News & Updates

The June edition of 5280 Magazine highlights the reality of self-representation in Colorado’s civil courts. Referencing the first-hand experience of a litigant who navigated her way through the family court process without an attorney, the article discusses how more and more Coloradoans are without legal representation in their civil case.

IAALS has been instrumental in changing the landscape of Colorado’s civil pre-trial practice. It all began with Becky Kourlis’ provocative and influential speech at the American College of Trial Lawyers annual meeting in March 2007, where she outlined the disturbing trends and challenges facing our justice system. Becky’s talk was the seed that grew into the ACTL Task Force on Discovery and Civil Justice, which was tasked with taking a hard look at these problem areas and recommending improvements. IAALS provided a wealth of information, experience, necessary guidance, and high credibility to the Task Force.

IAALS’ Honoring Families Initiative recently released two new reports focused on the experiences of self-represented litigants in our family court system: Cases Without Counsel: Research on Experiences of Self-Representation in U.S. Family Court and Cases Without Counsel: Our Recommendations after Listening to the Litigants.

Lawyers reach out to me from time to time to give me a dose of reality. Recently, a trial lawyer spoke to me of a few cases that had gone awry—and are examples of larger issues that plague our civil justice system. She did not give names, or case numbers, or jurisdiction, so if any of you reading this recognize yourselves, be assured that I do not.

Today, IAALS unveiled two new reports—one of which captures the experiences of litigants navigating U.S. family courts without attorneys, and the other makes recommendations for courts and others to help better serve these litigants. There is broad consensus that, in some courts, upwards of 80–90% of family cases involve at least one self-represented party. In many instances, when parties are not represented, difficulties arise for litigants and courts alike. Cases Without Counsel highlights a very real justice gap and gives urgency to the challenge of creating client-centric family law courts and processes.

Changes to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure are on the horizon. Scheduled to take effect on December 1, 2016, the amendments “will affect the maximum permitted length of briefs, the time available for responding to briefs and motions that…

The federal rule amendments that went into effect on December 1, 2015, represent the culmination of years of effort dedicated to improving our civil justice system in the federal courts. While we recognize it took much hard work to get this far, to…

The April edition of Court Manager—the monthly publication of the National Association for Court Management (NACM)—featured an article by Brittany Kauffman, Director of IAALS’ Rule One Initiative. Entitled “ Change the Culture, Change the System: A…

The National Center for Access to Justice at Cardozo Law School recently released the Justice Index 2016—an updated version of the 2014 Index.

The use of social media by jurors is a growing problem. In response, California passed a state law in 2011 making violations punishable by contempt. Since then, such misconduct has only increased as jurors become even more technologically savvy and connected via smartphones.

Despite efforts by courts, communities, and bar associations around the country, there remains a serious need for tools that provide self-represented litigants with easy access to the information and resources required to appropriately navigate the court system. Technology is increasingly being leveraged in self-help solutions, and the concept of the litigant portal is at the core of this strategy.

Back in 2011, Utah implemented significant statewide changes to its rules of civil procedure governing disclosure and discovery, incorporating proportionality and presumptive discovery limits based on tiers. Once again Utah is on the leading edge, implementing a Civil Case Management Pilot Program that promotes increased judicial case management oversight.

On December 1, 2015, the long awaited amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure went into effect, including changes focused on cooperation, active judicial case management, proportionality in discovery, and preservation/sanctions. Proving…

Last week, IAALS held our annual Rebuilding Justice Award Dinner in celebration of our 10th Anniversary and the remarkable progress we've made as a national force for legal reform. Our work is not accomplished alone, which is why we honored both past awardees and current partners for their dedication and their innovation.

Ten years ago, few would have predicted that IAALS would have such an impact on the legal system. The world wasn’t exactly clamoring for another legal think tank, and aside from a few visionaries in Denver, no one foresaw the need for an organization dedicated to the improvement of the legal system rather than partisan advocacy. Yet ten years later, IAALS has succeeded not only in prompting a conversation about how cases get litigated but in touching off a broader reexamination of a number of assumptions about attorney control over litigation, discovery, and the relationship of the legal system to the people it serves.

In February, IAALS Executive Director Rebecca Love Kourlis gave the keynote address for the Denton Darrington Annual Lecture on Law and Government in Boise. Speaking on “Building the Just, Speedy, and Inexpensive Civil Courts of Tomorrow: Why We Cannot Afford to Fail,” Kourlis emphasized the importance of a robust and responsive civil justice system, and the need for reform.

IAALS is celebrating our 10th Anniversary, which means our 2015 Annual Report marks a milestone in our history. This report takes a look back at our past decade of accomplishments as well as gazes forward into the future. Hard copies also include a special, pull-out timeline—a tour de force that showcases how far we’ve come in advancing excellence in the American legal system.

As IAALS celebrates its tenth year, the Denver Business Journal sat down with Executive Director Rebecca Love Kourlis to recap her motivation for leaving the Colorado Supreme Court and founding IAALS, and the impacts made over the last decade.

Inspired in part by the work of the Conference of Chief Justice’s Civil Justice Improvements Committee, Chief Justice Scott Bales of the Arizona Supreme Court issued an Order at the end of last year establishing a new initiative for the Arizona Courts, creating a 24-member committee of judges, lawyers, and stakeholders to address ways in which civil litigation can be made more efficient and less expensive.

I spent half my legal career as a civil trial lawyer in New Hampshire trying all manner of cases in state and federal court and sometimes trying or preparing to try cases in other states and jurisdictions. I learned from some great lawyers and mentors over those years. They viewed a jury trial not as a failure of the system but as an integral part of American justice. They tried many of their cases with four or five depositions, twenty key exhibits, an expert or two, and a theory of the case. Justice was almost always served. The lawyers I admired understood the probing value of focused, incisive cross examination, the transformative power of a witness's solemn oath, the value of the courtroom's sterile unfamiliarity in a search for the truth, and the capacity and integrity of juries to render fair verdicts. They viewed trial lawyering as a craft with a noble purpose and never viewed discovery as an end it itself.