University of Denver

The Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) at the University of Denver is a national, independent research center dedicated to facilitating continuous improvement and advancing excellence in the American legal system. This grant supports the Elevating Voices for Change project, a collaboration between IAALS, the Michigan Supreme Court through the State Court Administrative Office, the State Bar of Michigan, and the Michigan Bar Foundation. Through this project, IAALS will engage the public in the regulatory reform conversation by gathering empirical data about their perspectives, as well as undertaking a public awareness and education campaign.

IAALS, the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, is a national, independent research center housed at the University of Denver that works to improve the process and culture of the American legal system. In 2014, IAALS’ Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers Initiative launched Foundations for Practice to bridge the legal employment gap, which is captured in part by recent survey findings that only 23 percent of legal practitioners believe new lawyers have sufficient skills to practice. Through this project, ETL aims to better align the current system of legal education with the practical skills students require in today’s legal environment. In its first phase, the project surveyed more than 24,000 attorneys to identify the core competencies required for entry-level lawyers. This next phase will work with employers and law schools to simultaneously change legal education, and better align hiring practices, to support these competencies.

The Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System is a national, independent research center housed at the University of Denver Law School that works to improve the process and culture of the American legal system. Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers (ETL) is the Institute's newest initiative. ETL is working to better align the current system of legal education with the practical skills students require in today’s legal environment. This three-phase project would (1) identify core competencies for entry-level lawyers, (2) recommend law school curriculum and standards to support those competencies, and (3) develop the tools to assess whether students are making progress. A grant from Hewlett would support the first phase of this work.