Transform Legal Training & Justice Delivery with Purpose-Driven Program Design

Who I Am

Welcome! I’m Margaret Phillips, an international access to justice consultant with over 20 years of experience designing, leading, and evaluating legal programs that empower communities and strengthen access to justice.

From founding a nationally ranked paralegal program in the U.S. to training legal professionals across India, Nepal, Turkey, South Africa, and Qatar, I bring a global, culturally grounded approach to program design, curriculum development, and legal capacity building.

Whether you're a university, NGO, or legal institution, I offer tailored solutions to build impactful, sustainable programs rooted in strategic planning, collaborative design, and measurable outcomes.

Let’s work together to build programs that make a difference both locally and globally.

Law. Justice. Training. Impact.

You’re shaping minds, guiding careers, and strengthening systems that hold up democracy. But creating programs that truly prepare lawyers and law students, support judges, or reach underrepresented communities requires more than good intentions; it takes strategy, clarity, and design that puts people first.

That’s where MLP Consulting comes in.

I partner with legal organizations, communities, and NGOs to design initiatives that are not only effective but transformative.

What I Do

Legal Program Design & Implementation

Custom-built legal training initiatives for local, national and  international organizations  tailored to promote justice, empower communities, and strengthen legal systems.

Capacity Building & Curriculum Development

Development of innovative, skills-based legal curriculum with a focus on ethics, research, writing, and access to justice. Capacity-building workshops for legal professionals, including lawyers, judges, paralegals, and faculty.

International Collaboration & Strategic Advising

Expert support for cross-cultural legal initiatives, including paralegal programs, legal aid frameworks, and access-to-justice projects grounded in international best practices and local realities.

Program Evaluation & Continuous Improvement

Design and application of qualitative and quantitative evaluation tools to measure impact, refine strategies, and ensure program excellence.

Capacity Building and Curriculum Development: As a Fulbright Scholar at the National Law University at Delhi, I was honored to be invited to develop and lead strategic planning and writing workshops for faculty at another law school, GITAM School of Law in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. My colleagues were so motivated and attended back-to back sessions , (and were also kind enough to help me tie a sari).

International Collaboration and Strategic Advising: As a Fulbright Specialist Scholar with Qatar University College of Law, I collaborated with the Legal Skills faculty to draft a comprehensive legal aid statute.  I’m pictured here with a colleague after speaking to his class about the U.S. legal system – always love meeting and interacting with the students.

My Approach

Designed for Impact. Built for the Real World.

Whether you're launching a community access to justice initiative, building continuing education for judges, or redesigning a program to empower women, I help you bring structure to your vision and strategy to your mission.

My approach is:

  • Collaborative – I listen first, then build with you.

  • Strategic – Rooted in outcomes, data, and long-term sustainability.

  • Human-centered – Because law is about people, not just process.

You’re Shaping the Future of Law.

I Help You Design the Path Forward.

Your community and your legal organizations deserve programs that don’t just fill time, but transform understanding. We help you go beyond the textbook or the bench with:

  • Innovative legal clinics

  • Equity-focused judicial training modules

  • Interdisciplinary policy programs

  • Public interest & pro bono ecosystems

  • Data-informed program evaluations

If you're ready to deepen your institution’s impact, whether in the classroom, the courtroom, or the community, I am here to help!

Let’s co-create something bold, enduring, and worthy of your mission.

What I’ve Done

I founded and directed a nationally ranked, American Bar Association-accredited Paralegal Studies Program, growing it from concept to a thriving academic hub. Through visionary leadership, I scaled enrollment, expanded budgets, and ensured continuous compliance with rigorous accreditation standards.

Strategic Program Creation & Leadership

Global Access to Justice Initiatives

I’ve designed and implemented legal training programs in India, Nepal, Turkey, Qatar, and South Africa, advancing the rule of law, access to justice, and women’s empowerment through culturally responsive and community-centered approaches.

Collaborative Curriculum Development

Working hand-in-hand with training programs, civil society groups, and international legal networks, I co-created and delivered tailored legal empowerment curricula – from paralegal training to legal empowerment and gender equity  – that reflect local needs and global best practices.

My programs are rooted in measurable outcomes. I build qualitative and quantitative evaluation tools that not only assess impact but drive strategic improvements, ensuring lasting and meaningful change.

Assessment-Driven Impact

Case Studies

  • Capacity Building: I was invited to design and conduct training sessions with faculty and students at KIIT University School of Law in Bhubaneswar (Odissa, India) on access to justice, gender empowerment, and legal empowerment through community paralegals. KIIT is an incredible university that has service at its heart, and I loved being part of it (even for a month).

  • Collaborating on community justice solutions: All around the world, when it comes to access to justice, people are talking about paralegals – especially these people, lawyers and program leaders from India, South Africa and Nigeria. We collaborated on a presentation and training on legal empowerment through community paralegals at an international conference.

  • Promoting legal literacy: After over 20 years of watching the declining rate of legal literacy in the law school and paralegal classroom, I was lucky to be chosen by TEDx Buffalo to deliver a talk on the basics of the Constitution: “If the Constitution Could Talk, What Would It Say?”

  • Experiential trial tecProgram development and implementation: As part of the international faculty at Bahçeşehir University School of Law in Istanbul, Türkiye, I got to work with an amazing team of trial lawyers and judges in a week-long trial technique seminar for Turkish law students and lawyers.hnique training in Istanbul, Turkey.

  • Program development: I got to work with some motivated Nepalese lawyers who hosted me to assist them in planning and creating a legal services clinic to provide basic legal services to the surrounding community. I’m pictured here receiving the Katmandu University School of Law “Token of Love” plaque (a favorite).

  • Training Development: As a Fulbright Scholar at National Law University Delhi, I got to work on access to justice programming, including the development of this experiential Street Law class where some very promising PhD students taught legal literacy concepts to the Mount Carmel School, thanks to the Director, Michael Williams.

  • Program development: I’m proud of my 13 years at Daemen University designing and implementing a nationally ranked paralegal studies program. Thanks to the American Bar Association approval process, I learned about data collection and evaluation, leadership, and effective teaching, and was inspired to continue my career in advancing access to justice.

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