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Message from Our Executive Director |
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The divorce process was created for people who have a lawyer, but these days, many people cannot afford to hire one. Large numbers of people are choosing to represent themselves in court, where court rules and procedures can be confusing. As part of our Court Compass project, we are conducting team-based workshops to give people who have gone through the divorce process an opportunity to share their experiences and their ideas about how the system could be made better. We will then use this feedback and the ideas we receive to help courts simplify and improve current processes. We currently have two workshops scheduled: Des Moines on Saturday, April 21, and Boston on Saturday, May 5. We need your help to spread the word to get as many self-represented litigants in the rooms as possible. Thank you!
Rebecca Love Kourlis, IAALS Executive Director
April 2018
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Partner Profile: Dr. Walter L. Sutton, Jr.
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IAALS simply would not be what it is without the support of our partners and friends. This month, we profile Walter Sutton, Associate General Counsel (Ret.), Wal-mart Stores, Inc.
Walter is a man of many accomplishments, many firsts, many awards—none of which he ever mentions. We at IAALS have been blessed to have the benefit of Walter’s insights, practical course-corrections, and wise direction—not to mention his good nature, huge smile, and warmth.
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Action to Justice:
IAALS 2017 Annual Report
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We are proud to present you with IAALS' 2017 Annual Report, showcasing our efforts to help create a legal system that works for everyone.
The theme this year is “Action to Justice.” Throughout the report, you will see images that are straight out of the comics. But despite the whimsical tone, the real message is that we live in times that pose great challenges to our system of justice, and superheroes must answer the call to act.
On behalf of us all, thank you for being on our team as we fight for a legal system that is trusted and trustworthy–with 100% access and dedicated to the needs of the users.
Download the report.
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Missouri and Texas Launch Civil Justice Reform Efforts
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Last year, IAALS and the National Center for State Courts released a new Roadmap for Implementation to guide state courts implementing civil justice reform efforts. The Roadmap is part of the Civil Justice Initiative (CJI) Implementation Plan, a three-year effort focused on implementing the call to action and recommendations for civil justice reform sounded by the Conference of Chief Justices. But, it is not enough just to map out some recommendations; we always want to take the next step and try to determine if they are working.
IAALS and NCSC will ultimately work with one state from each region of the United States as it follows the Roadmap through implementation of civil justice reform.
Idaho and Maine were previously announced as Roadmap states and we are excited to add Texas and Missouri to this list.
Read more.
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The Whole Lawyer:
Consistent Across All Workplaces
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Through our Foundations for Practice project, we surveyed more than 24,000 lawyers about what new lawyers need as they enter the profession. Overall, respondents identified 77 Foundations that practicing lawyers believe new lawyers need right out of law school.
In the survey, we also collected from respondents ten demographic and practice-specific characteristics. We thought we might observe interesting, informative, and actionable differences across these demographics and characteristics. We were somewhat surprised by the results, but gratified to find that the 77 Foundations that constitute the whole lawyer are consistent and definitive across respondent groups. In short, the profession has some significant agreement about what it takes to begin the practice of law—wherever and whatever that practice might be.
Read more.
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Honoring Families Initiative Advisory Committee Meets to Chart Path for Work
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The Advisory Committee of the
Honoring Families Initiative here at IAALS met in February. The Committee is a group of multi-disciplinary, extremely experienced, and skilled people—who care a great deal about families in the courts. They have been with IAALS since the onset of the HFI work, and they continue to be our secret weapon.
At this meeting, we considered ways in which we would suggest amendment of the CCJ Civil Justice Improvement Committee Call to Action recommendations to apply to domestic relations cases. We reviewed ways in which unbundled legal services are being promoted across the country. We thought about changes in the law and culture that would be necessary in order for an out-of-court divorce model to thrive. And we looked at some online dispute resolution models for domestic relations cases.
Read more.
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Civil Justice Reform: One Case Type at a Time: IAALS’ own Rebecca Love Kourlis and Brittany Kauffman authored a piece for the Corporate Counsel Business Journal’s Civil Justice Playbook that highlights ways IAALS is working with judges and courts to make change a reality in the realm of discovery. Read more. |
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Don't forget to RSVP! Our Rebuilding Justice Award Dinner is just two weeks away on April 19. We will honor the Conference of Chief Justices for their leadership and unanimous adoption of recommendations designed to secure the promise of justice for all—recommendations that are being implemented today across the country.
We hope you will join us in honoring the vision, commitment, and impact of the Conference of Chief Justices, as well as the IAALS mission.
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IAALS is a national, independent research center dedicated to facilitating continuous improvement and advancing excellence in the American legal system. Our mission is to forge innovative and practical solutions to problems in our system in collaboration with the best minds in the country. |
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Engage—Connect—Invest
in the Future of the American Legal System |
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