COVID-19

Since 2018, the Colorado Bar Association Federal Pro Se Clinic has been helping people navigate the overwhelming process of filing and pursuing a lawsuit in federal court without a lawyer. Use of the clinic has increased substantially in the time it has been in operation, and all signs point to increasing demand for...

The future of our justice system will depend on a new model for leadership among the judiciary, including proactive engagement of the issues, multidisciplinary approach to solutions, innovative and creative thinking, data-informed policy making, and the courage and vision to get ahead of problems and explore new...

The closing of courthouses in response to the pandemic complicated both the traditional collection and interpretation of judicial performance evaluation data. However, state courts’ adoption of new technologies over the past year has created fresh opportunities to improve JPE data collection, analysis, and...

Last month, IAALS kicked off our Pandemic Positives Speaker Series, bringing together a number of courts and legal service providers who, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, transformed their day-to-day operations to continue serving the public throughout this critical time.

Throughout the past ten months, our justice system has made giant strides in its use of technology, including video- and tele-conferencing, e-filing, remote jury trials, and online dispute resolution. The question now faced by many courts is: are these digital processes working like they’re supposed to?

IAALS has released new initial discovery protocols to help both businesses and insurers alike reach a quick resolution to the rapid increase in court cases involving business interruption insurance property damage claims due to COVID-19.

On December 31, 2020, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued his annual year-end report on the federal judiciary. In it, he lauds the flexibility and innovation shown by courts across the country as their operations were upended by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier this month, IAALS Manager Michael Houlberg joined Presiding Judge Clemens Landau of the Salt Lake City Justice Court for a webinar that covered new ideas and practices that legal service providers have developed from the COVID-19 pandemic—many of which may bolster the justice system long into the future.

In June of this year, HiiL surveyed thought leaders in the justice sector about what it would mean to deliver justice during the COVID-19 crisis. The goal was to collect real-time data about justice needs and innovative responses to the pandemic, including the kinds of problems expected to increase and the ways...

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have learned to operate almost wholly online—something that many thought was impossible. However, while this move has brought with it a number of positive effects, it has also exposed a digital divide that must be addressed in order for there to be equity in our justice system.