Legal Delivery

New ABA Center for Innovation chair believes center can be catalyst for needed legal industry reform

The new chair of the ABA Center for Innovation’s governing council says the center can play a key role in providing information and support to the various states examining changes to how they regulate the practice of law and utilize legal technology.

Feb 20, 2020 4:00 PM CST

‘The personal attacks on our judges and prosecutors must cease,’ says ABA president

ABA President Judy Perry Martinez reminded the House of Delegates at the 2020 ABA Midyear Meeting in Austin, Texas, on Monday that Americans of all different backgrounds are paying more attention to issues of justice.

Feb 17, 2020 1:28 PM CST

The 2020 ABA Midyear Meeting kicks off in Texas

The 2020 ABA Midyear Meeting opens in the Lone Star State this week, providing ABA members the opportunity to attend hundreds of legal programs and events; hear from recognized law experts; and meet with colleagues in their sections, divisions, committees and councils.

Feb 12, 2020 1:04 PM CST

Afternoon Briefs: 2-time SCOTUS litigant gets settlement; at-large judge elections upheld in voting rights case

Florida man wins $875K settlement after two trips to the Supreme Court A Florida man who won twice in the U.S. Supreme Court will get an $875,000 settlement for his troubles from the city of Riviera Beach. Litigant Fane Lozman said the money covers his legal fees but “it doesn’t…

Feb 6, 2020 4:11 PM CST

Nothing is off-limits for this California bar task force

The group, which laid the groundwork for what could become the largest modern reform to the state’s professional rules potentially set a road map for others around the country.

Feb 1, 2020 3:00 AM CST

An LSC grant program is trying to increase access to justice through tech

The Technology Initiative Grant Program awards regional LSC offices money for creating technology plans that help low-income people with their legal needs.

Feb 1, 2020 2:40 AM CST

Afternoon Briefs: Judge and civil rights lawyer dies at 93; lawyer reminds court of Super Bowl continuance promise

Nathaniel Jones, civil rights lawyer and appeals judge, dies at 93 Former civil rights lawyer and federal appeals judge Nathaniel Jones died Sunday at age 93. Jones was on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Cincinnati and was former general counsel for the NAACP. (The Cincinnati Enquirer, Blank…

Jan 27, 2020 4:20 PM CST

DC Bar considers relaxing its already-lenient rules to allow nonlawyer ownership of law firms

The District of Columbia Bar is considering changes to its ethics rules that could allow external ownership of law firms, as well as businesses in which lawyers and nonlawyers provide both legal and nonlegal services.

Jan 27, 2020 10:40 AM CST

CEO discusses the disrupting, displacing and deconstructing of legal services

Ari Kaplan recently spoke with Varun Mehta, the new CEO of Factor, formerly Axiom Managed Solutions, an organization focused on performing complex legal work at scale.

Jan 24, 2020 8:30 AM CST

Company that promised to revolutionize legal services confirms layoffs of most of its legal staff

Atrium, a company that launched in 2017 with the promise of transforming the delivery of legal services, has laid off most of its legal staff in a restructuring.

Jan 14, 2020 10:24 AM CST

‘Fundamental shift’ is transforming the delivery of legal services, new report concludes

“Revolutionary changes are afoot” in the market for legal services, according to a new report. Clients are actively managing their relationships with outside counsel, nonlaw competitors are gaining ground, and law firms are responding to market changes in innovative ways, the report says. The 2020 Report on the State of…

Jan 6, 2020 2:10 PM CST

Pro bono inspired a survivor of domestic violence to go to law school

As a 3L, Alyssa Leader says she runs a constant mental countdown of weeks to finals, weeks to graduation, weeks to the bar exam, weeks to test results, weeks until she can say she is someone she never would have been if not for David, a lawyer.

Oct 24, 2019 6:00 AM CDT

Nonlawyers could invest in law firms and own legal businesses under Utah work group’s proposal

A Utah task force is proposing a “regulatory sandbox” to allow experimentation with nonlawyer ownership of legal businesses and nonlawyer investment in law firms. New legal services providers would test their services in the regulatory sandbox, overseen by a new regulatory body that gathers data and tests revisions before granting…

Aug 28, 2019 11:13 AM CDT

Story with racial justice theme wins ABA Journal's 2019 Ross essay contest for legal fiction

A lawyer who promotes economic security for survivors of domestic violence has won the 2019 ABA Journal/Ross Writing Contest for Legal Short Fiction. Yvette Butler won the prize for a fictional story with a theme of racial justice. Writing the story was “an outlet to process what’s going on” regarding the “everlasting, amorphous war on terror” as well as issues surrounding police treatment of black people, she says.

Aug 5, 2019 7:00 AM CDT

Nonlawyers could offer legal advice and partly own law firms under these California proposals

The State Bar of California is asking for public comment on proposals that would allow legal technicians to offer legal advice and nonlawyers to hold a financial interest in law firms.

Jul 15, 2019 11:05 AM CDT