We begin 2022 faced with many of the same challenges—a global pandemic, inequities in our legal system, and access to justice out of reach for millions—but in this new year we bring renewed commitment to advancing justice we can believe in. Much of our work these past two years has been pointed toward discovering how our legal system can better serve people during these uncertain times. We’ve worked to advance innovation, we’ve brought together diverse collaborators that represent all sides of the issues, and we’ve focused our efforts on improving the user experience—all toward removing barriers to justice.
We look to this next year with purpose and determination, because much is at stake. Thank you for joining us in this important work.
David Yellen, CEO January 2022
Denver Law Firm Coalition Creates Blueprint to Advance Racial Equity: IAALS, in partnership with the Denver Law Firm Coalition for Racial Equity, have published a report detailing best practices and recommendations to recruit, retain, and advance racially diverse attorneys. The report is the outcome of leaders across Denver’s legal community coming together to explore and identify sustainable, long-term DEI solutions, and the Coalition’s commitment to advance these shared goals across member firms.
The Paths to Access: Courts Must Look Within and Beyond Justice System: The second two Paths to Justice convenings and webinars, focused on access to justice, brought together diverse perspectives and partners to discuss how we utilize key data from our US Justice Needs survey to drive action and system improvement, followed by an issue paper highlighting outcomes and key takeaways.
California Lawmakers Ignore Data in Calls to Restrict the Expansion of Legal Services: 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.
Be sure to read all of the news from IAALS on our blog.
We are so grateful to all who donated to our Countdown to New Year’s campaign and the incredibly generous friend who matched donations, which resulted in more than $61,000 raised to support our work. Our sincerest thank you to everyone who supported IAALS in 2021 through donations, partnerships, event attendance, and spreading the word about our urgent and critical work. Your contributions help to ensure a successful 2022!
December 13: "New York Bar Relaxes Law Firm Ownership Rule" in Bloomberg Law
December 13: "The ABA’s Approval of the GRE 'Caught Everybody Off Guard'—But Will It Be a Game Changer?" on Law.com
December 13: "Ahead of the Curve: The ABA’s Ruling on GREs is a 'Huge Development' that Raises Huge Questions" on Law.com
December 10: "Why This Villanova Program Could Be a 'Great Blueprint' for Law School Innovation" on Law.com
December 8: "Data-driven solutions to reverse decline in justice access" on Open Access Government
December 8: "'Innovation Averse' Law Schools Risk Missing Out on the Legal Industry’s Regulatory Renaissance" on Law.com
December 8: "Legal education innovations emerge as regulatory landscape changes" on the ABA website
December 7: "ABA Hosts Redesigning Legal: The Role Of Legal Education, Clinics And Legal Labs Today" on TaxProf Blog
December 6: "Panel to tackle how law schools might adapt to changing regulatory legal landscape" on LegalNews.com
December 1: "State Bar Associations and Regulatory Capture: Who Do You Serve?" on TechLaw Crossroads
December 1: "NewLaw can be overwhelming. How can I make it less so for the benefit of my team?" in Legal Evolution
Noteworthy
IAALS’ Judicial Recusal Procedures: A Report on the IAALS Convening cited in the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States' Draft Final Report.
IAALS’ Justice Needs and Satisfaction in the United States of America listed as an access-to-justice resource on Cleo Connect.
