In a groundbreaking report, IAALS, in partnership with Professor Deborah Merritt at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, has defined the minimum competence that new lawyers need to be qualified to practice law—and provides recommendations for how legal licensing processes like the bar exam must change to be more fair to bar applicants and to better protect the public.

Courts currently face a backlog of civil cases that have been placed on hold since mid-March, as well as a predicted wave of case filings stemming from the pandemic. Courts need a framework to adapt to their new reality—and they already have that framework and tools to make meaningful and mandatory changes.

On October 20, IAALS hosted a virtual Rebuilding Justice Award Celebration instead of gathering for our annual gala as we normally do, and we were joined by people from all over the country and world via Zoom to honor both Margaret Hagan and the late Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Cady for their leadership and innovation in advancing our justice system.

IAALS relies on a tremendous group of partners who help guide our work, and we are pleased to announce that Carla van Dongen, Vice President - Counsel for State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, will chair our Business Leadership Network as well as serve on our Board of Advisors.

Courts around the country are focused on staying open to ensure access to justice is available; however, with so many doing so much, we need to ensure cross-pollination of these varied ideas by sharing knowledge and combining our collective intellectual capacity across the various silos within our system.

In advance of the 2020 election, Our Courts Colorado has released a series of PSAs featuring diverse and well-known members of the community who explain why voters should take the time to educate themselves about the judges up for retention and then cast their votes accordingly.

IAALS has launched a new award to recognize innovators who have made significant impacts early in their legal careers toward making the American legal system work better for everyone who needs it and everyone who is a part of it: the Alli Gerkman Legal Visionary Award.

Courts across the country have made giant strides in the use of technology in the wake of COVID-19. The Conference of Chief Justices and Conference of State Court Administrators are urging state court officials to continue this momentum, and they have recommended six principles related to courts’ use of technology going forward.

Many states, including California, are exploring regulatory reform as a means through which to drive innovation in the legal services sector and increase access to justice. The public is rarely involved in these discussions, however, and the critical consumer perspective is missing.

Our legal system needs leaders and visionaries in these trying times—and IAALS seeks the same. In order to ensure the leadership over our work continues, we recently retained a renowned global search firm to help us find the best and most diverse possible candidates for the CEO job. We welcome your help in finding someone to lead IAALS into its next chapter.

Texas has recently completed an extensive review of their court operations and has proposed new recommendations for resuming jury trials during the pandemic, and is among numerous states and jurisdictions working to reinvent what jury trials look like, both in-person and virtual.

The legal profession is fraught with systemic barriers to entry that form ripple effects on the road to becoming a lawyer. The pathway is much like narrow pipeline—entry is limited and every segment is springing leaks, disproportionately affecting people of color along the way—creating a profession that is among the least diverse in the country.