Public Trust And Confidence

Dedicated judges, attorneys, and court administrators have the power to establish justice in our modern time. By gathering the input of those who use the court system, who rely on it to decide some of the most important issues in our lives—like divorce and child custody—we help ensure that the courts function in a way that serves all of us.

Judges must be held accountable for conduct that violates their codes of conduct and governing laws. A recent Reuters report on judicial misconduct, while not quite comprehensive, is an important reminder that we need to know more about this topic that is arguably central to public trust and confidence and—more importantly—justice and the rule of law.

IAALS' Law Jobs: By the Numbers tool, an effort to provide a new perspective on law school rankings, will sunset in September 2020. The project was an integral part of our journey to our current work, empowering many across the country to build, analyze, and compare employment outcomes among law schools, with over 116,000 calculations being made since launching in 2013.

The public knows the reality of how the justice system functions today. It is we who are now catching on. The call has never been louder for court leaders and system stakeholders to accept and admit some hard truths. It is time that we look inward and take responsibility for those aspects of the system that are failing.

The public knows the reality of how the justice system functions today. It is we who are now catching on. The call has never been louder for court leaders and system stakeholders to accept and admit some hard truths. It is time that we look inward and take responsibility for those aspects of the system that are failing.

IAALS and HiiL recently launched the largest-ever survey of its kind as part of their US Justice Needs project. This survey will reach people across all regions of the United States, including urban and rural areas and people who have not historically been included, and seek to uncover their experiences in accessing justice when they need it.

Last month, the NCSC commissioned a survey of one thousand registered voters to gauge levels of public trust and confidence in the state courts. Many of the questions focused on the coronavirus pandemic and how respondents felt about remote court processes, protective measures for in-person courthouse appearances, and other new realities.

The California Board of Trustees is meeting today to consider the charter and composition of the Closing the Justice Gap Working Group. We at IAALS applaud the board for creating the working group and committing to move forward with important and innovative legal services solutions, but we strongly encourage them to significantly diversify its membership.

The legacy of racism that blights our criminal justice system also creates inequities in our society more broadly. IAALS joins others in this process of listening, reflecting, and recommitting ourselves to the goals of equity and inclusion, because they are central to our vision of a justice system that works for all people.

Unauthorized practice of law rules grant lawyers a monopoly on providing legal advice and prevent “nonlawyers” from providing any meaningful legal assistance. This mindset codified in the UPL rules, along with our country’s staggering racial wealth gap, have a chilling effect on Black Americans' access to the legal system.