March 2024 Update: IAALS is collaborating with the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) on Foundations 2.0, a major update of IAALS’ original Foundations for Practice project. Foundations 2.0 aims to survey thousands of practicing lawyers in every… MORE
The family justice system was built on the assumption that litigants would be represented by lawyers, but more and more family court litigants do not have attorneys. IAALS launched the Court Compass project to explore user-friendly, streamlined, and… MORE
Courts have responded to the increasing numbers of self-represented litigants in family cases in a number of ways, and, for the most part, these efforts have been informed largely by perspectives of judges, attorneys, and court staff. All too often… MORE
The number of self-represented litigants in our state family courts is high—in some courts, upward of 80 percent of divorce and separation cases involve at least one party who is without a lawyer. And civil litigation follows a similar trend with 76… MORE
Much has been done to address the cost and delay in the civil justice process, and much of that work has focused on discovery. Recognizing that there are equal challenges and opportunities for improvement in the area of motions practice, IAALS has… MORE
The discovery process in civil litigation often generates contentious and costly disputes that lead to unwarranted delays and inhibit access to justice, for parties on both sides of the “v.” Through the Initial Discovery Protocols project, IAALS has… MORE
The research on culture change, and legal system culture change in particular, suggests that it is an uphill battle. While we have a clear challenge ahead, that does not mean that it is impossible. Rather, we must recognize and focus on the role of… MORE
Project History:
Beginning in 2007, IAALS and the American College of Trial Lawyers Task Force on Discovery and Civil Justice partnered to study cost and delay in America’s civil justice system and propose solutions. The research and Principles… MORE
The Center for Out-of-Court Divorce closed in 2017. IAALS does not provide legal services.
The current family justice system often works against the capacity of parents to reach fair, amicable, and cooperative solutions. The adversarial nature of… MORE
What skills and qualities do clients value in the lawyers they hire? This project, which tapped into years of client reviews of lawyers, explored that important question.
Objective:
To begin to fill the gap in our collective knowledge… MORE