Public Trust And Confidence

Small and mid-size business owners struggle with access to justice issues just as individuals do, with real ramifications for their businesses and their communities. Through the US Justice Needs project, IAALS will be surveying businesses, from small to large, so that we can better understand justice needs from their perspective. 

IAALS is excited to announce the creation of a new Advisory Committee in support of its US Justice Needs project, which is conducting research to assess the justice needs of people and businesses in the United States. The Advisory Committee will inform the work of the project, including assisting in tailoring HiiL’s individual survey for administration in the United States and developing a survey for businesses.

The legal system has been regulated so tightly that it has led to a world where only a fraction of the citizens who require legal services can access them, and we cannot afford to fail those who cannot afford legal representation. Unlocking legal regulation is the answer and stands at the heart of the worthy efforts underway in states across the country.

In partnership with national experts, IAALS has developed three new guides to support real change in state courts. Stemming from our work on the Civil Justice Initiative and Family Justice Initiative, the guides are designed to assist in creating effective self-help information for those who need it, developing problem-solving approaches for families in court, and providing insight for judges who interface with self-represented litigants.

The American legal profession is at a crossroads. We cannot continue to expect people to confront legal problems without legal advice. IAALS’ new Unlocking Legal Regulation project is taking a bold step forward and laying the foundation for a consumer- and people-centered legal regulatory system that opens the door for more service providers, more legal services, and more sustainable practices in the marketplace.

What is it that clients value in, and want from, their lawyers? How does a lawyer meet the requirements of their clients? This information has traditionally been gathered informally and only shared internally within offices that collect client feedback. To address this gap in our understanding, IAALS partnered with Avvo to create Think Like a Client. This report uses an evidence-based approach to illuminate clients' preferences, needs, and expectations when working with their attorneys, providing valuable and much-needed insight into how lawyers can better serve their clients.

Pro bono work, while worthwhile and commendable, cannot supplant for the need for a significant change in the way our legal system is regulated. 

In two promising developments for regulatory reform, the Arizona Task Force on the Delivery of Legal Services published its official report and recommendations, and the Chicago Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Foundation announced the creation of a task force to identify regulatory reform recommendations. Arizona's recommendations reflect IAALS' vision for a consumer-centered regulatory system that will better meet the needs of all people. 

IAALS submitted this comment to the California State Bar Task Force on Access Through Innovation for Legal Services (ATILS) as part of its request for public comment on its tentative regulatory recommendations for enhancing the delivery of, and access to, legal services. Through our Unlocking Legal Regulation project, which is launching soon, we are partnering with Utah to bring bold innovation to the realm of legal regulation and the provision of legal services.

In her final post as Executive Director, Rebecca Love Kourlis discusses the public’s low trust and confidence in the American legal system. IAALS will be rolling out the results of its research in the area over the next few months, and begins with three papers, which together kick off a part of the conversation IAALS calls “Are We at a Boiling Point?”