Unlocking the Knowledge Center

All About Unlocking Legal Regulation

Click here to learn everything you need to know about IAALS' project and our progress

Recent News & Updates

January 19, 2024
Texas Non-Atty Ownership Plan Fizzles As Justice Gap Fix
Law360, Lynn LaRowe

January 18, 2024
Paralegals Look To The First Amendment To Open Access To Justice
Forbes, Andrew Wimer

January 8, 2024
Paralegals want to provide ‘simple legal advice’ without getting a law license: Lawsuit
Law & Crime, Elura Nanos

January 5, 2024
North Carolina Suit Aims to Broaden Who Can Provide Legal Advice
Bloomberg Law, Sam Skolnik

January 4, 2024
In NC, only lawyers can give legal advice. A new lawsuit aims to change that
Yahoo News, Kyle Ingram

January 4, 2024
Advocates boost legal services to MT's native tribes
Public News Service, Mark Moran

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Events

  • Redesigning Legal Speaker Series
    • March 21: The Ecosystem of Legal Service Providers—A Holistic Approach to Access to Justice examined the various legal service providers beyond lawyers who help people with their legal problems, and panelists discussed why it will take this entire ecosystem to fully tackle the access to justice crisis. Watch the presentation.
    • October 6, 2022: Improving Access to Courts and Judges explored innovation in access to courts and judges—from nonlawyer representation in the courtroom to virtual hearings to venturing outside the courthouse and into the community. Watch the presentation.
    • July 28, 2022: Redesigning How We License New Lawyers examined alternative lawyer licensing programs, how they differ from the current bar exam, what some jurisdictions are already testing, and how these alternatives might impact the profession. Watch the presentation. 
    • March 31, 2022: Opening the Law for New Opportunities explored the issues surrounding opening up access to the law, resources in the court systems, and the potential for new opportunities. Watch the presentation. 
    • February 24, 2022: Unified Bars and the Art of the Long View examined the status of mandatory state bars, the most recent legal challenges to them, and the innovative ways bars are meeting these challenges. Watch the presentation.
    • December 7, 2022: The Role of Legal Education, Clinics, and Legal Labs explored the opportunities being created by regulatory innovation for legal education. Watch the presentation.
    • October 20, 2021: Lawyer UPL—Has It Jumped the Shark? explored how regulatory reform efforts can strike a balance between broader access to justice, sustainable access, and public protection. Watch the presentation.
    • August 24, 2021: Legal Tech—Using Technology to Build Sustainable Practices & Expand Legal Services explored how lawyers and other legal professionals can help to solve problems using new advances in technology—while building sustainable practices at the same time. Watch the presentation.
    • June 9, 2021: Leading from the Bench—Expanding Access through Regulatory Innovation explored how judicial leadership can play a critical role in expanding access to legal services and access to justice. Watch the presentation.
  • Recaps and videos of the 2020 Future of Legal Services Speaker Series available here.
Right Now in Utah
Other State Action

Arizona

California

Illinois

Additional States

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Regulations in Other Countries

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IAALS Formal Comments on State Recommendations

Utah:

  • Written comment in support of the Utah Supreme Court Regulatory Reform Proposal

Arizona:

California:

  • Video testimony to ATILS (August 10, 2019)
  • Written comment to ATILS (September 23, 2019)
  • Spoken comment to ATILS in support of its Final Recommendations (March 12, 2020)
  • Video testimony in support of the Paraprofessional Program Working Group's Final Recommendations (September 23, 2021)
  • Written comment in support of the California Paraprofessional Program Proposal (January 12, 2022)
  • Spoken comment in support of the Closing the Justice Gap Working Group (January 20, 2022)

Colorado:

  • Written comment in support of the Colorado Licensed Legal Paraprofessionals Program

Illinois:

  • Written comment to Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (IARDC) regarding Intermediary Connecting Services Proposal
  • Written comment on the Task Force Report by the Chicago Bar Association/Chicago Bar Foundation Task Force on the Sustainable Practice of Law & Innovation

Texas: 

  • Written comment to the Texas Access to Justice Commission Access to Legal Services Working Group

Washington, D.C.: 

Organizations

IAALS

APRL

American Bar Association

Conference of Chief Justices

NCSC

HiiL

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Other Resources

IAALS and HiiL Justice Needs and Satisfaction in the United States of America

ABA Center for Innovation Legal Innovation Regulatory Survey

Legal Regulatory Survey

National Center for Access to Justice’s Justice Index 2021

Self-Represented Litigation Network's Court Navigators Resource Page

World Justice Project's Atlas of Legal Needs Surveys

World Justice Project's Rule of Law Index

Scholarship

Ethics, Lawyering, and Regulation in a Time of Great Change: Field Notes from the (R)evolution
Lucian T. Pera

One Small Step and a Giant Leap: Comparing Washington, D.C.'s Rule 5.4 with Arizona's Rule 5.4 Abolition
Robert Saavedra Teuton

Innovation & Evolution in the Regulation of Legal Services
Libertas Institute & A2J Ventures (February 2023)

Leveraging Regulatory Reform to Advance Access to Justice 
Cayley Balser, Erin Weaver, Gabriela Elizondo-Craig, Tate Richardson, & Stacy Butler (January 2023)

Lawyering in Times of Peril: Legal Empowerment and the Relevance of the Legal Profession
Ariadna M. Godreau-Aubert (December 2022)

Legal Aid Without Lawyers: How Boston’s Nonlawyers Delivered and Shaped Justice for the Poor, 1879–1921
Kelsea A. Jeon (Winter 2022)

Legal Innovation After Reform: Evidence from Regulatory Change
David Freeman Engstrom, Lucy Ricca, Graham Ambrose, & Maddie Walsh (September 27, 2022)

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Get in Touch

Are you working to unlock legal regulation? Do you see information missing from this Knowledge Center or have updates to share? We want to know. Submit your information here, and join the conversation online with #reimaginelaw and #unlockinglegalregulation.

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