IAALS Launches New Project to Develop Blueprint for Evaluating Alternative Business Structures
IAALS today announced the launch of its Alternative Business Structures (ABS) Evaluation Blueprint project. This pioneering initiative will be developed in collaboration with leaders in Arizona and across the country to guide how jurisdictions assess the impact of ABS programs on access to justice, innovation, and consumer protection.
As states continue to explore ABS programs—models that allow new forms of ownership, investment, and collaboration in legal services—there is a growing need for clear, evidence-based approaches to evaluation. This initiative seeks to fill that gap by providing a structured framework to assess how these programs are functioning in practice and how they can be improved over time.
“Too many people are still navigating legal problems without meaningful support,” said Jessica Bednarz, Director of Legal Services and the Profession at IAALS. “As jurisdictions pursue regulatory reform, including ABS programs, it’s critical that we not only enable innovation, but also rigorously evaluate its impact. The resulting blueprint will help leaders launching and overseeing ABS programs to measure outcomes, strengthen consumer protections, and make informed decisions about the future of legal services.”
The project aims to co-design a practical approach to evaluation, including:
- Defining core program goals, such as expanding access to legal services and innovative service delivery models
- Establishing metrics and data collection strategies
- Assessing consumer outcomes and system performance
- Supporting continuous learning and refinement over time
“Innovation, including regulatory reform, is essential to closing the justice gap,” said Judge Anni Hill Foster of the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One, and Chair of the Arizona ABS Committee. “An evaluation of Arizona’s Alternative Business Structure Program is critical to shed light on how well the program is achieving its goals—expanding access to legal services, encouraging innovation in service delivery, and enabling new investment to support those services. These insights will help shape the future of innovative legal-system reforms while ensuring strong public protection.”
IAALS will look to Arizona’s Alternative Business Structure Program—the first of its kind in the United States—in developing the framework, ensuring it is grounded in real-world implementation while also designed to support ongoing and comparative evaluation of ABS programs nationwide.
This project is part of IAALS’ broader Unlocking Legal Regulation initiative, which focuses on modernizing outdated regulatory frameworks and building a more accessible, people-centered legal service delivery ecosystem.
