i4J’s Service Impact Area Initiatives
Creating new legal service models.
Reform of civil legal service unauthorized practice of law (UPL) regulation presents a tipping point in the U.S. legal market, and there is limited opportunity to embed access-to-justice goals and models to ensure that underrepresented populations are served by these reforms. Innovation for Justice (i4J) is at the forefront of this work and is uniquely positioned as a design hub that brings the potentially divergent goals of regulatory reform decision-makers, legal service providers, and underrepresented populations together in advancing access to justice. i4J's work is part of a growing movement across the US to empower community-led legal service models. See other states' efforts at IAALS.
In these early days of UPL reform, there is both risk and opportunity. The risk: UPL reform efforts may fall short of their potential, creating new service models that embed old legal service problems into new regulation. The opportunity: to view UPL reform from the outset as a chance to radically re-imagine the pathways for connecting people with civil justice needs — particularly those historically excluded from access to justice — to civil justice problem-solving.
What is unauthorized practice of law reform?
In nearly every state in the US, unauthorized practice of law restrictions prohibit anyone who is not a licensed attorney from providing legal services. UPL reform refers to the re-regulation of the practice of law, including providing legal advice, to allow people who aren’t attorneys but have specialized legal training to provide legal services, including legal advice, to community members.
“The opposite of poverty is justice.”
— Bryan Stevenson
Why does UPL reform matter?
In the United States, there is no right to counsel for civil cases. (The Right to Civil Counsel | American Academy of Arts and Sciences) This means that if a person is experiencing debt collection, domestic violence, or eviction, they are not guaranteed a lawyer. The under-resourced nonprofit legal service sector lacks the capacity to serve many who seek their services: 93% of low-income Americans receive inadequate or no civil legal assistance. (Legal Services Corporation, 2022 Justice Gap Report) The historic exclusion of low-income and other marginalized populations from access to justice perpetuates poverty cycles and system-level failures.
By authorizing new pathways for people other than lawyers to know and use the law, UPL reform presents an opportunity for community members who otherwise cannot access legal help to receive advice and problem-solving help from trusted members of their community. The ability to successfully know and use the law plays a critical role in legal empowerment, poverty reduction, and social change.
i4J and regulatory reform
For the past five years, Innovation for Justice (i4J) has been at the forefront of designing service models that leverage UPL reform. These projects include:
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Domestic Violence Legal Advocate (DVLA) in Arizona
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Medical Debt Legal Advocate (MDLA) Initiative in Utah
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Housing Stability Legal Advocate Initiative (HSLA) in Arizona and Utah
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Community Justice Workers & Health in West Valley City, Utah
To learn more about the past four years of i4J’s design hub work in the Service Impact Area, read the prototype draft report below.
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![Cover Page of Leveraging Regulatory Reform to Advance Access to Justice]()
Leveraging Regulatory Reform to Advance Access to Justice
i4J Report: Service
i4J’s work in the space is unique because it emphasizes the importance and inclusion of four diverse stakeholders in design work:
Community-based organizations who can leverage regulatory reform opportunities;
Community-members who would benefit from services authorized through regulatory reform mechanisms;
Regulatory reform decision-makers; and
The design hub: a research and design neutral who can gather legal need information from the first three stakeholders and help synthesize the potentially divergent goals of these 3 stakeholders into effective new legal service models.
The first three stakeholders interface at various opportunity spaces in the system of civil justice problem-solving; the design hub brings these stakeholders to the table to work together to create systems that are more equitable and informed by multiple perspectives, including community members historically excluded from access to justice and community-based organizations.