Public Perspectives on Trust and Confidence in the Courts
Public Perspectives on Trust and Confidence in the Courts
June 29, 2020
IAALS undertook this study to explore the critical issue of public trust and confidence in the civil legal system through a qualitative lens. The study’s long-form, one-on-one interviews explored several facets: the value of courts, trust in judges, ideal judicial behavior, available information on the legal system, and popular media depictions of the system, among others.
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Transforming Our Civil Justice System for the 21st Century: The Road to Civil Justice Reform
Transforming Our Civil Justice System for the 21st Century: The Road to Civil Justice Reform
April 28, 2020
This report provides a compilation of case studies from four states—Idaho, Maine, Missouri, and Texas—that used our roadmap to help implement broad civil justice reform recommendations. In it we share lessons learned from each state's experiences, which can provide other states with tangible experiences on which to draw when initiating their own efforts.
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Preventing Whack-a-Mole Management of Consumer Debt Cases
Preventing Whack-a-Mole Management of Consumer Debt Cases
A Proposal for a Coherent and Comprehensive Approach for State Courts
February 28, 2020
Americans are drowning in debt, and many find themselves as defendants in consumer debt collection cases filed in state courts. This white paper on consumer debt collection was developed to provide guidance to state court policymakers on managing different types of debt collection cases, given the growing caseload and recognition of existing gaps in effective case management in our courts.
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Redesigning Divorce: User-Driven Design for a Better Process
Redesigning Divorce
User-Driven Design for a Better Process
December 18, 2019
This report details findings from our interactive Court Compass design sprint workshops, where we led self-represented litigants and court stakeholders in identifying problems people face in navigating the legal process, brainstorming potential solutions to those problems, and creating prototypes for those solutions.
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Guidance on Developing Problem-Solving Approaches for Families in Court
Guidance on Developing Problem-Solving Approaches for Families in Court
November 14, 2019
Family courts operate within a larger court structure that generally reflects the traditional, adversarial approach, which can exacerbate tensions between partners and leave children caught in the crossfire of parental acrimony. This guide is designed to assist family courts in building a menu of robust alternative dispute resolution processes—such as mediation and other methods—that are responsive to the needs of cases and parties.
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Ensuring the Right to Be Heard: Guidance for Trial Judges in Cases Involving Self-Represented Litigants
Ensuring the Right to Be Heard
Guidance for Trial Judges in Cases Involving Self-Represented Litigants
November 14, 2019
To help trial judges better manage cases involving self-represented litigants, this guide summarizes effective practices for resolving cases with one or more self-represented litigants in the courtroom and provides specific examples of their application in the family law context.
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Guidelines for Creating Effective Self-Help Information
Guidelines for Creating Effective Self-Help Information
November 14, 2019
Not all self-help materials are created equal. This guide is intended to help courts increase the efficacy of existing self-help materials and assist in the development of new materials that empower parties with information and an understanding of what to do with that information.
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Think Like a Client
October 29, 2019
Understanding what clients want and expect from their lawyers is imperative for the provision of high-quality legal services, as well as for lawyers’ success in the legal profession. This report represents a first step for the profession in developing a comprehensive, evidence-based understanding of what clients value.
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Divorcing Together: Report on an Interdisciplinary Out-of-Court Approach to Separation and Divorce
Divorcing Together
Report on an Interdisciplinary Out-of-Court Approach to Separation and Divorce
May 16, 2019
IAALS developed an interdisciplinary out-of-court model to provide a comprehensive set of legal and therapeutic services to separating and divorcing families. The model provided families the opportunity to complete the divorce process without ever having to go to court. This report presents insights into the model as well as data from a robust evaluation on how the Center for Out-of-Court Divorce operated.
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A Model Process for Family Justice Initiative Pathways
A Model Process for Family Justice Initiative Pathways
April 10, 2019
This publication is a supplemental guide to the Family Justice Initiative's Principles for Family Justice Reform and sets forth best practices to triaging domestic relations cases that match parties and cases to resources and services.
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Principles for Family Justice Reform
Family Justice Initiative
April 10, 2019
The Family Justice Initiative has released a final report with Principles for Family Justice Reform that cover a broad spectrum of improvements to the way domestic relations cases are handled. The Conference of Chief Justices has approved the Principles.
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Initial Discovery Protocols
for First-Party Insurance Property Damage Cases Arising from Disasters
February 20, 2019
These Initial Discovery Protocols for First-Party Insurance Property Damage Cases Arising from Disasters provide a new pretrial procedure for cases involving first-party insurance property damage claims arising from man-made or natural disasters. They are designed to be implemented by trial judges, lawyers, and litigants in state and federal courts.
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cover
Listen > Learn > Lead
A Guide to Improving Court Services through User-Centered Design
January 30, 2019
This guide provides courts and similar organizations with the tools to create their own design sprint workshops wherein they can solicit the knowledge and experience from both self-represented litigants and other court stakeholders to simplify and improve court processes.
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Efficiency in Motion
Recommendations for Improving Dispositive Motions Practice in State and Federal Courts
January 17, 2019
Judges and attorneys from across the country point to dispositive motions as a critical area for reform. When used appropriately, these motions can make civil litigation more efficient; but when they are filed reflexively, and are not thoughtfully managed or timely ruled upon by the court, they inject additional cost and delay into court systems across the country. This report calls for a new paradigm for motion practice in the United States.
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Eighteen Ways Courts Should Use Technology to Better Serve Their Customers
October 30, 2018
This report provides a path forward to help courts use existing technologies to improve the user experience, particularly for those people who choose to represent themselves.
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