News & Updates

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.

In late September, the Indiana Supreme Court announced the creation of the Indiana Innovation Initiative. One of the initiative’s two subgroups, the Family Law Taskforce, will consider the Family Justice Initiative Principles supported by IAALS in order to improve the way Indiana’s courts handle domestic relations cases.

Online dispute resolution platforms have existed for over two decades and have carved out an important and expanding role in the legal landscape. The 2019 International ODR Forum was held last month in Virginia, during which IAALS team members participated in discussions about the future of ODR.

Last month, the University of Pennsylvania Law School announced the launch of their Future of the Profession Initiative. The initiative aims to “Teach, Lead, and Transform” by looking at ways law schools can “adopt a holistic vision” for the formation of lawyers, both during law school and on through their careers. 

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.

In two promising developments for regulatory reform, the Arizona Task Force on the Delivery of Legal Services published its official report and recommendations, and the Chicago Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Foundation announced the creation of a task force to identify regulatory reform recommendations. Arizona's recommendations reflect IAALS' vision for a consumer-centered regulatory system that will better meet the needs of all people. 

NCSC's 2019 Trends in State Courts explores various ways to make state court processes both more user-friendly and relevant, from newly developed apps providing people with access to legal advice to remote technology options providing better access to justice for self-represented litigants. 

The legal profession is facing an unprecedented crisis in serving the needs of people with legal problems. If ever we needed an era of regulatory reform, now, during the age of technological disruption, is the time. California, Arizona, and Utah are all taking bold action—and IAALS is in the thick of it.

In the first-ever, broad-based research of its kind, IAALS is partnering with HiiL to assess the justice needs of people and businesses in the United States. The issue of access to justice is broader and deeper in our society than has historically been recognized. What we learn will provide the insight we need to reform the American legal system and tailor services to meet the needs of all users.

From smartphones to video conferencing, there are numerous technology options that are simple, effective, and could make a great deal of difference in court users' experiences. IAALS' Eighteen Ways Courts Should Use Technology to Better Serve Their Customers explores some of these options and their potential impact on our civil justice system. 

Between 2016 and 2018, 11 states were awarded grants under the Justice for All Initiative. Now they've completed their strategic planning processes and are ready to begin the implementation phase, with common themes among plans being use of technology, strong governanance, and internal and external communications. 

​In June, the National Center for States Courts released the second in a series of evaluations of civil justice reform demonstration pilot projects around the country. The report details efforts in the 22nd Judicial Circuit of Illinois, located in McHenry County, where the pilot primarily focused on implementing civil case management teams, tools, technology, and the pathways approach.

Technological advances in the legal field are growing around the world, but different countries are seeing that growth manifest at different speeds and in different ways. In Australia, legal technology is just beginning to explode, and very quickly.

A number of new smartphone apps aim to make the divorce process more collaborative and less adversarial. These apps encourage teamwork around parenting plans and help to keeps things civil by building stronger communication around important issues like events with children, scheduled appointments, childcare costs, and court dates.

Online dispute resolution is emerging in courts around the country. Last month, Arizona’s Administrative Office of the Courts announced the launch of an ODR pilot program in the family courts of Pinal County, and there are also startups providing similar services through intelligent dispute resolution.

This week, IAALS Executive Director Rebecca Love Kourlis and Senior Director Brittany Kauffman have been attending the World Justice Forum at The Hague. The Forum has generated discussion around some of the most pressing legal topics in the world today.

IAALS’ Court Compass project has received an honorable mention as part of the World Justice Project’s World Justice Challenge 2019. Thirty projects have been selected as finalists to be showcased at the World Justice Forum on April 29 – May 2, and IAALS Executive Director Rebecca Love Kourlis and Senior Director Brittany Kauffman will be in attendance and speaking on panels.

Many law schools have been developing courses based around technology and the law; however, there is often a mismatch between the tech skills that law firms need and the skills that these law school technology courses are actually teaching.

As state courts around the country have been responding to the Conference of Chief Justices' 2016 Call to Action for civil justice reform, IAALS, NCSC, and NCJFCJ also have been focused on developing companion recommendations for evaluating and improving the way courts handle domestic relations cases, which have just been released.

In an important step toward making family courts more user-friendly and less adversarial, the Conference of Chief Justices has adopted new guidelines to help courts be more responsive to the needs of families.