Projects

Lawyers, judges, and clients have been consistent in their call for new lawyers who can hit the ground running. But what are the competencies and skills that new lawyers need to be ready? Foundations for Practice is a first-of-its-kind effort to answer that question.

Civil Justice Initiative

In partnership with NCSC, we have supported the development of recommendations for transforming our state courts for the 21st Century and are now supporting their implementation nationwide.

Court Compass

The family justice system was built on the assumption that litigants would be represented by lawyers. This project explores user-friendly, streamlined, and accessible solutions that help people through the divorce and separation process—even when they cannot afford or choose not to hire an attorney.

Family Justice Initiative

The Family Justice Initiative involves assessing the landscape of and best practices in domestic relations cases, with the objective of improving the way courts handle them.

Efficiency in Motion

Much has been done over the past five years to address the cost and delay in the civil justice process, and much of that work has focused on discovery. However, there are equal challenges and opportunities for improvement in the area of motions practice.

Think Like a Client

What skills and qualities do clients value in the lawyers they hire? This project, which taps into years of client reviews of lawyers, aims to answer that important question.

Initial Discovery Protocols

The discovery process in civil litigation often generates unwarranted delays and inhibits access to justice, for parties on both sides of the “v.” IAALS has created pattern discovery rules specific to particular types of cases, which make the discovery process more efficient and more targeted.

Out-of-Court Model for Separating and Divorcing Families

IAALS is dedicated to ensuring that every family has access to an approach for separation or divorce that is best suited to their needs and that empowers them to work together for the benefit of their children.

Redefining Case Management

Case management is part of every civil justice reform proposal afoot in the nation. Yet, early and active case management by judges is still not the norm. We are working to broaden, re-envision, and ultimately redefine the practice for our rapidly evolving legal system.

Unbundling Legal Services

Unbundled legal services, also called limited scope representation, is a service delivery model that holds promise for the growing numbers of self-represented litigants. IAALS has taken an advocacy role in advancing the implementation of unbundled legal services in order to both increase access to justice.

Change the Culture, Change the System

The research on culture change, and legal system culture change in particular, suggests that it is an uphill battle. IAALS recognizes and focuses on the role of culture change as we propose and implement solutions for reform.

By the Numbers

Choosing a law school—or whether to go to law school—can be one of the most important decisions you will make in life. IAALS offers data-fueled tools that give prospective students access to meaningful, individualized information about the law school options available to them.

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