News & Updates

Last week, in a historic vote, the Utah Supreme Court voted unanimously to establish a regulatory sandbox for nontraditional legal services providers in order to address the state’s access to justice crisis. These rule changes will allow individuals and entities to explore creative ways to safely allow the practice of law and reduce constraints on how lawyers market and promote their services.

Studies show that up to 80 percent of Americans’ civil legal needs go unmet—and that will likely grow due to the pandemic. Change cannot wait any longer. It is time for us to reimagine the ways in which legal services in our country are delivered, and leaders across the profession are calling for immediate action.

On June 25, IAALS and the University of Denver Sturm College of Law co-hosted a virtual discussion with William Henderson, law professor and an ABA Journal Legal Rebel, who laid out how and why the current legal regulatory system is no longer working and why state supreme courts are best positioned to pioneer new regulatory models.

The California Board of Trustees is meeting today to consider the charter and composition of the Closing the Justice Gap Working Group. We at IAALS applaud the board for creating the working group and committing to move forward with important and innovative legal services solutions, but we strongly encourage them to significantly diversify its membership.

The regulatory reform signal shines brightly over Utah and your help is needed—will you answer the call? The public comment period on Utah's proposals to expand the delivery of legal services is open until Thursday, July 23. It is imperative for all those who are committed to making justice available for all to submit comments in favor of these important advancements.

The legacy of racism that blights our criminal justice system also creates inequities in our society more broadly. IAALS joins others in this process of listening, reflecting, and recommitting ourselves to the goals of equity and inclusion, because they are central to our vision of a justice system that works for all people.

The Independent Review of Legal Services Regulation has published its final report, which is designed to assist the government in assessing the current regulatory framework for legal services in England and Wales and contribute to the momentum around new frameworks for regulation.

Earlier this year, Law School Transparency published LST's 2025 Vision: A Modern Blueprint for Change. The report outlines plans and proposals for law schools to become more accessible, affordable, and innovative, including an alternative to the U.S. News rankings as well as updated standards for accreditation. 

While the pandemic's disruption increases the need for systemic improvements, it also offers a distinct opportunity to achieve them. As we respond to COVID-19, we should learn from the new efforts underway and work to make long-term, fundamental changes. Let’s seize this opportunity to make the changes we need to provide justice we can believe in.

Last year, IAALS surveyed members of the American Board of Trial Advocates about their trust and confidence in the legal system and factors that influence their perspectives. A substantial majority of respondents reported high levels of confidence in both the state and federal court systems, but others gave us reasons for their declining confidence.

In February, IAALS Manager Zack DeMeola joined the Law 2030 podcast of the University of Pennsylvania Law School’s Future of the Profession Initiative to talk about learning outcomes in law schools, predictions for the legal profession’s future, and how it all ties together with IAALS’ landmark Foundations for Practice project.

Law Day 2020 celebrates the centennial of the transformative amendment that gave women the right to vote. As we recognize this moment in our country's history, we also remember that the 19th Amendment has not translated to broader gender equality—and that our justice system, too, is not immune to claims of systemic inequality and bias.

The COVID-19 pandemic poses unique challenges to lawyers and law students alike. For many students enrolled in live-client clinics, the challenges of meeting their clients' needs in a transitional environment are particularly demanding. Yet these law students in clinical programs have a unique opportunity to rise to the occasion.

Courts, judges, and lawyers have demonstrated a remarkable ability to adapt to a remote and technology-driven version of our justice system in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes have fundamentally altered the way the system operates and call for a renewed commitment to civility and collegiality across the legal profession.

In 2018, the NCBE created its Testing Task Force to conduct a three-year project that, in part, examines whether the bar exam is a valid measure of minimum competence to practice law. Last month, NCBE released a report detailing the findings of Phase 2, a national practice analysis, which will provide a foundation of data for bar exam reform.

On April 7, the ABA Board of Governors approved a resolution urging state licensing authorities to immediately adopt emergency rules that would authorize recent law school graduates to practice law without passing a bar exam, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

New Mexico is one of the latest states to look to regulatory innovation to increase access to legal services. On January 24, the state supreme court approved a number of recommendations, including enlisting nonlawyer court navigators to assist self-represented litigants in navigating the system. 

The United States of America leads the world in many areas of democracy, technology, economy, and culture, but what holds back American citizens from accessing justice when they need it? In times of extreme uncertainty, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, this is a critical question.

Imagine a legal sector neatly divided into two groups: the Rule Makers and the Risk Takers. With evidence piling up that the legal market is not working for ordinary citizens, the Rule Makers come together to evaluate possible changes. After the new rules are enacted, the burden shifts to the Risk Takers to build out workable solutions.

In a new white paper published on March 22, 11 legal scholars stress the need for jurisdictions to consider alternative licensing options for the Class of 2020 and others slated to take the bar exam this summer, in light of restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.