News & Updates

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.

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.

In January, the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts' Family Court Review published an article highlighting the key takeaways, proposals, and results from last spring's Plain and Simple: Making the Legal System Accessible to All conference. The conference was directed at the immense need for plain language and simplification reform efforts, and was co-sponsored by IAALS.

On Thursday, March 12, the State Bar of California Trustees voted to postpone passing the motion to explore the development of a regulatory sandbox to May. In my eyes, every day, hour, or minute of delay leads to bad legal outcomes for Californians. Our legal system is in crisis. Now, as a community, we have to turn our kinetic access-to-justice energy into focused action.

People look to our legal system for help in matters that affect their rights, their families, their businesses, and the most intimate aspects of their lives. But, for too long and for too many, the courthouse doors seem closed—and justice out of reach. IAALS is changing that. We are proud to present you with our 2019 Annual Report, which highlights our work and accomplishments toward ensuring that everyone has access to justice we can believe in.

To address the challenges posed by the rising number of debt collection cases in our state courts—including high rates of self-represented litigants and default judgments—IAALS and the National Center for State Courts have released a new white paper that presents a model approach to reform in these cases.

On February 26, IAALS and the University of Denver Sturm College of Law had the privilege of hosting Patricia Refo, President-elect of the American Bar Association, for a talk and Q&A regarding the re-regulation of legal services. Refo gave an engaging talk that explored how re-regulation could address the access to justice gap, as well as the questions the legal profession must address in the wake of innovation. 

The National Self-Represented Litigants Project has released its 2018/2019 report on the demographics of SRLs in Canada, including their income, education level, party status, and experience with legal services. While some of the results may come as no surprise, others are more eyebrow-raising.

 

Technology has always been a key component of efforts to expand the realm of legal services. Yet, Ontario's former Attorney General Chris Bentley argues that the biggest roadblock to the development of direct to consumer legal technology tools is the lawyer monopoly on legal services.

Next week, the American Bar Association kicks off its 2020 Midyear Meeting, and the ABA Center for Innovation has submitted Resolution 115 for passage by the ABA House of Delegates. Resolution 115 would encourage jurisdictions to consider innovative approaches to increase low- and middle-income Americans’ access to justice and to collect and assess data before and after the adoption of any regulatory innovations.

As a member of the California State Bar Task Force on Access Through Innovation of Legal Services, I’m often asked how things are going with ATILS and what is coming next. Considering the recent increase in news coverage of our efforts, the critical feedback received to date, and with the Task Force recently being named to the 2020 American Bar Association’s list of Legal Rebels, I thought it was the right time to put together this quick blog post to provide everyone with an update from the Golden State.

On the final day of 2019, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued his annual year-end report on the federal judiciary. In the report, he stresses the importance of civic education to ensure public trust and confidence in our country’s legal system.

In Ohio, state judges are currently chosen in nonpartisan general elections (although they do compete in partisan primaries). But House Bill 460 would allow judicial candidates to place their party affiliations directly on the general election ballot. If the measure becomes law, Ohio would be the second state in recent years to move from nonpartisan to openly partisan elections. 

Small and mid-size business owners struggle with access to justice issues just as individuals do, with real ramifications for their businesses and their communities. Through the US Justice Needs project, IAALS will be surveying businesses, from small to large, so that we can better understand justice needs from their perspective. 

IAALS is excited to announce the creation of a new Advisory Committee in support of its US Justice Needs project, which is conducting research to assess the justice needs of people and businesses in the United States. The Advisory Committee will inform the work of the project, including assisting in tailoring HiiL’s individual survey for administration in the United States and developing a survey for businesses.

The legal system has been regulated so tightly that it has led to a world where only a fraction of the citizens who require legal services can access them, and we cannot afford to fail those who cannot afford legal representation. Unlocking legal regulation is the answer and stands at the heart of the worthy efforts underway in states across the country.

In partnership with national experts, IAALS has developed three new guides to support real change in state courts. Stemming from our work on the Civil Justice Initiative and Family Justice Initiative, the guides are designed to assist in creating effective self-help information for those who need it, developing problem-solving approaches for families in court, and providing insight for judges who interface with self-represented litigants.

The American legal profession is at a crossroads. We cannot continue to expect people to confront legal problems without legal advice. IAALS’ new Unlocking Legal Regulation project is taking a bold step forward and laying the foundation for a consumer- and people-centered legal regulatory system that opens the door for more service providers, more legal services, and more sustainable practices in the marketplace.

What is it that clients value in, and want from, their lawyers? How does a lawyer meet the requirements of their clients? This information has traditionally been gathered informally and only shared internally within offices that collect client feedback. To address this gap in our understanding, IAALS partnered with Avvo to create Think Like a Client. This report uses an evidence-based approach to illuminate clients' preferences, needs, and expectations when working with their attorneys, providing valuable and much-needed insight into how lawyers can better serve their clients.

In one of the United States Courts' latest "Court Shorts" videos, nine federal judges discuss the rule of law and its role in both the justice system and our daily lives. One after another, the judges make it clear that the rule of law is a foundational part of our legal system—and our lives as Americans.