News & Updates

Given the large number of people who navigate the legal system without any representation, justice system stakeholders have a duty to cut through the legalese and ensure that the system is more understandable to laypeople. To further that goal, IAALS is proud to co-sponsor a conference later this month at Hofstra University Maurice A. Deane School of Law, entitled Plain and Simple: Making the Legal System Accessible to All.

The National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP), recently announced the launch of their rebranded blog, “The Access Revolution Blog: Dispatches from the Frontlines.” The goal of the blog is to serve as a collaborative platform, breaking down the disconnect between users of the court and legal stakeholders, and to offer practical solutions to address the access to justice problem in Canada. 

After 13 years of growing IAALS from a fledgling idea to a nationally recognized force for change and evolution on the legal landscape, Rebecca Love Kourlis will retire from her role as Executive Director in September. The Chancellor of the University of Denver, Rebecca Chopp, and the Executive Committee of IAALS have opted to fill Kourlis’ formidable shoes with another national leader, Scott Bales, who recently announced he will step down as Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court.

 In an article for The Atlantic, Deborah Copaken gives us an unvarnished account of what it is like to go through the divorce process without a lawyer and exposes the difficulties faced by many litigants who choose to represent themselves in divorce court. 

Alan Carlson has been a pivotal part of IAALS over the last few years, leading us on strategic planning, helping us with projects, and connecting us to new board members. Alan is the epitome of a can-do person, and we are incredibly fortunate to have had him as part of our board. 

As we move into the New Year, everyone at IAALS is excited to be taking on new projects, creating new relationships, and continuing the important work that moves us toward a more accessible and efficient justice system. To help us pursue that goal, we are welcoming Brooke Meyer to our team, who will serve as a manager, working across our state and federal civil-focused projects.

Today, IAALS announces the release of The Initial Discovery Protocols for First-Party Insurance Property Damage Cases Arising from Disasters Protocols, which provides a new pretrial procedure for cases involving first-party insurance property damage claims arising from man-made or natural disasters. 

Done right, summary judgment expedites the just resolution of a case—that’s the whole reason we have Rule 56. Our challenge as judges and lawyers is to make dispositive motion practice advance that purpose. While lawyers have traditionally filed such motions if, when, and as often as they pleased, this is a recipe for excess or—worse—abuse. Dispositive motions work best when they are part of a plan for moving the case toward resolution.

Last month the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) launched a new website service to assist SRLs navigate complex court forms. The main site, a2j.org, hosts a series of “Guided Interviews” that walk SRLs through filling out various court forms using decision trees.

Today, IAALS announces the release of a new resource, Listen > Learn > Lead: A Guide to Improving Court Services through User-Centered Design, on how best to solicit feedback from self-represented litigants and other court stakeholders. The tools provided in this guide come from the knowledge IAALS gained through the Court Compass Project design sprint workshops.

This month, IAALS welcomes Lynnea Louison as our new Senior Director of Operations. We are so fortunate to have someone of her experience and caliber join our team, and we are excited for what the future holds. Welcome to the IAALS family, Lynnea!  

Laura Storovich, a participant in our Colorado design sprint, shares her experience going through divorce as a self-represented litigant and her thoughts on our design sprint process.

In the past several years, design thinking has gained traction in the legal field as a method for involving litigants and other stakeholders in developing improvements to the legal system. IAALS has taken design thinking one step further in applying a structured qualitative research approach to the process.

Through its Court Compass Design Sprint Workshops, IAALS invited self-represented litigants to work alongside local judges, attorneys, and court administrators to improve the family law court process and access to justice. Litigants in Massachusetts, Iowa, North Carolina, and Colorado answered the call.

Our courts face a crisis of access. In a majority of family cases—divorce, separation, and custody issues—at least one party is self-represented. With upwards of 80 to 90 percent of cases involving a self-represented party, it is essential that self-represented litigants can navigate the process and know what to expect at key stages. Partnering with experts around the country, IAALS developed Court Compass as a way to engage court users in brainstorming ways to simplify the family court process.

According to IAALS’ Foundations for Practice project, legal employers and current practitioners believe that, to be successful, new attorneys right out of law school must do much more than simply refine their legal skills—they must also possess the professional competencies and characteristics that will allow them to be thrive in today’s demanding market. Today, the question remains: How can law schools adapt to meet the needs of the modern legal profession?

Judges and attorneys from across the country point to dispositive motions as a critical area for reform. Today, IAALS announces the release of a new report, Efficiency in Motion: Recommendations for Improving Dispositive Motions Practice in State and Federal Courts, calling for a new paradigm for motion practice in the United States. The report is the culmination of nearly three years of research, surveys, and expert input into the opportunities for improvement and innovation.

The percentage of self-represented litigants in many state family courts is substantial. According to a new post by the National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP), these self-represented parties often feel like outsiders in a court system that appears to them as a private club. 

For the fifth year in a row, the National Center for State Courts has conducted a comprehensive public opinion survey to gauge the level of public trust and confidence in the state courts. The State of the State Courts survey provides an important window into public views of our court system, including comparisons across past surveys and insights into key issues for the future of our state courts including self-representation and online dispute resolution.

Employers, particularly those in large firms, have been candid about their hiring preferences, which lean toward academic excellence. The legal profession is rampant with biases in favor of academic excellence. However, as it turns out, the best and the brightest might not be all they’re cracked up to be.