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Unlocking
Justice
Innovation

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Several new ways of licensing lawyers are already underway across the country, alongside a few well-established methods that are decades old. IAALS is evaluating the licensure landscape to understand each method’s effectiveness in assessing minimum competence and protecting the public from malpractice.

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Allied Legal Professionals

Up and down the income scale, the legal needs of Americans are going unmet. Allied legal professionals hold a key to bringing more accessible and affordable legal help where it is needed most. Like nurse practitioners, allied legal professionals show great potential, and this project is working to grow these successful programs nationwide.

Above the Line Network

With the middle class Americans lacking quality and affordable legal services, a more concerted national effort is needed to address this distinct and alarming access gap. The Above the Line Network aims to do just that by expanding successful middle class-focused legal services and building support for larger policy and systemic changes.

What We Do

IAALS is changing how our system serves people today, while anticipating and preparing for future needs—delivering justice all of us can believe in.

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For the People

What good is the promise of “justice for all” if costs, complexity, and inaccessibility make it impossible for so many? Our system is designed to serve the people, so IAALS places them at the center of all we do.

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Through the Courts

At IAALS, we’re identifying innovations that make the court system easier to navigate for everyone, while also helping courts increase efficiency, reduce procedural complexity, and make the most of the often limited resources they have.

With the Profession

The legal profession must evolve to put client and consumer needs first. IAALS is helping do just that—through improved legal education, better lawyer licensing, and re-regulation of legal services to make them more available and responsive to all.

We work across five broad areas of reform in our legal system:

Civil Justice Reform

Family Justice Reform

The Judiciary

Legal Education

Legal Profession

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Recent News and Updates

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New IAALS Report Sets National Vision for Allied Legal Professionals via Reciprocity

IAALS has released Building Bridges: Guidelines for Creating Reciprocity between Allied Legal Professional Programs, a first-of-its-kind report offering detailed recommendations for how states can enable ALPs to transfer their credentials across state lines.

News and Updates

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What Skills Do New Lawyers Need? ABA Journal Spotlights Foundations 2.0

The ABA Journal recently highlighted the significance of Foundations 2.0 and its potential to reshape how we define and assess lawyer readiness. Our survey is now live, and we’re inviting lawyers across the country to weigh in.

News and Updates

What Is the Rule of Law, and Why Should We Be Concerned when it's Under Attack?

The legal controversies surrounding many of the current administration's policy initiatives have included calls to impeach judges who have ruled against the government, and defenders of the judiciary frequently have characterized these events as attacks on the rule of law.

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IAALS Launches Groundbreaking Multi-State Study on Legal Licensure Reform

IAALS has launched Pathways to Legal Licensure, a landmark empirical study examining multiple approaches to attorney licensure across the United States. The project will assess how different licensure pathways measure and uphold minimum competency in the legal profession.