Expert Opinions

It's time for our justice system to recognize and address imminent, high-impact threats. Just as the pandemic highlighted the need for vigilance and proactive measures, we must confront these looming challenges head-on to ensure access to justice.

The Colorado Supreme Court recently released guidelines permitting virtual participation in trial court proceedings. While crucial, this is only the initial stride in securing a transformative change for the court, their users, and society.

IAALS’ JPE 2.0 project is investigating and responding to concerns about judicial performance evaluation—with a goal of renewing JPE as a valued and trusted process going forward. A foundational white paper from IAALS serves as a primer for these important developments.

The Supreme Court’s recent affirmative action ruling will undoubtedly impact law school admissions and legal hiring. Now, more than ever, efforts to improve equity and inclusion are crucial for creating a more diverse legal profession.

The demand for affordable and accessible legal services is resoundingly clear. As allied legal professional programs gain momentum, they are undeniably reshaping the legal profession—even in the face of resistance from some attorneys.

The legal community has varying opinions on regulatory reform, with some supporting, some opposing, and many unaware. As people explore this topic, they often encounter several arguments against reform—countered here with data and insights from other industries.

The North Carolina Justice for All Project, created in 2020 to expand access to justice through regulatory reform, is a testament to the power of advocacy and the potential for individuals to drive change.

In Ontario, paralegals have established themselves to be competent legal service providers in many practice areas and are now entrenched in the legal services landscape. Here's what the United States can learn from our experience.

This November, thousands of judges across 38 states find themselves on the ballot, and there is reason to believe that this year judicial races will capture more voter attention than usual.

The State Bar of California’s foray into legal regulatory innovation has a relatively long history, yet its progress will be halted and disregarded unless Governor Newsom stands up to special-interest attorney groups.

A growing number of states are exploring the permanent implementation of alternative licensure approaches that would allow law school graduates to obtain their license through nontraditional avenues that run adjacent to—or bypass entirely—the bar exam.

In May 2022, the Minnesota Supreme Court hosted a public hearing on several recommendations to improve the state's Legal Paraprofessional Pilot Project. Speakers in favor and opposition of the recommendations came together for constructive dialogue on tangible ways to improve the program and, ultimately, increase access to legal services.

Over the past several years, IAALS has designed resources to improve legal education and legal hiring; challenged the legal community to examine its licensure practices; and promoted a justice system that meets the demands of everyday people by clearing regulatory obstacles to innovation, development, and collaboration. And this work is just getting started.

This comment was submitted to the State Bar of California in support of the proposed Paraprofessional Program, which would authorize paraprofessionals to provide legal advice in areas such as family, consumer debt, landlord/tenant, employment/income, and collateral criminal cases, as well as represent parties in court (excluding jury trials).

Lawmakers in California recently spoke out against the state bar's exploration of regulatory reform as a means to address the access-to-justice crisis. However, the need for efficient and affordable legal services is growing exponentially—and data suggests that legal services innovation could a key part of the solution.

Throughout 2020, we saw just about every aspect of the legal profession move from in-person to virtual services. There have been a number of horror stories but also plenty of success stories, in which technology helped decrease court backlogs and increased access to the courts. So where does this leave us, and how do we move forward?

From conversations with legal reformers in many states, the idea of establishing a regulatory sandbox seems extreme. The reality is, though, that these initiatives are not as aggressive as they might seem—and in fact, state courts have been using similar reform tools for a very long time. 

IAALS and HiiL have released the results of our US Justice Needs study, providing data on the justice problems Americans experience and the ways they seek to resolve them. Now that we know what people need help with most, we can begin to chart a new path forward to improve our justice system nationwide.

Lawyer development is a single continuum that starts even before the first day of law school, and continues past the point when a lawyer has become an independent, confident, and proficient professional. Until we recognize this fact, we will continue to struggle to develop lawyers properly.

The goal of any licensure process should be to make sure the public is protected from incompetence without serving as an artificial barrier to people entering the legal profession. Indeed, this is precisely what the bar exam purports to do. But does the bar exam actually do those things?