IAALS: Built for This Moment in Civil Justice

In a time when public trust in institutions is fraying—and courts are not immune—IAALS stands out for one reason: it has spent two decades doing the disciplined work of fixing how civil justice actually functions.

Not in theory. In practice.

Dan Ritchie, Diane Gates Wallach, John Moye, and I founded IAALS in 2006 with a singular focus in mind: making the civil justice system more just, more accessible, and more responsive to the people it is meant to serve. It is now 2026, and that mission matters now more than ever. Because the crisis in trust is not abstract. It is experiential. People lose trust in courts when they cannot understand them, afford them, or navigate them.

IAALS has long recognized this reality and built its work around it.

First, its track record is grounded in data, not rhetoric. IAALS has helped shape national civil justice reform conversations through empirical research, including collaboration on the Civil Justice Improvements Committee’s recommendations to reduce cost and delay while preserving fairness and due process. That is not small influence. That is system architecture.

Second, IAALS focuses relentlessly on access. Nearly half of Americans experience legal problems without finding a meaningful solution, and millions of legal issues go unresolved or are resolved in ways perceived as unfair. IAALS has responded by developing research-driven innovations designed to make courts easier to navigate, less procedurally complex, and more efficient with limited resources. In other words: fewer barriers, clearer pathways, and real usability.

Third, IAALS is uniquely positioned because it does not just publish reports—it builds coalitions and pilots solutions with judges, courts, and stakeholders nationwide. That collaborative model matters in civil justice, where sustainable reform depends on buy-in from the bench, the bar, and the public.

Its initiatives reflect this practical orientation. The Uncomplicated Courts Initiative, for example, aims to redesign the “justice journey” so it is simpler, more supportive, and more responsive to the millions navigating civil cases each year. Likewise, its work on consumer-centered legal regulation directly targets the justice gap by expanding responsible access to legal services. 

But perhaps most importantly, IAALS centers people. Not procedure. Not tradition. People.

At a moment when trust in the legal system hinges on whether ordinary users feel heard, understood, and served, that orientation is transformative. Trust is not restored through speeches about the rule of law. It is rebuilt through experiences of fairness, clarity, and responsiveness in everyday civil cases—family disputes, housing matters, consumer claims, business lawsuits. IAALS has been doing the work to meet people’s needs and mend trust for 20 years through evidence-driven, stakeholder-focused, reform-minded solutions.  

The legal climate may be turbulent. But the path forward is clear: a civil justice system that works for real people in real time.

That is precisely the lane IAALS has been paving all along.