News & Updates

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

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

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.

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 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.

The ABA Journal recently highlighted the significance of Foundations 2.0 and its potential to reshape how we define and assess lawyer readiness. Our survey is now live, and we’re inviting lawyers across the country to weigh in.

The legal controversies surrounding many of the current administration's policy initiatives have included calls to impeach judges who have ruled against the government, and defenders of the judiciary frequently have characterized these events as attacks on the rule of law.

Alternative Business Structures offer a promising, though still evolving, path toward expanding access to legal services in the United States. Early data from Utah and Arizona show encouraging signs, but critical questions remain.

IAALS has launched Pathways to Legal Licensure, a landmark empirical study examining multiple approaches to attorney licensure across the United States. The project will assess how different licensure pathways measure and uphold minimum competency in the legal profession.

The path to justice runs through IAALS. At every level, we are making our system more just—and our work puts our core values into practice. Read our 2024 Annual Report.

IAALS' 17th annual celebration drew 200 supporters and partners as we marked our shared achievements to improve access to justice, and united behind our collective efforts to uphold the rule of law and ensure that justice for all is a reality for everyone.