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Brittany Kauffman CEO In the fall of 2021, IAALS launched a virtual summit series, Paths to Justice , to underscore not only the challenges of the moment but also the substantial opportunities for systemic change. The series was comprised of multiple …

Kelsey Montague Director of Marketing and Public Relations An important addition to the national access to justice landscape, the Above the Line Network (ATLN) has launched today to tackle the daunting challenges that middle-class Americans face when …

Michael Houlberg Director of Special Projects January is Child-Centered Divorce Awareness Month, highlighting the impact that divorce can have on children and emphasizing the need for a more child-centric approach to the separation process. This month …

Brittany Kauffman CEO As we jump into 2024, IAALS is profoundly grateful for the unwavering dedication and support of our partners and colleagues. We’re inspired by the remarkable people working alongside us to create transformative change in our civil …

Linda Odermott Member, Oregon State Bar Committee of Paralegal Assessors This month, Oregon will join an increasing number of states licensing paralegals and other legal professionals who are not attorneys to provide discrete legal services in family and …

Danielle Kalil Director of Civil Justice and the Judiciary Last month, for the first time in history, the U.S. Supreme Court adopted a code of ethics . The code specifies that justices should uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary; avoid …

Rebecca Love Kourlis Founding Executive Director, IAALS To say that Sandra Day O’Connor fundamentally changed the legal landscape for good is really only a beginning, not a summation, of the contributions she made. A daughter of the West, her first job …

Brittany Kauffman CEO We at IAALS are among the many saddened by the passing of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. A trailblazer in many regards, Justice O’Connor left an indelible legacy on our judicial system: one committed to fairness, …

Danielle Kalil Director of Civil Justice and the Judiciary Judicial performance evaluation (JPE) programs have existed across the U.S. for almost 50 years and were designed to assess the job performance of judges. These assessments center not on case …

Michael Houlberg Director of Special Projects Our Allied Legal Professionals: A National Framework for Program Growth report provides a comprehensive overview of the discussions held during our 2022 convening, including agreement on best practices, …

Logan Cornett Director of Research Legal Education & Licensure We are witnessing a renaissance in the legal profession—one characterized by new and renewed questions about how we provide legal services, who can provide them, and how those in our …

Maddie Hosack Former Communications and Marketing Manager Last month, the American Legal Technology Awards in Nashville, Tennessee, showcased groundbreaking legal technologies, several of which are part of Utah’s pioneering regulatory sandbox .  Rasa …

Maddie Hosack Former Communications and Marketing Manager Oregon made history this week by becoming the first U.S. state to introduce a new pathway for attorney licensing , allowing law school graduates to become licensed lawyers without the need for the …

Jessica Bednarz Director of Legal Services and the Profession Since 2019, IAALS has been at the forefront of efforts to rethink how we regulate the delivery of legal services and how we can create a consumer-centered regulatory system to ensure a more …

Michael Houlberg Director of Special Projects Over the past 10 years—since Washington State implemented the first allied legal professional (ALP) program—there has been a steady increase in states interested in developing their own program. Alongside this …

Logan Cornett Director of Research Legal Education & Licensure The Utah Bar Admissions Working Group has issued its final report outlining recommendations for a novel approach to attorney licensure in Utah , and the proposed new pathway is currently …

Danielle Kalil Director of Civil Justice and the Judiciary In April, the Wisconsin Supreme Court secured a liberal majority for the first time in 15 years with the election of Justice Janet Protasiewicz . The former Milwaukee County judge’s campaign …

Jessica Bednarz Director of Legal Services and the Profession Many states are rethinking how legal services are delivered and regulated in an effort to close the justice gap and connect more people with the help they need when they experience a legal …

Logan Cornett Director of Research Legal Education & Licensure IAALS’ report, Building a Better Bar: The Twelve Building Blocks of Minimum Competence , provides the first-ever empirically grounded definition of the minimum competence required to practice …

Brittany Kauffman CEO One of the questions asked in response to the pandemic was whether the pandemic was a black swan or a gray rhino . Black swans are high-profile events that are hard to predict—rare or even unimaginable events. Such events have shaped …