News & Updates

IAALS gathered partners and friends at the University of Denver to celebrate twenty years of accomplishments and look towards the urgent work ahead.

The award showcases innovators, risk takers, visionaries, and emerging leaders who bring a unique perspective to the improvement of our justice system.

In 2025, IAALS connected experts and leaders to help build innovative solutions that address the most pressing challenges facing our justice system.

The Uncomplicated Courts Initiative provides a national blueprint to simplify high-volume court processes, integrate legal help, and build people-centered systems.

At IAALS' recent judicial webinar, judges stressed how critical communication and persistence are for judges trying to innovate in their courts.

IAALS announced the five recipients of its 2026 Rebuilding Justice Award: Dave Byers, William C. Hubbard, Stacy Rupprecht Jane, Chief Justice Nathan L. Hecht (Ret.), and Sateesh Nori.

Insights from A Blueprint for Judicial Innovation lay out how judges can be catalysts for change in their courts.

IAALS and the Berkeley Judicial Institute today released A Blueprint for Judicial Innovation, which offers concrete guidance for judges who are ready to drive people-centered reform across our justice system.

Logan Cornett and Ericka Byram gave presentations at the International Access to Justice Forum on expanding community participation in research and AI.

At IAALS, philanthropic support is essential to advancing our mission of building a more accessible, fair, and efficient legal system. To assist in these efforts, we recently welcomed Scott Patton as our Director of Development to guide our development strategy and deepen our relationships with supporters and donors across the country.

The Above the Line Network has launched the ATLN Hub, a new website that provides an online home for the growing community of leaders working together to make legal services more affordable for everyday people.

Utah's legal regulatory sandbox was designed to open the door to new kinds of legal service providers and business structures, including entities with nonlawyer ownership and nonlawyer practitioners, who could offer legal services to the public. IAALS has now completed our interim evaluation, with findings published across a four-part report series covering background, process evaluation, outcomes evaluation, and social return on investment analysis.

The Above the Line Network strongly supports the Commission on Indiana’s Legal Future recommendation to advise practitioners on alternative fee structures to address the state's attorney shortage. ATLN has submitted public comments to advise practitioners on alternative fee arrangements.

Members of the IAALS Lawyers Council gathered in downtown Denver to discuss the growing momentum of alternative business structures with Arizona Chief Justice Ann A. Scott Timmer.

On Constitution Day, when the tendency is to wax poetic regarding the historic significance of our Constitution, we must be reminded of this living framework and its provision of both rights and responsibilities. We all have a role in ensuring the continued strength of our democracy.

The IAALS Alli Gerkman Legal Visionary Award recognizes innovators who have made significant impacts early in their legal careers toward making the American legal system work better for everyone. The nomination window for the 2026 award is now open.

The Committee on Legal Education and Admissions Reform (CLEAR) recently released a high-profile report exploring why the legal profession is struggling to meet the needs of the majority of Americans. In this report, CLEAR points to multiple IAALS projects to support their recommendations, underscoring IAALS’ role in shaping national reform.

The World Justice Forum 2025 in Warsaw, Poland, was a gathering of global leaders, jurists, and human rights champions who came together to confront the rising tide of authoritarianism and reverse the global rule of law recession. The event provided a space to share lessons learned and chart a path forward of hope and action.

IAALS' new report on regulating AI in the delivery of consumer-facing legal services outlines a clear and actionable framework for how the legal profession can respond to the rise of artificial intelligence tools already being used by the public to navigate legal issues.

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.