A2J Briefings: News from the Field

Technology 

• NBC News reports on the rise of self-represented litigants using ChatGPT to help with their legal problems. [10/8]
• The Bloomberg Law State of Practice survey shows AI adoption lagging. [10/6]
• A LawNext interview explores the American Arbitration Association’s soon-to-be-launched AI-powered arbitrator that will evaluate case merits, generate recommendations, and prepare draft awards. [9/30]

Regulatory Innovation

• Reuters reports on a California bill, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, that bars attorneys in the state from splitting fees with out-of-state alternative business structure law firms in certain circumstances. [10/16]
• IAALS at the University of Denver released parts of an interim evaluation of the Utah legal services sandbox. [10/6]
• The Victorian Government (Australia) has posted materials from a workshop that Professor Cary Coglianese, Director of the Penn Program on Regulation, delivered recently. [9/23] 
• The Illinois Supreme Court has approved–in concept–a new Community Justice Worker Program. [9/23] 

Courts, Rules & Access to Justice

• WFYI Indianapolis reports on recommendations made by a collaboration of lawyers across the state that argue court practices have become a driver of homelessness, family trauma, and community instability. [10/6]
• A post in the Harvard A2J Lab blog explores the hidden costs of “no money down” bankruptcies. [10/6]
• Law360 explores the consequences of fines and fees on indigent defendants. [10/3]
• In response to reports that certain federal courts consistently deny defendants access to counsel, Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) is urging the Judicial Conference to take action, Law360 reports. [10/24]

The Profession 

• Reuters reports that law school applications have increased 33% from last year. [10/15]
• Multiple outlets reporting on Utah’s new alternative to the traditional bar exam: Reuters [10/1], Deseret News [10/2], Law.com [10/2].

Technology 

• A new report by Goldman Sachs estimates that 17% of legal tasks are at risk of automation, Artificial Lawyer reports. [8/18]
• JusticeTech company Hello Divorce is featured in Fast Company for its AI assistant. [8/19]
• Law360 reports on a small law firm’s use of technology to secure a $27.5M verdict against a large corporate defendant. [8/13]
• Nikki Shaver writes on Harvey.ai’s blog about the future of legal tech. [8/4]

Regulatory Innovation 

• The Financial Times reports on Buford Capital’s interest in the U.S. legal market. Bloomberg Law also reports. [8/16]
• The ABA House of Delegates issued a resolution urging states to study community justice worker programs and to adopt such programs to expand access to civil legal services. [8/12]  
• The Conference of Chief Justices and Conference of State Court Administrators have issued a resolution encouraging states to examine, on an ongoing basis, whether nonlawyer “authorized justice practitioners” could be beneficial to expanding access to legal representation. [7/30]   

Courts, Rules & Access to Justice

• The Nevada Supreme Court is considering whether to establish a dedicated business court, Bloomberg Law reports. [8/19]
• A February 2025 Orrick survey found that a majority of respondents (jury-eligible adults) have little or no confidence in the U.S. justice system, ABA Journal reports. [8/14] 
• Rhode Center Co-Director David Freeman Engstrom led a panel on high-volume civil adjudication at the 2025 ALI Annual Meeting. [mid-May]

The Profession

• A handful of law schools are adding generative AI curricula to train students on appropriate AI use, in response to growing incidents of AI-generated errors in legal citations, Bloomberg Law reports. [8/19]
• Above the Law reports on the growing number of false negatives in the February California bar exam. [8/15]
• Law.com reports that the New York Assembly is considering a bill called the Clock Should Stop Act that would require bar examiners to stop the exam in the event of a medical emergency. [8/14]
• The ABA House of Delegates passed a resolution urging employers, bar associations, and courts to study the impact of bullying within the legal profession, ABA Journal reports. [8/12]
• Multiple outlets are reporting on a federal class action case alleging that LSAC fixes pricing for law school application processing fees: Bloomberg Law reports; Law.com reports; Reuters reports. [8/5]
• ABA Journal reports on isolation and loneliness in the legal profession. [8/1]

Technology 

• Multiple outlets are reporting on judicial decisions that rely on hallucinated cases: e.g., ABA Journal; Bloomberg Law.  [7/30 & 7/30] 
• Ogletree hosted a summer hackathon to bring summer associates up to speed on the firm’s generative AI tools, Law360 reports. [7/29]
• TechCrunch reports on Sam Altman’s warning about the lack of legal confidentiality for users’ conversations in ChatGPT. [7/25]

Regulatory Innovation 

• The LegalTech Fund’s recent podcast discusses alternative business structures and management services organizations. [8/5]
• A D.C. Courts Task Force on regulatory reform is recommending a community justice worker program. [7/31]
• IAALS, the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System has released a framework that regulators and industry leaders can use when developing new AI regulatory innovation initiatives. [7/31]
• A medical-legal partnership in Colorado that launched in 2024 has referred 135 eligible cases to Colorado Legal Services for assistance, helping 64 individuals avoid eviction or reverse eviction judgments. [7/29] 

Courts, Rules & Access to Justice

• Hawaii is welcoming out-of-state defense attorneys to assist the public defender program, Above the Law reports. [8/5]
• The Pew Charitable Trusts surveyed people on how members of the public grade the courts. [8/4]
• John Grisham penned an opinion piece in USA Today supporting funding for legal aid. [7/30]
• Washington State AG’s Office has released the results of a civil legal needs survey focused on veterans and service members. [7/23]
• The 2025 NCSC National Trends in State Courts has been released. [7/22]
• The Aberdeen News reports that a South Dakota nonprofit launched the Justice Bus, a mobile legal aid office to serve residents in legal deserts. [7/8]

The Profession

• The ABA Journal reports on several aspects of the bar examination: the feasibility of off-site exams in light of the California bar snafu; NCBE efforts to prepare for the delivery of the NextGen UBE in July 2026. [8/1, 7/22]
• Bloomberg Law interviews former California State Bar executive director Leah Wilson on the February bar exam, among other things. [7/30]
• The CCJ/COSCA Committee on Legal Education and Admissions Reform (CLEAR) has published its research and recommendations to state supreme courts. ABA Journal also reports. [7/30 & 8/1]
• A short Bloomberg Law video discusses the states exploring alternatives to the bar exam along with broader exam issues. [7/26] 
• Many outlets are reporting on the American Association of Law Libraries annual meeting, including Above the Law and LawSites. [7/25 & 7/22]
• Law360 reports that the New York legal services strike appears to have reached a tentative agreement. [7/24]
• Ohio is the latest state (following Florida and Texas) to reconsider ABA accreditation for law schools, ABA Journal reports and Reuters also reports. [7/23 & 7/18] 

Technology 

• Ars Technica reports on the likelihood that judges will overlook AI errors. [7/21]
• Legaltech Hub published a map of AI agents in legal. [7/18]
• The California Judicial Council has approved a rule governing court-related use of AI, Reuters reports. Law.com also reports. [7/18] 
• In his Substack, Sateesh Nori explores how landlords are deploying AI and automation tools to accelerate eviction filings. [7/10]
• A Thomson Reuters Institute article discusses findings from the recent 2025 Survey of State Courts, which asked judges and court professionals about court operations, including AI adoption. Bob Ambrogi also reports. [7/10 & 7/11]

Regulatory Innovation 

• An Axios article explores growing private equity attention on law firms in states with Rule 5.4 reform. [7/11]
• The Georgia Supreme Court Committee on Legal Regulatory Reform has recommended a limited licensed legal practitioners program to assist self-represented litigants with advice and help filling out forms in housing and consumer debt cases, Law360 reports. [7/7]
• Business Insider explores how Managed Services Organizations (MSOs) can operate as a loophole to nonlawyer ownership of law firms. A Holland & Knight blog discusses the same. [7/6 & 7/10]

Courts, Rules & Access to Justice

• David Slayton, Executive Officer/Clerk of Court for the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, has been awarded the Warren E. Burger Award for Excellence in Court Administration. [7/21]
• Law.com reports on the strike by legal service workers in New York City. [7/18]
• A Harvard A2J Lab blog explores how summons redesign, and other informational interventions, can reduce failure to appear rates in criminal cases. [7/14]
• The Illinois Supreme Court’s Commission on Access to Justice has launched a two-year pilot program on remote court appearances. [7/10]

The Profession

• ABA Journal reports on the opposition to the proposal to end ABA accreditation requirement. Reuters also reports. [7/10 & 7/8]
• Deborah Merritt considers the ABA Council’s proposal to expand the number of required experiential credits at ABA-accredited law schools. [7/5]

Technology 

• Multiple outlets are reporting on a trial court order that is based off AI-hallucinated case law: Above the Law, Chattanooga Times Free Press, The Volokh Conspiracy. [7/1, 7/6 & 7/3]
• Steven Lerner in Law360 Pulse explores the make vs. buy decision facing legal departments looking to adopt AI. [6/27]
• Attendees at the International Conference on AI and Law’s workshop on A2J and AI are releasing their recaps and takeaways, including Suffolk University Law School’s LIT Lab and the Stanford Legal Design Lab. [6/24 & 6/25]
• The NCSC Court Statistics Project and TRI/NCSC AI Policy Consortium consider whether generative AI tools are likely to increase case filings in high-volume dockets. [6/24] 
• LawSites reports that Puerto Rico has adopted a duty of tech competence for lawyers, setting forth these requirements in a separate rule (1.19) as opposed to inserting a comment to Rule 1.1, as the ABA and other states have done. [6/18] Stephen Embry in Above the Law suggests that this standalone-rule approach is more appropriate than the prevailing approach given the foundational role of technology in legal services. [6/24]
• The Harvard A2J Lab provides an update on the OpenJustice project, which addresses whether AI allows volunteer pro bono attorneys and staff to provide legal information and advice more effectively than in settings where AI assistance is not used. [6/23]

• The Associated Press reports that a UK judge has warned that attorneys could be prosecuted, with a maximum sentence of life in prison, if they don’t check the accuracy of their AI-assisted research. [6/7]

Regulatory Innovation

• The 40.8% excise tax on litigation funding proceedings, proposed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, was ultimately left out of the Senate’s final version, the Daily Journal and ABA Journal report. [7/7 & 7/1]
• Rhode Center Co-Director and Stanford Law School Profession David Freeman Engstrom appears on LSC’s Talk Justice podcast to discuss a recent Rhode Center report on regulatory innovation. [6/24] 
• Puerto Rico has amended its rule of professional conduct to allow for nonlawyer ownership of law firms, LawSites, Law.com, Bloomberg Law, and ABA Journal report. [6/19, 6/23, 6/24 & 6/25]
• IAALS, the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System has released new recommendations for how states can enable allied legal professionals to transfer their credentials across state lines. [6/18]
• Nicole Miller, Chief Legal Officer of LegalZoom, appears on the ABA Journal: Legal Rebels podcast discussing the company’s move into the Arizona ABS market. [6/11]

Courts, Rules & Access to Justice

• Denverite reports on a peer navigator program in Denver County Court that employs people who have lived experience to help individuals through the justice process. [7/8]
• Members of NCSC’s Access to Justice team discuss a partnership with the American Arbitration Association and the Court of Common Pleas in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to develop software (the Court Diversion Eligibility Screener) for a credit card debt diversion program. [6/25]
• Bar advocates in Massachusetts are refusing to take additional court-appointed cases, leaving hundreds in jail with no lawyer assigned to their case, the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ press release notes. [6/9] The ABA Journal also reports. [6/16]
• Bolts Magazine reports on how Louisiana’s Justices of the Peace can take home eviction fees as salary; a recent lawsuit is challenging that rule. [6/6]  
• The NCSC 2024 Annual Report is out. 
• Katherine Alteneder Mills, Director Emerita of the Self-Represented Litigation Network (now the a2jnetwork) appears on The Court ODR Podcast discussing the importance of language in justice matters.

The Profession

• In the UK, employers will be banned from using non-disclosure agreements to silence employees who have been subjected to harassment and abuse, The Guardian reports. [7.7]
• The ABA Journal reports that some legal academics are worried that the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ “blueprint” for the NextGen UBE leaves out critical pieces of information that bar takers need before the first test administration in July 2026. [6/30]
• Law360 reports on the Pro Bono Institute’s 2024 Corporate Pro Bono Challenge in which participation among legal staff decreased to 31%. [6/27]  
• The Law School Admission Council and IAALS, the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System are surveying lawyers on the skills and competencies that new lawyers need to be practice ready and effective, ABA Journal reports. [6/12]
• NPR continues its investigation into misconduct in the federal judiciary and the difficulties associated with holding judges accountable for sexual assaults, bullying, and discrimination. [6/9]

Technology

• LawSites reports on a survey of the Washington State Bar Association that reveals gaps in technology knowledge and cybersecurity practices. [6/17]
• Kevin Frazier writes in The Regulatory Review on the need for a fundamental shift in the cultural norms surrounding data sharing. [6/16]
• A recent NCSC webinar discusses how Orange County Superior Court is using an AI-powered Court Application Translation to serve Limited English Proficient individuals. [6/10] 
• OpenAI’s newest model performs well on law school exams, Reuters reports. [6/5]
• LegalZoom and Perplexity have entered into a partnership that will provide Perplexity Pro users with LegalZoom’s legal help directly within the application, Artificial Lawyer reports. [6/4] 
• Anthropic’s CEO is warning of mass displacement of entry-level white collar jobs due to AI, MSN reports and Axios reports, among others. [5/28] 
• An article in Lawfare argues that judges should not rely on AI for the ‘ordinary meaning’ of text. [5/22]

Regulatory Innovation 

• The American Scholar profiles access to justice pioneer and MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” recipient Rebecca Sandefur and the broader impact of the community justice worker movement. [6/4]
• Legal Futures reports on the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill and the long-awaited, but still pending, introduction of ABSs. [6/4]

Courts, Rules & Access to Justice 

• Members of the Harvard A2J Lab share updates on the Lab’s Child Welfare project, which is testing the impact of embedding legal services in schools and hospitals. [6/16] 
• Law360 reports on ‘facade law firms’ in North Carolina and beyond that are preying on consumers in debt. [6/13]   
• Stanford Law School’s David Freeman Engstrom, Margaret Hagan, and Daniel Bernal discuss efforts to leverage technology to improve LA courts access in Stanford Legal Podcast. [6/12]
• A new paper in the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies explores ways of measuring the public’s perceived inaccessibility of courts and lawyers. [6/1]  
• The Colorado Access to Justice Commission and Colorado Legal Services are launching another statewide listening tour to collect feedback from community members about barriers to navigating the state’s civil courts. [5/30] 

The Profession

• The Florida Supreme Court has directed The Florida Bar to stop appointing delegates to the ABA House of Delegates and to rescind or withdraw current appointments. [6/17]
• Law360 Pulse reports on the disconnect between how lawyers who serve consumers perceive their client relationships and how clients truly feel. [6/17]
• Reuters reports on the latest in the State Bar of California’s efforts to enact a provisional licensure program for first-time test takers who withdrew from or failed the February bar exam. [6/12]
• Aliza Shatzman writes in Bloomberg Law on the Transparency and Responsibility in Upholding Standards in the Judiciary Act. [6/2]
• Jonathan Adler writes on the Civitas Institute’s platform, asking whether the ABA’s accreditation monopoly is coming to an end. [6/2]