrative fee will be assessed for all requests, unless you are able to provide official documentation of the reason you are cancelling (e.g., a doctor’s note indicating an active COVID-19 diagnosis). You can submit this documentation and any other supplemental information to [email protected].

Send an email to Ezra Halstead, Center for Outreach Director, at [email protected].