Family Justice Initiative

Courts across the country have made giant strides in the use of technology in the wake of COVID-19. The Conference of Chief Justices and Conference of State Court Administrators are urging state court officials to continue this momentum, and they have recommended six principles related to courts’ use of technology...

On the heels of the third and final phase of the three-year project, this week the Family Justice Initiative is launching new web pages and an online report to support state courts’ efforts to develop and implement plans to improve justice for families.

​Last month, the National Center for State Courts released their 2020 Trends in State Courts, which includes discussion of the Family Justice Initiative and its Principles for Family Justice Reform. The principles emphasize problem solving and cooperation between parties—especially when children are involved.

Earlier this year, the National Center for State Courts published a set of recommendations for the redesign of the Marion Superior Court in Indianapolis, Indiana. Many of the suggestions stem from the Family Justice Initiative—supported by IAALS and the NCSC—and its Principles for Family Justice Reform.

New Mexico is one of the latest states to look to regulatory innovation to increase access to legal services. On January 24, the state supreme court approved a number of recommendations, including enlisting nonlawyer court navigators to assist self-represented litigants in navigating the system.

In January, the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts' Family Court Review published an article highlighting the key takeaways, proposals, and results from last spring's Plain and Simple: Making the Legal System Accessible to All conference. The conference was directed at the immense need for plain language...

​As the number of cases of COVID-19 in the United States rises, both state and federal courts are preparing for how they will (or won’t) continue operating should more people quarantine and many other functions of public life temporarily shut down.

In today’s increasingly busy and connected world, electronic notifications play a significant role in keeping us up to date. One would expect that due to the serious nature of court proceedings that the courts would be up-to-date with messaging or other communication capabilities, but unfortunately that is not the...

The critically acclaimed Netflix movie depicts a couple who decides to end their marriage. Although dramatized, the movie portrays several realities of the traditional divorce process—and highlights where alternative dispute resolution methods such as mediation could provide a more collaborative forum for resolving...

The National Self-Represented Litigants Project has released its 2018/2019 report on the demographics of SRLs in Canada, including their income, education level, party status, and experience with legal services. While some of the results may come as no surprise, others are more eyebrow-raising.